Sylvester Duffy

Sylvester Duffy

1895-1949

Although Sylvester John Duffy only rode 15 winners under National Hunt rules, he had a career that lasted well over a decade, included three Grand National rides and a seven-race association with one of the greatest steeplechasers not just of the inter-war period but of all time.

It was at Cardiff on October 7, 1920 that Sylvester opened his account when Holdcroft won the Stewards’ Novices’ Chase by a distance. He had partnered the six-year-old in his three previous outings and had fallen twice. This time they made no mistake and went on to show that it was no fluke by following up in the Rangemore Chase at Uttoxeter 12 days later, although their task was made easier by all of their four rivals failing to complete the course.

However, Sylvester then had to wait until February 1922 for his next win. That summed up his career: the occasional winner, with plenty of ‘also-rans’ in between.

He had his first experience of the Grand National fences on consecutive days in March 1923, finishing third on Marston Moor in the Stanley Chase, then falling at the tenth fence on Pam Nut in the Grand National itself. Later that same year, he rode seven-year-old Gay Lochinvar at Aintree on consecutive days, falling in the Becher Chase, then finishing fifth in the Grand Sefton Chase. He rode Gay Lochinvar in the 1924 Grand National but was again among the fallers. The sixth of his seven rides over the Aintree fences was on Phantom Fox, who refused in the 1925 Stanley Chase.

Also in 1925, he got the chance to partner Easter Hero, in the opinion of many, the best horse never to win the Grand National (although supporters of Crisp might disagree) in the early days of that horse’s career.

Sylvester rode Easter Hero throughout his far from successful five-year-old campaign. They made their debut at Baldoyle on New Year’s Day 1925 in the Killester Hurdle over one-and-a-half miles, finishing unplaced for owner-trainer Larry King, who then sold the horse cheaply to a Mr Bartholomew, an Englishman, described as ‘a bit of a chancer’. He owned Easter Hero for the next 18 months until going broke and being forced to sell him. He was bought by Frank Barbour for £500. He would later be sold to Captain Lowenstein, a Belgian financier, destined later die in an air crash, resulting in Easter Hero being bought for £11,000 by the American millionaire ‘Jock’ Whiney, in whose colours he would win back-to-back Cheltenham Gold Cups in 1929 and 1930.

But all that was a long way in the future. Following their unplaced effort over hurdles at Baldoyle on New Year’s Day 1925 and the horse’s sale to Frank Barbour, Easter Hero’s next five starts were over fences in England, with Sylvester back on board for each of them. Three of the first four attempts ended in falls, but they did come good at Manchester on March 7, winning the Ellesmere Chase by three lengths. Following a second-place finish at Sandown, Sylvester and Easter Hero returned to Ireland for the Irish Grand National, but they made no impression and finished unplaced. That proved to be the end of their association.

Sylvester’s win on Easter Hero was his last success over jumps for three years, but he went on to ride another ten winners, including five on the selling chaser Prince Cadmus. He also had one final ride in the Grand National aboard the 1926 Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Koko, but their race ended in a fall.

He began training in 1931, based at Hednesford, in Staffordshire, while continuing to hold a jockey’s licence. Both of his last two wins as a jockey were on horses he trained himself, the second of them being Southern Maid in the Tradesmen’s Selling Handicap Hurdle at Bridgnorth on April 28, 1934. He trained throughout the 1930s until shortly before the war.

Sylvester Duffy died in 1949. All things told, his record around Liverpool was patchy. He did finish third in the Stanley Chase and fifth in the Grand Sefton, but none of his three Grand National mounts got round. However, he was instrumental in educating a young Easter Hero and his contribution to that great champion’s future career should not be underestimated.

Sylvester Duffy’s winners were, in chronological order:

1. Holdcroft, Cardiff, October 7, 1920

2. Holdcroft, Uttoxeter, October 19, 1920

3. Blastino0, Leicester, February 27, 1922

4. Major Domo, Sandown Park, January 31, 1923

5. Easter Hero, Manchester, March 7, 1925

6. Prince Cadmus, Stratford-on-Avon, October 6, 1928

7. Prince Cadmus, Uttoxeter, October 15, 1928

8. Prince Cadmus, Nottingham, October 30, 1928

9. Nero IV, Windsor, December 6, 1928

10. Sir Shaun, Lingfield Park, January 5, 1929

11. Prince Cadmus, Cardiff, October 24, 1929

12. Prince Cadmus, Cheltenham, November 14, 1929

13. Jingle Johnnie, Bridgnorth, April 29, 1930

14. Togaro, Ludlow, April 22, 1932

15. Southern Maid, Bridgnorth, April 28, 1934

His rides over the Liverpool fences were:

1. Stanley Chase, March 22, 1923, Marston Moor (third)

2. Grand National, March 23, 1923, Pam Nut (fell)

3. Becher Chase, November 7, 1923, Gay Lochinvar (fell)

4. Grand Sefton Chase, November 8, 1923, Gay Lochinvar (fifth)

5. Grand National, March 28, 1924, Gay Lochinvar (fell)

6. Stanley Chase, March 26, 1925, Phantom Fox (refused)

7. Grand National, March 22, 1929, Koko (fell)

His rides on Easter Hero in 1925 were:

1. January 1, Baldoyle, Killester Hurdle, 1m 4f (unplaced)

2. February 6, Manchester, Medlock Chase, 2m (fell)

3. February 20, Hurst Park, Novices’ Chase, 2m (fell)]

4. March 7, Manchester, Ellesmere Chase, 2m (won)

5. March 10, Cheltenham, Cotswold Chase, 2m (fell)

6. March 19, Sandown Park, Novitiate Chase, 2m (second)

7. April 18, Fairyhouse, Irish Grand National, 3m 4f (unplaced)