Francis (Scully) Arrowsmith

Apprentice Francis Arrowsmith was born on December 22, 1967,  and achieved by far the biggest success of his short career when winning the 1992 Ayr Gold Cup on Lochsong.

Known to all back at the yard as ‘Scully’, he was apprenticed to Lochsong’s trainer Ian Balding at Kingsclere and rode Lochsong on the gallops at home. He rode four winners in 1988 and two in 1989.

His winners in 1991 included Knock Knock in the H. S. Lester Memorial Challenge Cup at Salisbury and a Newbury apprentices’ race on Lochsong on October 26. The latter came in a seven-furlong contest just ten days after the filly’s maiden win at Redcar under Ray Cochrane. She was entered in the apprentice race just to give ‘Scully’ a ride, but she made all the running and held on to win by a short head.

'Scully’ rode Lochsong in her first race of the 1992 season, finishing third over six furlongs at Pontefract in April. From there she progressed to win the Stewards Cup and the Portland Handicap in the hands of Willie Carson, then ‘Scully’ got back on her to win the Ayr Gold Cup by two lengths at an SP of 10/1.

Francis ‘Scully’ Arrowsmith failed to progress beyond the apprentice stage, but he’ll always have that memory of winning the Ayr Gold Cup on one of the best and most popular sprinters of recent times.