Jockeypedia - Britt Edgar

Edgar Britt

1917 - 2023

Australian Edgar Clive Britt was born at Oatley (some sources give this as Five Dock), near Sydney, on October 30, 1913, and became apprenticed to Michael Polson at Randwick. The son of an electrical engineer, Edgar rode his first winner on Gypsy King at Canterbury, on the outskirts of Sydney, in January , 1930.

In 1933, he tried his luck in America and won the Baltimore Handicap on Winooka.

In 1935, he went to India and rode for the Maharajah of Baroda for ten years, for whom he rode Golden Fawn to victory the Eclipse Stakes of 1942 and 1943. It was in India that he first met up with jockey W.H.Carr, and the two became firm friends.

Standing just 4 ft 11 ins., Edgar came to England in April 1945. Still riding for the Maharajah, he rode his first British winner on Maharaj Kumar, trained by F. Armstrong, at Stockton on 19 May. That year, he rode 20 winners from 107 rides.

Edgar's first big race win came at Newmarket when landing the 26-runner 1945 Cesarewitch on the blinkered four-year-old chesnut, Kerry Piper, a son of Derby/St Leger winner, Trigo. In 1944, when ridden by Charlie Spares, Kerry Piper had won the Manchester November Handicap. In 1945, Edgar, riding Oatflake, won the same race.

Edgar, who had been leading jockey in Bombay, season 1943- 4, returns to the paddock on 1946 Cesarewitch winner, Kerry Piper

Edgar's winning total in 1946 was 92 - this put him in fourth place behind the legendary Gordon Richards.

Edgar & Sayajirao scrape home by a head in the 1947 St Leger, beating Charlie Elliott on the Franch challenger, Arbar.

Edgar won his first British classic when winning the 1947 St Leger on Sayajirao, a full-brother to Derby winner, Dante.

Edgar won the Cesarewitch again in 1948. Riding Woodburn, he won by a neck from Vertencia (Doug Smith) and Garter Club. This was a stellar year for him; 1948 was actually his career-best season with 145 winners, placing him second only to Gordon Richards in the championship table. Surprisingly, he was later replaced as the Maharajah's jockey by Charlie Smirke.

Edgar won the 1948 Heathcote Stakes on the grey three-year-old Nathoo.

1950 City & Sunburban: Edgar squeaks home by a short head on Iron Duke from Roc du Diable (W. Johnstone) on the rails. Jacobite (W. Cox) finished third.

St Leger 1948: Edgar rides the American colt Black Tarquin to victory ahead of Lord Derby's Alycidon who finished second with Solar Slipper back in third. Black Tarquin set a new course record for the St Leger, finishing the roughly 1 mile and 6 furlongs in 3 minutes and 6.4 seconds. Edgar replaced W. H. Carr on the winner - Carr had broken a leg during the summer.

Musidora was a standout filly in 1949, winning both the One Thousand Guineas and the Epsom Oaks. In the photo above, Edgar & Musidora can be seen just beating Coronation V (Charlie Elliott) and Vice Versa [[ (W, Johnstone).In a field of 14, Musidora started favourite at 4-1 and won £10, 670 for her owner.

1949. Top jockeys gather for an end -of-season dinner.

1951

Edgar's biggest wiiner in 1952 was Frieze. which won the Oaks from the One Thousand Guineas winner, Zabara. Moon Star was third of the nineteen runners

Trainer Charles Elsey leds in Frieze, his second Oaks winner

Nearula wins the 1953 Two Guineas from Bebe Grande & Oleandrin.

Nearula and Edgar: winners of the 1953 Two Thousand Guineas

Edgar won a second One Thousand Guineas in 1956 on Honeylight. It was to be the last classic race he won.

He rode 1,182 winners before retiring in 1959 and returning to Australia a year later.

He published his autobiography 'Post Haste' in 1967. He lived in Surfside Avenue, Avalon and his home, a 1,092 square metre cul-de-sac property, was called Honeylight after his 1956 1,000 Guineas winner. It was a four-bedroomed house, with views across the beach to the headland.

In March, 2010, Edgar decided to downsize. His home, plus 80 years of memorabilia, were put up for auction. He said at the time: "I'm 96. Not the best time of your life, but it's better than the alternative."

On 10 June, 2004, Edgar was awarded the Order of Australia medal for service to horse racing. In the same year, he was inducted into the Australian Hall of Fame.

Edgar Britt met The Queen, then a princess, and her sister, Princess Margaret, many times as he saddled up in the late 1940s to boot home the King's mount.

"Sometimes the princesses would be out riding on the track at Ascot," he recalled. "They loved horses. Elizabeth and Margaret were sometimes in the enclosure on race day. She knows horses.

"On one occasion, at a course near Hampton Court, Elizabeth and Margaret came to see me before a race and said: 'Do you think you will win?'. I said, 'I think so, but she is a pretty temperamental filly. I might have to hit her with the whip.

"There was silence from both of them, and I thought I had said the wrong thing. The Royals don't go in for beating animals with whips.

"Then the call came for the jockeys to get mounted and they said they would go. As they left, Princess Margaret said, 'If she needs one, give her one'.

"I went out and won with plenty to spare, and I did not have to hit the filly once."

In 1947, he rode the two-year-old Lerins (later renamed My Babu). After having finished fourth first time out at Epsom, Lerins won its next race - the Norfolk Stakes at Newmarket. On his remaining four appearances as a two-year-old, Lerins won the Woodcote Stakes at Epsom, dead-heated for the New Stakes at Royal Ascot, won the Neil Gwyn Stakes at Epsom and the Champagne Stakes at Doncaster, ridden by Edgar on each occasion.

Valognes and Edgar win the 1948 Chester Vase. Valognes was a brown colt out of 1938 Derby winner Bois Roussel

In his prime, Edgar stood four feet eleven inches tall and weighed five stone.

He died on January 29, 2017, aged 103.

Classic winners

Two Thousand Guineas: Nearula (1953)

One Thousand Guineas: Musidora (1949), Honeylight (1956)

Oaks: Musidora (1949), Frieze (1952)

St Leger: Sayajirao (1947), Black Tarquin (1948)

Irish Derby: Sayajirao

Other big races won include:

1945: Cesarewitch Handicap – Kerry Piper

1945: Manchester November Handicap – Oatflake

1946: Guernsey Stud Produce Stakes – Ranjit

1946: Winston Churchill Stakes – Preciptic

1946; Cumberland Plate – Oatflake

1946: Ebor Handicap – Foxtrot

1946: Park Hill Stakes – Procne

1947: Lingfield Derby Trial – Sayajirao

1947: New (Norfolk) Stakes – My Babu

1947: Champagne Stakes – My Babu

1947: Jockey Club Cup – Laurentis

1948: Chester Vase - Valognes

1948: St James’s Palace Stakes – Black Tarquin

1948: Coronation Stakes – Fortuity

1948: Solario Stakes – Suntime

1948: Yorkshire Oaks – Angelola

1948: Newmarket Oaks – Angelola

1948: Princess Royal Stakes – Angelola

1948: Cesarewitch Handicap – Woodburn

1949: Old Newton Cup - Tsaoko

1949: Falmouth Stakes – Suntime

1949: Ayr Gold Cup – Irish Dance

1949: Cornwallis Stakes – Stella Polaris

1950: City and Suburban Handicap – Iron Duke

1950: Lingfield Oaks Trial – Stella Polaris

1950: Midlands Breeders’ Foal Stakes – Sultan Blanc

1950: Wokingham Stakes- Blue Book

1950: Old Newton Cup – Courier

1950: Stewards' Cup – First Consul

1950: Geoffrey Freer Stakes – Tilloy

1951: Northumberland Plate – Sycamore II

1951: Lanark Silver Bell – Flush Royal

1952: Coventry Stakes – Whistler

1951: Champagne Stakes – Orgoglio

1952: Lanark Silver Bell – Anamnestes

1952: Yorkshire Oaks – Frieze

1952: Middle Park Stakes – Nearula

1953: Thirsk Classic Trial – Nearula

1953: St James’s Palace Stakes – Nearula

1953: Lanark Silver Bell – Scipio

1953: Champion Stakes – Nearula

1953: Portland Handicap – Reminiscence

1954: Cheshire Oaks – Amora

1954: Chester Cup – Peperium

1954: Carlisle Bell – Orgoglio

1954: Richmond Stakes – Eubulides

1955: Dee Stakes – Tippecanoe

1955: Lancashire Oaks – Jenny Lind

1956: Princess Margaret Stakes- Taittinger

1956: Gimcrack – Eudaemon

1956: Champagne Stakes – Eudaemon

1957: Queen Anne Stakes – Baron’s Folly

1957: Queen’s Vase – Tenterhooks

1957: Wokingham Stakes – Dionosio

1957: Goodwood Cup – Tenterhooks

1957: Great Voltigeur Stakes – Brioche

1958: Lincolnshire Handicap – Babur

1958: Hardwicke Stakes – Brioche

1958: Yorkshire Cup – Brioche

1959: Carlisle Bell – Monawin