National Hunt jockey John Joseph Blair was born on December 28, 1933. He was apprenticed to Harold Storey, who trained at Sunny Bank Farm Stables, Bolton-le-Sands, near Carnforth. He rode his first winner on Harding in the Hurworth Novices’ Chase at Catterick Bridge on November 30, 1957.
Among the best horses he rode was the Dick Curran-trained Hands Off, on whom he won a Catterick novice chase and a Market Rasen long-distance hurdle on consecutive Saturdays in January 1960 and completed the hat-trick in a chase at Nottingham on February 1. Those victories accounted for three-quarters of his four-winner tally for the 1959/60 season.
John enjoyed by far his most successful campaign in 1960/61 with 15 wins, the only time he rode more than six winners in a season. He also completed the course on 25-1 outsider Telemark, albeit a distant last of five finishers, in the 1960 Becher Chase over part of the Grand National course.
While never hitting the heights, John, who listed his recreations as show-jumping and motor and motorcycle racing, was one of the hardy band of northern jump jockeys who would accept any ride they were offered without question, including the most dangerous of conveyances.
Saturday, March 6, 1965 was typical of the ups and downs of a jump jockey’s career. His first ride of the day was on Candy in the ITV-televised Cox Moore (Sweaters) Handicap Chase at Market Rasen. Candy started joint-favourite at 7-2 with Stan Hayhurst’s mount Lucky Domino and the pair disputed the lead throughout until Lucky Domino began to draw clear inside the last mile. Candy was lying in third place when crashing through the wing of the last fence.
John emerged unscathed from that hair-rising incident to ride 100-7 outsider Marsh Chestnut in the next race, the Watney Mann ‘Red Barrel’ Chase, only for the horse to fall two out. Undaunted, John picked himself off the floor and, while the TV cameras were being disassembled and the presenters were on their way home, he rode Stan Palmer’s chestnut mare Primlia to win Lincolnshire Long Distance Hurdle.
John’s three winners in that 1964/65 campaign included the John Courage-trained Golden Boy (right) in an incident-packed Coquet Novices’ Chase, which was the last race on what proved to be the final day’s racing at Rothbury, Saturday, April 10, 1965.
Having ridden six winners in the 1965/66 season, John rode just one in each of the next two. His last season in the saddle was 1968/69. He began it by winning a Southwell handicap hurdle aboard Lady Magellie on September 2, but then had to wait until Easter Monday 1969 for his next one, the Eddie O’Keeffe-trained Rippingale in division one of the Three Mile Novices’ Holiday Hurdle at Uttoxete. At Sedgefield seven days later, he rode Rippingale to win a two-mile novices’ chase. Five days after that they finished fourth in a novice chase at Hexham.
John and Rippingale next teamed up in the Springwood Novices’ Chase at Kelso on April 30, 1969. Sadly, Rippingale suffered a fatal fall, leaving John with a serious injury that resulted in the end of his riding career, during which he had ridden a total of 39 winners.
