Terry Pinner

Terry Pinner was a leading amateur rider under on northern courses during the second half of the 1960s. He rode 30 winners within the space of three years and is best remembered for his successful partnership with Vulmidas, winning nine times on that hardy old warrior. Trained by John Barclay, Vulmidas ran every season between 1962 and 1972 and won a total of 27 races.  

Born on May 26, 1940, Terry’s first ride under National Hunt rules was at Huntingdon on Easter Monday, April 19, 1965, when Brandy Miss was unplaced in the Brampton Hurdle. His first success came at the corresponding meeting twelve months later. Having finished second on Neros in the Novices’ Chase earlier in the afternoon, he won the Brampton Hurdle (Division 1) aboard the 2/1 favourite Bob Shea, scoring by four lengths from Clive Searle’s mount Fair Justice. Ten-year-old Bob Shea was owned and trained by at Ancaster Heath, Lincolnshire permit holder Stan Ireland. 

That was Terry’s only winner that season, but the 1966/67 campaign saw a breakthrough with 18 winners, placing him fifth in the list of amateur riders. Vulmidas provided eight of those wins, including a match when the gelding started at 20/1 on. They also made a rare foray south in February 1967 to land the Newbury Spring Handicap Chase, a race which subsequently became the Game Spirit Chase, named after the Queen Mother’s fine chaser. Terry and Vulmidas found themselves outpaced in that year’s Two Mile Champion Chase at Cheltenham in March, trailing home sixth of seven finishers behind star chasers Drinny’s Double, Pawnbroker and Arctic Sunset. 

Also that season, Terry won five races within nine weeks on the novice chaser Gail Blue, trained like Vulmidas by John Barclay. In addition, he won three more races on Bob Shea, the second of those, at Sedgefield on March 18, 1967, coming just a fortnight after the death of owner-trainer Stan Ireland at the age of 62. He had started training after the war and had about 20 winners under rules and numerous point-to-point winners over a period of 40 years. His son Tony took over the licence following his father’s death. 

The last of Terry’s nine wins on Vulmidas came in the White Rose Handicap Chase at Teesside Park on October 14, 1967, scoring by four lengths from Gerry Scott’s mount Some Angel, with the grey Tant Pis, owned, trained and ridden by John Alder in third place and top weight Freddie back in fifth. This was something of a historic occasion because it was the first meeting held under National Hunt rules there. 

The course’s name had been changed from Stockton to Teesside Park at the start of the year in time for the start of the Flat season. The Yorkshire Yeomanry Band was on hand for the inaugural National Hunt fixture and welcomed the Duchess of Kent to officially open the new jumps course. 

After riding 18 winners from 80 rides in 1966/67, Terry’s tally dropped to seven from 52 in 1967/68, then fell further to four from 62 in 1968/69. His last win was at Ayr on December 11, 1968, when Blackpool Rock comfortably beat Kerman to land the Garnock Hurdle (Division 2) by four lengths. Like all but one of his 30 victories it was against professional jockeys. His last ride was at Nottingham on March 2, 1971, when Daraheen Gold was a faller in the Derwent Hunters’ Chase. 

Vulmidas carried on racing, winning his last race at Ayr in October 1972 at the age of 15, and was retired the following month after pulling up lame at Newcastle. Sadly, he did not enjoy a long retirement. He died in the autumn of 1973.

As for Teesside Park, the winter game proved far more popular and attracted far more spectators. Flat meetings proved unprofitable, so much so that all seven fixtures for 1972 and 1973 were cancelled, likewise from April 1978 to October 1979. Teesside Park became Stockton again in 1980 but reverting to its original failed to save the racecourse. After walking a financial tightrope for several years, Stockton finally lost its balance and closed in June 1981. Between 1985 and 1988, the South Durham, Hurworth and Cleveland hunts staged their point-to-points at the course, which for that period was again called Teesside Park. It was, however, a brief resumption, prior to its final demise.  

Terry Pinner’s winners were, in chronological order:

1. Bob Shea, Huntingdon, April 11, 1966

2. Vulmidas, Wetherby, October 1, 1966

3. Vulmidas, Market Rasen, October 8, 1966

4. Density, Ayr, October 17, 1966

5. Vulmidas, Wolverhampton, October 31, 1966

6. Coeur Volcanique, Catterick Bridge, November 26, 1966

7. Vulmidas, Newcastle, December 3, 1966

8. Bob Shea, Sedgefield, December 10, 1966

9. Vulmidas, Newcastle, December 27, 1966

10. Vulmidas, Newbury, February 18, 1967

11. Bob Shea, Sedgefield, February 28, 1967

12. Esquire, Sedgefield, March 18, 1967

13. Gail Blue, Carlisle, March 25, 1967

14. Gail Blue, Market Rasen, March 27, 1967

15. Gail Blue, Perth, April 27, 1967

16. Gail Blue, Newcastle, May 13, 1967

17. Vulmidas, Ayr, May 15, 1967

18. Gail Blue, Cartmel, May 27, 1967

19. Vulmidas, Wetherby, May 29, 1967

20. Little Tot, Wincanton, October 5, 1967

21. Vulmidas, Teesside Park, October 14, 1967

22. Monarch’s Match, Ayr, February 12, 1968

23. Fragrant Flyer, Carlisle, May 6, 1968

24. Gyleburn, Carlisle, May 6, 1968

25. Fragrant Flyer, Hexham, May 8, 1968

26. Bob Shea, Newcastle, May 25, 1968

27. Fragrant Flyer, Carlisle, November 14, 1968

28. Blackpool Rock, Carlisle, November 14, 1968

29. Fragrant Flyer, Newcastle, November 30, 1968

30. Blackpool Rock, December 11, 1968

Thanks to Alan Trout for contributing the majority of this article and also the list of wins.