Scobie Breasley

Arthur Edward Breasley was born at Wagga Wagga, New Guinea, on May 7, 1914.

One of seven children of a sheep drover, he was riding almost before he could walk and 'was always going to be a jockey'. He had great admiration for the Australian trainer, James Scobie, from where his boyhood nickname evolved.

Aged 12, he left school and, a year later, became apprenticed to trainer Pat Quilan (1928-1934) for whom he rode his first winner, Noogee, at Melbourne in 1928.

He then enjoyed a long and successful career in Australia, winning every big race bar the Melbourne Cup.

He came to England in 1950 and lived at Heather Brae, Bowling Green Close, Portsmouth Road, Roehampton, S.W.15.

As first jockey to the flour millionaire J. V. Rank, he won at the Liverpool spring meeting on his first two rides.

His first classic success came just a year later when taking the 2,000 Guineas on Ki Ming. A second classic winner followed on Festoon in the 1954 1,000 Guineas.

From 1956 until 1968 when he retired, he was retained by Sir Gordon Richards, but it was the genius Vincent O'Brien who provided Scobie with Ballymoss, a horse that the jockey considered to be the best he ever rode.

Together in 1958, they captured the King George & Queen Elizabeth Stakes, the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe and the Coronation Cup.

He also rode the Cambridgeshire Handicap three times and the Middle Park Stakes twice.

Scobie's greatest moment came when, aged 50, landing The Derby on Santa Claus, a race he would win again two years later on Charlottown.

The latter winner was largely a matter of luck as it wrenched a shoe off in the paddock before the race. Had he spread a shoe at the start he would have had to race on three shoes (they didn't replate at the start then as they did later).

Yet more luck was required for Charlottown to win; at the top of Tattenham Hill, Scobie had 22 horses in front of him. Deciding to stick to the rails with no guarantee of obtaining an opening, he began hoping for a miracle.

Obligingly, the tiring leaders came away from the rails, leaving Scobie and Charlottown to storm through.

He had come in for heavy criticism when scoring on Santa Claus two years earlier; he had brought the Irish-trained colt with a perfect run up the centre of the course to win by a length. This outraged many, including owner John Ismay who thought Scobie should have won more easily, forgetting that the jockey was a master of waiting tactics.

In 1969, Scobie turned to training, sending out horses from his South Hatch Stable at Epsom. Shipping magnate Ravi Tikkoo was his principal owner for whom Scobie won the 1972 Irish Derby with Steel Pulse. That season, he also won the Goodwood Stakes and Doncaster Cup with Lady Beaverbrook's Biskrah.

Scobie trained 187 winners before, in 1993, deciding to finally retire and return to Australia.

He was without a doubt the finest Australian jockey to ride in England and will be remembered as one of the great riders of the 20th century. He rode 3,251 winners worldwide.

Scobie Breasley died on December 19, 2006.

His wife May, whom he married in 1935, predeceased him: their daughter survived them.

Scobie had a passion for golf.

Major racing wins:

Classic winners:

Two Thousand Guineas: Ki Ming (1951)

One Thousand Guineas: Festoon (1954)

Derby: Santa Claus (1964), Charlottown (1966)

In Australia 

Caulfield Cup: Tranquil Star (1942), Skipton (1943), Counsel (1944), St Fairy (1945), Peshawar (1952)

Victoria Derby: San Martin (1944), Advocate (1952)

Other major winners:

1950: John Porter Stakes – Native Heath 

1950: Royal Hunt Cup – Hyperbole 

1950: Goodwood Stakes – Strathspey 

1950: Imperial Stakes – Clutha 

1951: Lingfield Oaks Trial – Chinese Cracker 

1951: Ribblesdale Stakes – Chinese Cracker 

1951: Richmond Stakes – Gay Time 

1951: Park Hill Stakes – Verse 

1951: Diadem Stakes – Ki Ming

1951: Cambridgeshire Handicap – Fleeting Moment

1951: Liverpool Autumn Cup – Promotion 

1953: Midland Breeders’ Foal Stakes – Tudor Sovereign 

1953: King’s Stand Stakes – Fairy Flax 

1953: King George V Stakes – Fairy Flax 

1954: Chesterfield Cup – Prefect 

1954: Diadem Stakes – Set Fair 

1954: Cheveley Park Stakes – Gloria Nicky 

1954: Horris Hill Stakes – Royal Palm 

1955: Fred Darling Stakes – Feria 

1955: Midland Breeders’ Foal Stakes – Tamerlane 

1955: St James’s Palace Stakes – Tamerlane 

1955: Queen Mary Stakes – Weeber 

1955: Falmouth Stakes – Gloria Nicky 

1955: July Stakes – Edmundo 

1955: King George V Stakes – Democratic 

1955: Nassau Stakes – Reel In 

1955: Royal Lodge Stakes – Royal Splendour 

1956: Hungerford Stakes – High Barn 

1956: Diadem Stakes – King Bruce 

1956: Imperial Stakes – Sarcelle 

1956: Cheveley Park Stakes – Sarcelle 

1956: Middle Park Stakes – Pipe Of Peace

1956: Midland Cambridgeshire – Variety King 

1956: Liverpool Autumn Cup – Money To Burn 

1957: Greenham Stakes – Pipe Of Peace 

1957: Jockey Club Stakes – Court Harwell 

1957: Guernsey Stud Produce Stakes – Medina 

1957: Princess Margaret Stakes – Medina 

1957: Gordon Stakes – Pipe Of Peace 

1957: Queen Elizabeth II Stakes – Midget II 

1957: Dewhurst Stakes – Torbella III

1957: Midland Cambridgeshire – Nicholas Nickleby 

1958: Coronation Cup – Ballymoss 

1958: Queen’s Vase – Even Money 

1958: King’s Stand Stakes – Drum Beat

1958: Eclipse Stakes – Ballymoss

1958: July Stakes – Greek Sovereign 

1958: King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes – Ballymoss 

1958: Molecomb Stakes – Krakenwake 

1958: Nassau Stakes – Darlene 

1958: Chesterfield Cup – London Cry 

1958: Cambridgeshire Handicap – London Cry 

1958: Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe – Ballymoss 

1959: Jockey Club Cup – Vacarme 

1960: Craven Stakes – Tudorich 

1960: Victoria Cup – Sanctum 

1960: National Stakes – Kerrabee 

1960: Nassau Stakes – Desert Beauty 

1960: Hungerford Stakes – Fagus 

1960: Park Hill Stakes – Sunny Cove 

1960: Middle Park Stakes – Skymaster

1961: Ormonde Stakes – Alcaeus 

1961: Midland Breeders’ Foal Stakes – Just Great 

1961: Ribblesdale Stakes – Futurama 

1961: Stewards Cup – Skymaster 

1961: Yorkshire Oaks – Tenacity 

1961: Great Voltigeur Stakes – Just Great 

1961: Gimcrack Stakes – Sovereign Lord 

1961: Princess Royal Stakes – Tenacity 

1962: Ascot Stakes – Trelawny 

1962: Hardwicke Stakes – Aurelius 

1962: Queen Alexandra Stakes – Trelawny 

1962: Cherry Hinton Stakes – Tzigane 

1962: July Stakes – Romantic 

1962: News of the World Handicap – Tamerlo 

1962: Princess Margaret Stakes – Palm Springs 

1962: Nunthorpe Stakes – Gay Mairi 

1962: Portland Handicap – Harman 

1962: Cambridgeshire Handicap – Hidden Meaning

1963: Lockinge Stakes – Queen’s Hussar 

1963: Ascot Stakes – Trelawny 

1963: Queen Alexandra Stakes – Trelawny 

1963: Princess of Wales’s Stakes – Trafalgar 

1963: Bunbury Cup – Nereus 

1963: Gordon Stakes – Tiger 

1963: Goodwood Cup – Trelawny 

1963: King George V Stakes – Secret Step 

1963: Champagne Stakes – Talahasse 

1963: Cornwallis Stakes – Derring-Do 

1963: Horris Hill Stakes – Atbara 

1964: Free Handicap – Port Merrion 

1964: Ribblesdale Stakes – Windmill Girl 

1964: Cherry Hinton Stakes – Greengage 

1964: July Cup – Daylight Warrior 

1964: Hungerford Stakes – Derring-Do 

1964: Cumberland Lodge Stakes – King Chestnut 

1964: Jockey Club Cup – Oncidium 

1964: Cornwallis Stakes – Spaniard’s Mount 

1965: Lincoln Handicap – Old Tom 

1965: Nell Gwyn Stakes – Gently 

1965: Temple Stakes – Holborn 

1965: Coronation Cup – Oncidium 

1965: Zetland Gold Cup – Dark Court 

1965: Coronation Stakes – Greengage 

1965: Magnet Cup – Dark Court 

1965: Cherry Hinton Stakes – Chrona 

1965: Queen Elizabeth II Stakes – Dering-Do 

1966: Lincoln Handicap – Riot Act

1966: Nell Gwyn Stakes – Hiding Place 

1966: Queen’s Vase – Bally Russe 

1966: Richmond Stakes – Hambledon 

1967: Totalisator Spring Handicap – Kibenka 

1967: Coventry Stakes – Mark Royal 

1967: St James’s Palace Stakes – Reform 

1967: King’s Stand Stakes – Be Friendly 

1967: Richmond Stakes – Berber 

1967: Sussex Stakes – Reform 

1967: Goodwood Cup – Wrekin Rambler

1967: Queen Elizabeth II Stakes – Reform 

1967: Champion Stakes – Reform 

1967: Vernons November Sprint Cup – Be Friendly 

1968: Horris Hill Stakes – Sentier 

As a trainer:

Irish Derby Stakes (1972)

Flying Childers Stakes (1975)

Middle Park Stakes (1975)

King's Stand Stakes (1976)

Barbados Gold Cup (1989, 1991, 1992, 1993)

Racing awards

British flat racing Champion Jockey

(1957, 1961, 1962, 1963)

Honours

Australian Racing Hall of Fame (2000)

Scobie Breasley Medal awarded by Racing Victoria

Australian Racing Hall of Fame "Legend" (2009)

Significant horses:  Ki Ming, Festoon, Ballymoss, Santa Claus, Charlottown, Sandford Prince