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GEORGE WITHYCOMBE
Article by Chris Pitt
George Reginald Withycombe held a professional jump jockey’s licence from 1953/54 to 1962/63 and rode a total of 20 winners, most of which he trained himself. That was back in the days when it was relatively common for trainers to ride their horses in races.
He started out riding for his father, Reg Withycombe, who trained a small string at Badgemore House Stables, near Henley-on-Thames, and rode his first winner for him on juvenile hurdler Legend Of Ramsgill at Taunton on 17 September 1955.
George took over as trainer at the start of 1956 and scored twice within a week on The Deacon, at Towcester and Stratford in May. However, the 1956/57 season brought only winner – and that was on one he didn’t train – courtesy of Nicky Pinch’s Peter Of Crosswell at Taunton.
In 1958 George moved base to Turnworth Down Stables, near Basingstoke, where he trained for the remainder of the time he held a licence.
Without doubt the best horse with which he was associated was Knucklecracker, whom he trained and rode to win three hurdle races.
Knucklecracker went on to become a top-flight steeplechaser, winning the 1960 Hennessy Gold Cup for trainer-rider Derek Ancil before tragically being killed when slipping up on the flat in the Rhymney Breweries Chase at Chepstow the following year.
Hurdlers Barnstaples and Wind And Rain proved mainstays of the Withycombe yard, scoring ten times between them and thus accounting for half of George’s winning rides. Wind And Rain won four juvenile hurdles during the first half of the 1959/60 season and also gave George the last two victories of his riding career, the final success coming at Windsor on 6 January1961.
George Withycombe relinquished both his jockey’s and trainer’s licences at the end of the 1962/63 season. He rode 20 winners during his ten year career, these being in chronological order:
1. Legend Of Ramsgill, Taunton 17 September 1955
2. The Deacon, Towcester, 21 May 1956
3. The Deacon, Stratford, 26 May 1956
4. Peter Of Crosswell, Taunton, 23 March 1957
5. Barnstables, Newton Abbot, 4 September 1957
6. Knucklecracker, Kempton, 21 November 1957
7. Barnstables, Plumpton, 24 September 1958
8. Knucklecracker, Wincanton, 9 October 1958
9. Knucklecracker, Towcester, 18 October 1958
10. Barnstables, Cheltenham, 15 November 1958
11. Narration, Kempton, 24 November 1958
12. Wind And Rain, Taunton, 29 October 1959
13. Wind And Rain, Birmingham, 17 November 1959
14. Wind And Rain, Warwick, 28 November 1959
15. Barnstables, Wincanton, 3 December 1959
16. Wind And Rain, Chepstow, 12 December 1959
17. Hialeah, Taunton, 28 December 1959
18. Bebo, Towcester, 4 June 1960
19. Wind And Rain, Plumpton, 21 September 1960
20. Wind And Rain, Windsor, 6 January 1961
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