Hubert Baillie, (Major)

Major Hubert Albert Gucewicz Baillie was born in Roxburghshire on August 18, 1945. His father, Alexander Mathew Gucewicz, was a Polish Cavalry officer. His mother, Frederica Frances Eva FitzHarding Baillie, was an heiress from the Scottish Borders.  

Described as an archetypal English gentleman (although half Polish and half Scottish!), his twin passions were horse racing and flying his private aircraft. 

His childhood was spent in Ireland, Essex and Scotland but it was marred by the early death of his father who had taught the young boy to ride, a skill destined to be an important part of his life.

Educated at Ampleforth, Hubert Gucewicz-Baillie soon began riding in point-to-points and hunter-chases. He registered his first success under National Hunt rules aboard Risky Nap, owned and trained by his mother, in the prestigious Heart of All England Hunt Cup at Hexham on April 20, 1968.

He was commissioned into the Grenadier Guards on account of his uncle, Colonel Simon Baillie, who was a Grenadier captured whilst serving in the SAS in 1944. As Second Lieutenant Gucewicz-Baillie he reported to the Adjutant of the 2nd Battalion, who promptly informed him that his name was now Baillie and thus it remained. So, he was plain ‘Mr H. Baillie’ when riding Risky Nap to victory in the Cessford Hunters’ Chase at Kelso on March 1, 1969.

Later that year he was captain of the Motor Transport Officer of the 2nd Battalion, then based in Magilligan Camp on the North Antrim coast at the start of the troubles.

Shortly afterwards, Captain Baillie found himself in Germany as the Adjutant of the 1st Battalion. Frustrated by the length of time it took to get back to England to ride in a race and return to barracks for the Monday morning, he bought an aircraft, a Cessna 172, and learned how to fly it. He managed to make it to Sandown in good time to ride Risky Nap, the joint second favourite in the 1970 Grand Military Gold Cup, building up a clear lead by the ninth fence, only to be unseated two fences later, at the open ditch in front of the stands. 

Hubert rode his third winner under NH rules on another family-owned horse, Southern Stranger, in the Rothbury Cup Hunter Chase at Newcastle on April 7, 1971, a fixture that had been transferred to Newcastle following the closure of Rothbury’s racecourse in 1965. Southern Stranger did well for the Gucewicz-Baillie family, with Hubert’s elder brother Richard winning eight hunter chases on him during the early 1970s, including the Balnakeilly Challenge Cup at Perth in 1972.

Probably the best horse Hubert rode was Meridian II, trained for his family by Ken Oliver at Howick. Hubert rode him to win a second Heart of All England Hunt Cup in April 1973 and followed up the next month in the Hugh Barclay Memorial Cup Hunters’ Chase at Ayr. Meridian II went on to win decent races in handicap company when professionally ridden. 

However, the horse on which Hubert enjoyed most success was a bay gelding named Half A Sixpence, who ran in handicap company rather than hunter chases. Hubert won a novice chase on him at Hexham’s 1972 Whitsun fixture. Their second success together came in a two-mile handicap chase at Ayr in September 1973. 

The following season, 1974/75, Captain Baillie rode Half A Sixpence in thirteen handicap chases, winning four and only once finishing out of the frame. The highlight of those four victories came when winning the William Hill Handicap Chase at Catterick on January 18, 1975, beating Young Somers, the mount of American jump jockey Timmy Skiffington, by a neck. In doing so, Hubert saw his 7lb claim reduced to 5lb.  

He rode Half A Sixpence to win two more handicap chases the following season, by which time he’d attained the rank of major. Both races were over two and a half miles, at Carlisle in September and the Gosforth Park Amateur Cup at Newcastle in November. They also finished second, beaten a neck, in the Dick McCreery Cup Past and Present Handicap Chase at Sandown’s 1976 Grand Military meeting. An hour later, Hubert rode Meridian II in the Grand Military Gold Cup and was going well in third place on the second circuit when parting company at the first of the railway fences, six from home.

For all his success elsewhere, Hubert never had any luck in the Grand Military Gold Cup. Having been unseated from Risky Nap in 1970 and Meridian II in 1976, his other two rides, both on Inkerman, ended in falls, coming down at the fourteenth fence when lying in third place in 1981 and at the seventh when in arrears in 1982. 

He was successful in point-to-points as well as under rules, Half A Sixpence and Inkerman being among his winners in that sphere. His victories on Inkerman included the L. S. Elwell Memorial Cup at the Melton Hunt fixture. 

In the late 1970s, Hubert’s 1st Battalion was deployed to Sudan for a joint exercise with the Sudanese Army, which somewhat restricted his race-riding opportunities. 

He married Sarah Willway, daughter of Lt.-Col. Michael Lindsay Willway, on June 25, 1986 at Guards Chapel, Wellington Barracks in Westminster. He spent his later years living in Wiltshire and Dorset, working at Warminster for the Director of Infantry, both as a serving officer and as a retired officer.

He was on the Grand Military Committee for 36 years, was head dressage steward at Aldon Horse Trials, a steward at the Bath and West Show, Chairman of the Parish Council, President of Grenadier Association in Bath, and helped to run the Mounted Infantry Club. 

Tragically, in 2013 he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. It was also a severe blow to him that his brother, Richard, a former Life Guard, died the same year.

During his illness Hubert displayed the same great courage and resolution he’d exhibited during his racing career. He died on June 1, 2018, aged 72, leaving a widow, Sarah, a son, James, and a daughter, Charlotte.  

Major Hubert Baillie’s winners were, in chronological order:

1. Risky Nap, Hexham, April 20, 1968

2. Risky Nap, Kelso, March 1, 1969

3. Southern Stranger, Newcastle, April 7, 1971

4. Half A Sixpence, Hexham, May 27, 1972

5. Meridian II, Hexham, April 30, 1973

6. Meridian II, Ayr, May 14, 1973

7. Half A Sixpence, Ayr, September 29, 1973

8. Half A Sixpence, Catterick Bridge, December 14, 1974

9. Half A Sixpence, Newcastle, January 10, 1975

10. Half A Sixpence, Catterick Bridge, January 18, 1975

11. Half A Sixpence, Hexham, May 24, 1975

12. Half A Sixpence, Carlisle, September 29, 1975

13. Half A Sixpence, Newcastle, November 8, 1975