Ernest Backhouse

Ernest Backhouse

Article by Alan Trout

Having made little impact in the two seasons that he rode on the Flat during the First World War, Ernest Backhouse was making steady progress with nine wins over jumps before his untimely death in a motorcycle accident.

Apprenticed to Thomas Hogg at Chitterne, in Wiltshire, he had his first ride at Sandown Park on April 22, 1915 when partnering Crybow, who finished unplaced in the Juvenile Selling Plate won by Steve Donoghue on Louviers d’Or. Other efforts were equally unsuccessful, and finishing down the field on Glad Rags in the Moderate Selling Plate at Newmarket on November 1, 1916 may have been his last ride in England for some years. 

His first win under National Hunt rules was at Hawthorn Hill on November 24, 1925 when he partnered the 14-year-old Tim to a half-length victory in the Twyford Selling Handicap Chase. The horse’s trainer was Owen Stanley, who still held a jockey’s licence at the time. Second was Icemore, ridden by one of the top riders of the period, Lewis Bilbie Rees. Ernest and Tim repeated their success by winning the St Piers Selling Handicap Chase at Lingfield the following month, with Rees again finishing second, this time on Irish Cheer. 

Ernest married Matilda in July 1926 and made an excellent start to the 1926/27 campaign when winning the Brookside Selling Hurdle at Newton Abbot on August 3, the second day of the new season. His mount, Morganatic Marriage, beat the odds-on favourite Tulican, the mount of Keith Piggott, by a head. Four more wins followed over the course of the next two months, the last of which was on The Star in a two-horse race for the Barnham Selling Chase at Fontwell Park on October 4. His rival, beaten a length, was Roman Candle, ridden by, yet again, Lewis Rees. 

On Sunday, October 17, 1926 Ernest Backhouse was killed in a motorcycle accident about half a mile from Grays Stud Farm, Westerham Hill, where he was employed, while on his way home from work. At the inquest, the jury recorded a verdict of ‘death by misadventure’.

Ernest Backhouse’s winners were, in chronological order:

1. Tim, Hawthorn Hill, November 24, 1925

2. Tim, Lingfield Park, December 19, 1925

3. The Star, Plumpton, January 20, 1926

4. Southpool, Bungay, April 21, 1926

5. Morganatic Marriage, Newton Abbot, August 3, 1926

6. Fair View, Totnes, September 8, 1926

7. Ditch Doll, Newton Abbot, September 15, 1926

8. The Star, Bournemouth, September 18, 1926

9. The Star, Fontwell Park, October 4, 1926