Derek Ancil

1924 - 2010

Derek Ivor Ancil was born on July 28, 1924 in Reigate, Surrey. 

His family had, for generations, lived at Dewar's Farm  Middleton Stoney, near Bicester.

His father, Harry, served in the Oxfordshire Hussars Yeomanry with Winston Churchill before the Great War. Derek's older brother, Conroy, an officer in the Fleet Air Arm, was killed in 1943; his other brother, Basil, became a successful amateur jockey.

In 1927, Harry Ancil moved the family back to their native Oxfordshire. 

From an early age Derek loved hunting. He remembered often staying out with the Bicester till the hounds went home, falling asleep on his pony as it delivered him safely back to the farm. Because of his developing love of the sport, his father bought Derek a horse called Dusky Chimes, for which he paid 60 guineas.

It was money well spent: on Boxing Day, 1946, it became Derek's first winner when, taking a novice chase at Wincanton on Dusky Chimes

As a rising amateur living with his father, he began riding for Ronnie Horton, who came to live at the Ancil farm. Horton, a steel maker, had done work for MI6 while on business trips to Czechoslovakia before the Second World War, and subsequently his sole desire was to settle in the countryside and train racehorses. 

When he began training at Middleton Stoney, nearby, Derek - who had turned professional at the start of the 1949/50 season -became his first jockey.

Apart from his 1960 Hennessy success, Derek Ancil won the 1955 Scottish Grand National on Bar Point and the 1958 Grand Sefton at Aintree on Tiberetta. In 1961, after the jockey Gerry Scott broke his leg, Derek was chosen to ride Merryman II, the previous year's winner of the National.

His trainer, Neville Crump, said: 'Don't worry about his weight. He'll get the trip. Just keep him out of trouble.'

Crump was wrong. Merryman ll's weight, 11 st. 12 lb, did beat him. The winner, Nicolaus Silver, carried only 10 st 1 lb. Merryman II finished second. 

His most horrific ride was on The Finn, favourite at Hurst Park; galloping into the first fence he realised the horse could not see it: he gave Ancil an appalling fall and was found to have been doped.

When Horton died he left everything to Derek, who took over the yard in 1959, quickly winning the friendship of several long-term owners. Among them was Leslie Marler, who owned Knucklecracker. Derek trained and rode Knucklecracker to win its first four races in the 1962/63 season, repeating its feat of the 1960/61 season.                                         

Tragically, the horse broke a leg at the water at Chepstow.

Many racing enthusiasts from Oxford gravitated towards Ancil's ever-hospitable yard and dining-table (his martinis were famous). Some, such as Judge Sir Michael Connell, became successful point-to-point riders. One, Brough Scott, became a leading professional jockey. Another, John Myhill, became a successful trainer of steeplechasers in Australia.

Several of the undergraduates also rode with the Oxford University Draghounds and, in 1964, Ancil hosted a Christmas jockeys' meet for the Drag. Instead of the usual half-dozen or so, the 120-strong field included many racing personalities. Among them was Willie Robinson, who was on that year's Grand National winner, Team Spirit.

After an epileptic driver mowed down the string, killing a lad, Ancil bought Thorpe Mandeville Manor near Banbury, which he thought a quieter place to train. Winners continued, though not so prolifically; his lifetime total was more than 200.

Ancil, a hands-on trainer, ready to school the most difficult horses himself, gave up his licence in 1989. As he retired he told the Sporting Life: "Jump racing has always been a sport; nobody has made any money out of it. I believe you shouldn't get involved if you think otherwise. As for the bookmakers, racing without them would be like a morgue."

Thereafter, he continued with his farming, golf, flying (he had a pilot's licence till late in life), dogs, a few mares and foals and entertaining his numerous friends. In 2002, his staff organized a tribute dinner for him at which Sir Edward Cazalet, QC, was the main speaker.

Derek Ancil's wife, Yvonne, died in 1995, and he married, secondly, Patricia Mahony, who survived him.

His hobbies included farming, hunting and shooting but 'definitely not fishing!'

Derek Ancil died on July 17, 2010, aged 85. He left a fortune -  £10,716,100.

Big winners:

1955: Scottish Grand National – Bar Point

1957: Champion Trial Hurdle – Wayward Bird 

1958: Withington Chase (Birmingham) – Mr Gay

1958: Grand Sefton Chase – Tiberetta 

1960: Worcester Royal Porcelain Chase – Beau Chevalet 

1960: Hennessy Gold Cup - Knucklecracker

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