Joseph Davis

Joseph Davis

Article by Alan Trout

Although he rode briefly on the Flat before the First World War, Jospeh Davis made much more of an impact over jumps with 14 wins between 1922 and 1925. He rode his first winner on Perforce in the Makerfield Handicap Chase at Haydock Park on December 9, 1921, winning by 12 lengths. However, when they contested a two-mile chase at the same course the following day, Perforce fell.  He more than made up for that lapse though, going on to provide Joseph with six more wins over the next two years.   

Their next victory together came in the Brighton Handicap Chase at Plumpton on January 20, 1922, followed by one at Towcester on Easter Monday. Four more successes were achieved between October 1923 and February 1924, 

Having ridden six winners in 1924, there was then a 14-month gap before Joseph’s final win, which came at Derby on December 21, 1925, when Bucket, which Joseph also trained, won the Duffield Selling Hurdle by four lengths. Joseph continued to combine riding with training, based at Croft Spa, near Darlington, and held a jockey’s licence until the 1931/32 season but rode no more winners. 

Joseph Davis’s wins were, in chronological order:

1. Perforce, Haydock Park, December 9, 1921 

2. Perforce, Plumpton, January 20, 1922

3. Perforce, Towcester, April 17, 1922

4. Golden Song, Wetherby, April 18, 1922

5. Geordie, Sedgefield, December 27, 1922

6. Perforce, Hexham, October 4, 1923

7. Perforce, Bogside, October 30, 1923

8. Perforce, Haydock Park, January 5, 1924

9. Perforce, Manchester, February 8, 1924

10. Guy Agnew, Sedgefield, February 20, 1924

11. Banksian, Carlisle, April 19, 1924

12. Honeycomb, Wetherby, April 22, 1924

13. Rocket, Sedgefield, October 15, 1924

14. Bucket, Derby, December 21, 1925