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Frank was born at Newmarket in September 1817. His began his schooldays at Weasenden, Norfolk before going on to an Ealing school run by Dr. Nicholls. Here, Frank excelled, and his family harboured hopes that he might be drawn to the church and priesthood. Frank had other ideas – his father trained racehorses for Lord Lowther and the Dukes of York and Richmond – and any spare time Frank had was spent at the stables, learning to ride.
Then came tragedy. Frank, aged ten, lost his father. His two uncles offered to bring him up, and Frank readily accepted – for these were no two ordinary uncles. They were the brothers Sam and William Chifney, two of the top jockeys of the day, and under their tutelage, Frank flourished.
At the Newmarket Autumn meeting of 1834, he rode his first winner Moorhen. He was seventeen. He had long since stopped attending Ealing, concentrating instead on his uncles’ strings. He also had a loose arrangement to ride occasionally for Lord Oxford, and when Sam declared he was not prepared to waste in order to ride the Lord’s The Athenian for the 1836 Derby, Frank was offered, and accepted, the mount. Unfortunately for Frank, The Athenian was totally uncooperative, refusing to start in line and subsequently hopelessly left. Frank, though it was hardly his fault, was disconsolate and fell into a deep despondency. He lost confidence and form; for six years he rode horses of meagre ability, the exception being Mr Ford’s Sequidilla on whom he finished fourth in the 1841 Oaks. He then received an offer from Russia, inviting him to train and ride horses for the Emperor, but the prospect of long, cold winters deterred him – his friend Henry Neales went instead.
Then, for no reason, Frank’s luck changed. His form dramatically improved and, working for the Beresford stables, he finished seventh in the list of winning jockeys with 24 wins. But the real turning point came when William Scott declined the ride on Lord Chesterfields Sir Harry at the 1842 Newmarket Craven meeting. Frank took the ride and won, and thus begun an eleven-year relationship with Lord Chesterfield’s Whitewall stables. He rode Parthian in the 1842 Derby (unplaced) then rode Poison, his first Classic winner. Ironically, Mr Thorhill’s Extempore finished second to Poison – ridden by Frank’s mentor, (uncle) Sam Chifney. From then on, Frank never looked back becoming, eventually, the only jockey ever to ride four consecutive Oaks winners (he rode six in all).
His Achilles heel was his tendency to leave challenges to the last possible moment – it cost him a Derby win when coming too late on Springy Jack behind Surplice in 1848.
On Houghton Saturday, 1853, Frank rode against Nat Flatman in a match race. It was to be the last winner for him – his last ever ride later that day came on Hobby Horse which ran unplaced. He was now no longer able to control his increasing weight and began drinking heavily.
He was rumoured to be worth at least £15,000 but, in the winter of 1856, before he was able to make a will, he fell ill with fatal lung disease. He died on February 1, 1856. He was buried next to his wife and father in the family tomb in All Saint’s Church Yard.
Frank Butler’s classic wins: (14)
Two Thousand Guineas: Nunnykirk (1849) and West Australian (1853)
One Thousand Guineas: Canezou (1848) and the Exotic filly (1850)
The Derby: Daniel O’Rourke (1852) and West Australian (1853)
The Oaks: Poison (1843), The Princess (1844), Lady Evelyn (1849), Rhedycina (1850), Iris (1851) and Songstress (1852)
St Leger: The Baron (1845) and West Australian (1852)
Other big wins include:
1843: Goodwood Cup - Hyllus
1846: Chester Cup - Corranna
1848: Ascot Derby - Distaffina
1849: Ascot Derby - Repletion
1849: Royal Hunt Cup - Collingwood
1849: Goodwood Cup - Canezou
1850: Goodwood Cup - Canezou
1850: Coronation Stakes - Unnamed Filly
1852: Coronation Stakes - Iona
1853: Ascot Derby - Ninnyhammer
1853: Stewards Cup - Long Bow
1853: Queen Anne Stakes - Ariosto
Frank Butler was not above corruption - in the pay of a consortium of professional gamblers, he agreed to prevent West Australian from winning the St Leger. The horse’s connections became suspicious when it drifted badly in the market, and confronted Butler. The jockey was warned of the grave consequences of not doing his best. Butler had no choice, and West Australian ran out an easy winner – the first horse ever to win the Triple Crown (2,000 Guineas, Derby and St Leger).
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