Henry John Dagge was head lad to trainer Patrick Kearney, who began training at Harnham Stables, Whittington, near Cheltenham, in 1961. In addition to being Kearney’s head lad, Henry held a National Hunt jockey’s licence for four seasons between 1962 and 1966.
He had two of his earliest rides at Hereford on Easter Monday 1963, both on Kearney-trained horses. The first of them, Scottish Blend, fell in the Novices’ Chase but the second, Good Boy, lived up to his name by completing the course in the Novices’ Hurdle. Such was Henry’s unfamiliar status at the time that the Sporting Life misspelt his name in the following day’s results section, spelling it as ‘Dagg’ without the E.
Among his mounts in the 1963/64 campaign was Open Order in a novice riders’ handicap hurdle at Cheltenham on January 8, 1964, finishing unplaced. He was again in arrears when riding novice hurdler Anglers Dream at Wolverhampton on February 24 but fared slightly better at Windsor three days later when finishing seventh on another of Pat Kearney’s novice hurdlers, Star o’ Somerset.
With a dozen or so meetings, Easter Monday was invariably a good day for a ‘chalk jockey’. Thus, Henry journeyed to Wincanton on that day in 1964 for one ride on Open Order in the Abloom Selling Handicap Hurdle, only for it to end in a fall.
He had two rides at Stratford on October 1, 1964. He finished eleventh of twelve on Open Order in the Novice Jockeys’ Hurdle and ninth of ten on Spoonley Gold in the Edgehill Hurdle. Weight was evidently an issue by that time as he had to put up 8lb to ride at 10st 10lb on Spoonley Gold
He rode Spoonley Gold twice more that season, finishing seventh of eight finishers at Warwick in November and ninth in a field of nineteen at Birmingham in December.
Henry was in action again on Easter Monday 1965 for the third year running, this time at Towcester, where he finished a distant fifth on Glenvul in division one of the Duncote Novices’ Hurdle. At least the Sporting Life spelt his name correctly this time in the following day’s results section.
He rode Glenvul one more time, in the three-mile Green Dragon Novices’ Hurdle at Bangor-on-Dee on April 23, 1965. They finished last of the four finishers, having led for much of the race. At least he could say he’d finally been in the frame.
Henry held a licence for the 1965/66 season but does not appear to have any rides. His value was predominantly his role of head lad, one of those valued and essential people whose work behind the scenes provides the backbone of the sport of horse racing.