Tommy Aldcroft
1835 - 1883
Tommy was born in Manchester. His father owned an omnibus company but chain-smoking Tommy had more fanciful dreams. His opportunity came when, under a cloud, stable jockey Thomas Lye left the Middleham establishment of trainer Thomas Dawson. Succeeding Lye, he won the 1856 Derby by a neck on 20/1 shot Ellington (in the slowest Derby time ever, 3.05 minutes).
Rumour had it that Tommy weighed out for his ride on Ellington with a whip weighing seven pounds which, before mounting, he switched for a virtually weightless one, thereby giving him a seven-pound allowance. Having won the race, he switched back to the heavier whip in order to draw the correct weight.
Tommy was the first choice jockey of the eccentric and quarrelsome owner Lord Glasgow, but they constantly rowed: matters came to a head when Glasgow without justification accused Tommy of being in the pocket of bookmaker John Jackson. Tommy, disillusioned, quit racing and retired to his Newmarket home, where his wife, Jane, looked after him as best she could.
Joseph Lawson, who trained at Bedford Lodge stables, tried to tempt Tommy back into racing, offering him the ride on the much-fancied Miss Foote, but Tommy’s nerve and self-esteem had gone and he was unable to mount a horse. With finely chiselled features between black, bushy side-whiskers, the handsome jockey had once been considered a bit of a dandy – now, as the effect of years of heavy smoking took its toll, Tommy was a shadow of his former self.
After a protracted illness, he passed away, aged 48, on 4th May 1883.
When Lord Glasgow died in 1869, he acknowledged that he had been wrong about Tommy’s involvement with a bookmaker. As a make-peace gesture, he left Tommy £500 in his will.
Tommy and Lord Glasgow had the oddest relationship – their frequent rows were often described as resembling lovers’ quarrels.
When something went wrong or he was out of favour, Tommy would weep. On seeing this, Lord Glasgow himself would also burst into tears.
Mutual friends found the situation bizarre and tried unsuccessfully to put an end to the constant falling-outs.
Unsurprisingly, Lord Glasgow had absolutely no sense of humour. When walking through the stables of Mr J Godding, who trained for him, Lord Glasgow came across a fine-looking horse which he took a great fancy to and inquired all about him.
Godding gave him details of the horse’s breeding before adding: “It’s a curious thing, but the owner has never seen him although he only lives four miles from here.”
“I should certainly have thought a gentleman would come on such a short journey to see such a good-looking horse belonging to him,” replied Glasgow.
“Yes,” said Godding, “but you see, my lord, the owner was born blind.”
So annoyed was Glasgow at his trainer playing a joke at his expense, he instantly removed all his horses from Godding’s stable.
Lord Glasgow only saw horses from a profit-making point of view and would have a regular shooting day after he had tried his two-year-olds. Those which were not good enough were ruthlessly dispatched on the spot with a bullet through their head.
Glasgow once ordered the colt Musket to be destroyed after a moderate gallop. Jockey Tom Chaloner pleaded for the youngster’s life and Glasgow gave in. The horse survived and showed its appreciation by winning the 1870 Ascot Stakes and the 1872 Alexandra Plate, both times with Tom in the saddle.
On another occasion, whilst dining at a hotel, a waiter annoyed him by answering very abruptly. Lord Glasgow promptly picked him up and threw him out of the first-floor window, breaking the waiter’s leg.
Glasgow then turned round quietly and said, “put him on the bill.”
Lord Glasgow, always meanly and coldly dressed, had been brought up at sea, and had a Spartan discipline rooted into his system. As a young man he had fallen from a ship’s mast, fracturing a portion of one of the vertebrae of his neck.
From then on he suffered the most excruciating pain whenever he turned his head. He consequently always stood with his hands at the back of his neck, digging the ends of his fingers into his neck so as to press the nerve and lessen the pain.
Paradoxically, Lord Glasgow was incredibly generous, once feeding half the town of Paisley in a time of distress.
Tommy Aldcroft’s classic wins:
2,000 Guineas: Lord of the Isles (April 24, 1855) and General Peel (April 26,1864).
1,000 Guineas: Sagitta (April 24, 1860)
The Derby: Ellington (May 28,1856)
The Oaks: Queen Bertha (May 22, 1863)
St Leger: Gamester (September 14,1859)
Two Thousand Guineas winner General Peel had been available at 20/1 on April 14th - on race day, April 26th, the horse won at 7/2 having been heavily backed for nearly a fortnight.
Other big winners include:
1852: Northumberland Plate -Stilton
1853: Chester Cup – Goldfinder
1854: Lincoln Handicap – Georgey
1856: Cesarewitch – Vengeance
1856: Molecomb – Lambourn
1857: Molecomb – The Lord of Lorn
1859: Ebor Handicap – Underhand
1859: Northumberland Plate – Underhand
1860: Yorkshire Oaks – Stockade
1861: Gimcrack Stakes – Johnny Armstrong
1861: Gold Vase - Parmesan
1862: Molecomb – 'unnamed colt'
Newspaper Cutting (Newmarket Journal) 12/5/1883:
'Death Of Mr T. Aldcroft.
The announcement of the death of one of the most famous of the old school of jockeys, Mr Tom Aldcroft, at his residence, Grafton-house, High-street, on Friday, did not come much in the nature of a surprise to those who were acquainted with his serious illness of some months' duration. Though a stranger to the saddle for a number of years, the career and brilliant achievements of the once famous jockey will be "familiar in their mouths as household words" with the racing fraternity. Commencing his turf connections as an apprentice in the training establishment of the late Mr Tom Dawson, he rode his greatest and finest race as early as 1855, when in his twentieth year, securing a dashing victory with St. Hubert in the Two Thousand Guineas. Aldcroft won the "blue riband" of the Turf when a young jockey, placing the Derby of '58 to the credit of Admiral Harcourt's Ellington, following these good beginnings up by steering Gamester to winning brackets in the St. Leger of '59 for Sir Charles Monck. Another classic event, in the Oaks, was "pulled out of the fire" by him on Queen Bertha in 1863. In 1864 he secured the Two Thousand Guineas Stakes for the second time, for his most prominent patron, Lord Glasgow, his mount being the son of Young Melbourne - General Peel. In the latter years of his jockeyhood, Aldcroft's most frequent and popular victories were ridden in the "white and red sleeves," the colours of Lord Glasgow, who, though the eccentric Earl at times was at variance with his favourite jockey, ultimately gave him a competence during his own life. Enjoying the reputation of an unsurpassed rider of two-year-olds, the deceased jockey was very popular and respected among a large circle of racing and private friends, by whom his genial presence and cheery greeting will be missed.
The remains of the brilliant rider and respected resident were interred in the Cemetery on Tuesday morning, the rector, the Rev. J. Imrie, impressively conducting the service. Fixed for the early hour of eleven, doubtless on account of its being a race week, the funeral was influentially and numerously attended, tokens of respect to the memory of the deceased being paid on the route of the procession, many of the blinds of the private houses being drawn. The chief mourners were the bereaved widow and the brother-in-law of deceased, Mr Davis, and among the large company which followed the cortege were: The Revs. J.T. Wilder, rector of Great Bradley, and S.S. Knipe, chaplain of the Union Workhouse, Exning, and Mr Norman Wiseman, old friends of the deceased; Messrs. R. Sly, James Goater and John Osborne, contemporary jockeys; Messrs. F. Archer, H. Morgan, and T. Bruckshaw, representatives of the new generation of jockeys; Messrs. Matthew Dawson, John Dawson, sen., James Waugh, John Dawson, Jun., and A.B. Sadler, trainers; and Messrs. J.N. York, J. Holmes, T.M. Clark, B. Chennell, J. Lancaster, F. Stone, R. Barrow, H. Feist, C. Rayner, W. Collett, George Everitt, E. Potter, and other friends and acquaintances of the deceased, with Doctors J.R. Wright and H. Hutchinson, his medical attendants. Wreaths of immortelles and crosses of a variety of beautiful flowers, tokens of regard from numerous relatives and friends of the deceased, entirely hid the coffin from sight. Mr C.B. Dear, draper and undertaker, of High-street, was entrusted with the entire arrangements, and with the assistance of his experienced foreman, Mr Wheatley, the funeral was most creditably conducted. The coffin was of handsomely polished oak, with solid brass fittings, having an inner shell of elm, and was made by Mr A. Savage. The following inscription appeared on the plate: - Thomas Aldcroft, died May 4, 1883, aged 48, R.I.P.'
The Gravestone in Newmarket Cemetery is inscribed: 'In Loving Memory of Thomas Aldcroft of Grafton House who Died May 4th 1883 Aged 48 Years - Also Jane his Wife who Died August 31st 1921 Aged 77 Years '.
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