Born on May 13, 1938, Ron Benson served a five-year apprenticeship with Joe Lawson before becoming a freelance National Hunt jockey. He rode a total of 14 winners during a career that lasted for almost a decade.
His first winner was Neverlone in division two of the June Juvenile Hurdle at Uttoxeter on June 4, 1964. Neverlone was owned and trained by permit holder A. J. Allen, who was based at Wombourne, near Wolverhampton.
Progress was slow. Having failed to ride a winner in the 1964/65 season, he rode just one in each of the next two, hence Ron entered the 1967/68 campaign with just three wins to his name in four seasons in the saddle. However, on November 18, 1967, he rode a 600-1 double at Catterick Bridge on 100-6 chance San Tex in the Sinnington Selling Handicap Hurdle and 33-1 outsider Cezanne in division two of the Cleveland Novices’ Hurdle, both of them for Alrewas, near Burton-on-Trent trainer Derek Collingwood.
Unfortunately for Ron, just as his career had finally turned a corner, within days of that Catterick double all racing was cancelled for six weeks as a precautionary measure against the spread of foot and mouth disease. It was Whit Monday 1969 before he next visited the winner’s enclosure, riding San Tex to a half-length victory in a Uttoxeter selling hurdle.
The following season saw Ron forge successful partnerships with handicap hurdlers Mysterious Mick and Toy Soldier, both owned trained by Doug Griffiths at Newmarket. Ron won three times on Mysterious Mick and once on Toy Soldier during the 1968/69 campaign, then once more on each the next season.
He married Hilary Jane Bax on July 19, 1969. They lived in Hopwas, near Tamworth, and became parents of a son, Alan Ronald, and a daughter, Sophie Jane.
Ron rode just one winner in the 1970/71 season, none the next, then had his final success on Miss Sunacelli in division two of the Three Miles Novices’ Holiday Hurdle at Uttoxeter on Easter Monday, April 23, beating top jockey Johnny Haine on the 6-4 favourite Guys Mile by a neck.
He was not a prolific winner but he was astute enough to realise that riding alone would not support him and long before winding down his career he had begun training as a farrier.
His interests away from racing included swimming, football, and reading.
Ron Benson’s winners were, in chronological order:
1. Neverlone, Uttoxeter, June 4, 1964
2. Vidi’s First, Market Rasen, May 14, 1966
3. Bill Ridley, Leicester, November 28, 1966
4. San Tex, Catterick Bridge, November 18, 1967
5. Cezanne, Catterick Bridge, November 18, 1967
6. San Tex, Uttoxeter, June 3, 1968
7. Mysterious Mick, Market Rasen, December 7, 1968
8. Mysterious Mick, Huntingdon, December 26, 1968
9. Mysterious Mick, Doncaster, March 24, 1969
10. Toy Soldier, Leicester April 22, 1969
11. Toy Soldier, Fontwell Park, August 13, 1969
12. Mysterious Mick, Nottingham, January 1, 1970
13. Gilded Leader, Southwell, April 8, 1971
14. Miss Sunacelli, Uttoxeter, April 23, 1973.
