John Powney

John Powney

1930-2017

Better remembered as a trainer, John Powney formerly rode under National Hunt rules in the mid-1950s and had two wins, both trained by Harry Thomson Jones. 

Born on January 20, 1930, the son of trainer Hugh Powney, he was apprenticed to Walter Earl at Stanley House, Newmarket but had few, if any, opportunities on the Flat. He spent his two years National Service with the Royal Army Veterinary Corps.

His first ride over jumps was at Hurst Park on February 7, 1953, when Alighieri finished eleventh of thirteen runners in the Roehampton Handicap Hurdle.  

More than a year later he rode his first winner when Geifang Lad, owned as well as trained by Thomson Jones, scored by four lengths in the Ellastone Novices’ Chase on the Tuesday of at Uttoxeter’s Easter meeting, April 20, 1954. John had finished third on the six-year-old at the same course the previous day. They had one more start together that season but fell when in arrears at Fontwell Park. 

John’s only other success came at Worcester on March 7, 1955, when Tyler was a decisive winner of the Droitwich Handicap Hurdle at Worcester, beating Rex Hamey’s mount Alpine Eagle by five lengths. It was his first ride on the four-year-old, and after they were well beaten at Plumpton the following week, other jockeys took over.

John had few other chances and had his final ride at Fontwell Park on March 22, 1956, when Flaminarie was well beaten in the Felpham Handicap Hurdle, having been in touch approaching the home turn. 

He did not renew his licence the following season but served as head lad to Harry Thomson Jones from 1956 to 1961. On December 7, 1959 he married Ena Julie Thompson. They had one son, John, and two daughters, Emma-Louise and Harriet. 

He took out a trainer’s licence in 1971 as one of three private trainers for David Robinson, based at Greystoke Stables in Newmarket, initially with a large string of 73 horses. He was soon off the mark and saddled his first notable winner for him when Royal Ride, ridden by Greville Starkey, landed the Horn Blower Stakes at Ripon on July 24, 1971. 

David Robinson (1904-1987), knighted in 1985, made his fortune in the radio and television rental business. By the late 1960s and 1970s he owned a large number of racehorses. His string of 120 to 150 was split between three trainers, Michael Jarvis, Paul Davey and John Powney.  

Among Robinson’s best two-year-olds were My Swallow (1970 Prix Robert Papin, Prix Morny, Prix de la Salamandre, Grand Criterium), and Deep Diver (1971 July Stakes, Prix d’Arenberg, Cornwallis Stakes, Prix du Petit Couvert). His champion sprinters included So Blessed (1968 July Cup, King George Stakes, Nunthorpe Stakes), Green God (1971 Haydock Sprint Cup), and Deep Diver (1972 Nunthorpe Stakes, Prix de l’Abbaye).

However, while both Jarvis and Davey retained large numbers, by 1972 John Powney’s string had shrunk to just 27. By 1973 he had left Newmarket and relocated to Highview Stables, Keston, near Biggin Hill, Kent, with a string numbering over 30. 

Again, though, that was a short-lived association, for by 1975 he had returned to Newmarket as a public trainer, based at his father’s old yard at Saville House, where he remained for the rest of his training career. His final entry in the Horses in Training annual is for 1980, by which time he was training two dozen horses. 

Having relinquished his trainer’s licence, John moved over to stud work and became a stud manager and a part-time clerk of the scales. Steeped in racing and embracing all aspects of it, in later life he became a stalwart staff member at the National Horseracing Museum. 

A popular Newmarket figure, John Powney died at his home at Shalfleet Cottage on the Bury Road in the town on Wednesday, March 22, 2017, aged 87.