The unusually named Towednack is a Cornish village that stands some two miles from St Ives, and it is here, on May Day 1907, at its annual race meeting, that we first come across jockey Gilbert Nicholls Bennett.
He rode his five-year-old Hasty in no less than four different events: a three-mile steeplechase; another three-mile steeplechase, the Towednack Stakes; and two flat races - one over a mile, another over a mile and a half - in which he finished third on both occasions.
Gilbert was in action again on Thursday, 26th September, when riding Bodmin in four events at Camborne Races; it was to prove a frustrating day as he finished runner-up in each.
In 1922, he was training horses under National Hunt Rules in Sussex: that year, Frank Wootton became the stable jockey. Another jockey used by Gilbert was James Hogan Jr. who, on Thursday 30 November 1922, injured a toe on his left foot at Newbury when colliding with the rails on Lily. He later had the toe amputated, but this did not stop James from finishing third in the 1923 National Hunt jockeys table with 61 winners. He also won the Welsh Grand National that year on Clonree.
Unfortunately, owing to the loss of his principal patron, high overheads and betting losses, Gilbert had, in 1931, liabilities of £21,000 and assets of £189.
