The son of a hotelier, Lionel Gerald Brown was born in Gloucestershire on March 25, 1933.
He served his apprenticeship with George Colling and Ernie Davey and rode his first winner on Hervine at Newmarket on October 10, 1950.
He scored his first big race victory when landing Alexandra Park’s feature race, the London Cup, in 1952 on course specialist Cider Apple, when still a 7lb claimer. Cider Apple was winning the London Cup for the third time, having won it in 1949 and 1950, ridden on both occasions by apprentice Tommy Witts. Lionel won four other races on Cider Apple during that 1952 campaign, two at Windsor and two at Birmingham, at distances from one and a half to two and a half miles.
Lionel was based in the north for most of his career, living at Malton, and enjoyed his best season in 1965 with 58 winners. His big race victories included the Usher Brewery Gold Tankard at Ayr in 1961 on Three Wishes, York’s Magnet Cup in 1967 on Copsale, and Redcar’s Vaux Gold Tankard, also in 1967, on Farm Walk.
The best horses he rode included Goldhill and Fleece, both top sprinters, and Three Wishes. He also rode Lochnager in his only four races as a two-year-old.
Lionel, who listed his interests as golf and snooker, was related to two fellow northern-based jockeys in Jimmy Etherington and Jackie Willett, both of whom had, like Lionel, married sisters of the Cook family, and were therefore all brothers-in-law.
He was consistently among the leading northern jockeys throughout the 1960s, averaging between 30 and 40 winners a season. However, his winning opportunities began to diminish with the dawn of the 1970s and his seasonal scores fell to between 10 and 20. This may have been due, he acknowledged, to the fact that he had never telephoned an owner or a trainer for a ride.
He announced his retirement at the end of the 1976 season, having ridden a total of 532 winners in Britain. His last winner was on Fear Naught, trained by his brother-in-law Jimmy Etherington, at Wolverhampton on October 21, 1976.
He had his final ride eight days later, October 29, on Etherington’s Golden Line at Newmarket, finishing unplaced.
Having retired from the saddle, he assisted Etherington in the running of a horse-box business at Malton.
Lionel had two sons, Gerald (who became a jockey) and Richard Arthur, and one daughter, Susan Rose.
Biggest wins
1961: Usher Brewery Gold Tankard – Three Wishes
1962: Old Newton Cup – Cloudy Wyn
1967: Magnet Cup – Copsale
1967: Vaux Gold Tankard – Farm Walk
