Frank Crouch

Article by Chris Pitt

For a jockey who rode for 13 years between 1951 and 1964 and had more than 40 winners, surprisingly little is known about Frank Crouch. He doesn’t appear in the early editions of ‘Directory of the Turf’ and the only information to be gleaned is by way of trawling through the form book. 

What is known, however, is that he was born on October 19, 1928, and began his apprenticeship at Epsom during the latter years of World War II before becoming a National Hunt jockey.

He made a bright start, riding a combined total of 20 winners during his first two seasons. Despite that early success he struggled thereafter and never managed more than four winners in a season. His first winner was on selling hurdler Zeus II, trained by Vic Smyth at Epsom, at Wye on October 22, 1951. Smyth trained most of Frank’s winners that season, including dual scorers Pont Cordonnier and Oui Oui II, while fellow Epsom trainer Harold Wallington supplied selling hurdlers Terenure at Leicester in January and Pepperbox Hill at Huntingdon on Easter Monday 1952.

Having ridden nine winners in his first season with a licence, Frank increased his score to 11 in the 1952/53 season, kicking off with winners on consecutive days at Hurst Park’s November meeting, the smart handicap hurdler Pont Cordonnier for Smyth (his tenth winner, reducing his claim to 5lb) and juvenile hurdler Miss Fax for Wallington. He then won four in a row on Pont Cordonnier, losing his right to claim in the process.

From then on the numbers dwindled. Having ridden four in 1953/54 – three for Harold Wallington, one for Ted Goddard – he managed just two in 1954/55, one in 55/56 and none at all in the next two seasons. The drought was finally ended when he won a Worcester handicap hurdle on a horse named Vicomte II in October 1958, one of three winners he rode that season.

Of his two successes the following campaign, the most notable (in retrospect) was Silver Dome’s victory in the Royal Borough Handicap Hurdle at Windsor on January 2, 1960, beating the grey Richard of Bordeaux. Silver Dome was trained by Cyril Mitchell at Epsom at the time but was destined to join Peter Cazalet’s stable the following season following his acquisition by the Queen Mother, for whom he won several chases and finished runner-up to Team Spirit in the Grand Sefton Chase. Richard of Bordeaux, meanwhile, would progress to win many times over fences, including the 1963 Mackeson Gold Cup at Cheltenham.

An Easter Monday winner at Towcester was Frank’s sole salvation of the 1960/61 season, but he managed four the following term, three of them – James Edgar (twice) and Belle Barker – being for Sussex-based trainer Frank Muggeridge. Those same two horses accounted for both Frank’s winners in 1962/63, as they did the following season, with James Edgar becoming Frank’s 41st and final winner when landing a Newton Abbot handicap hurdle on September 21, 1963. James Edgar was also Frank’s last ride in public when finishing sixth in the Meyrick Good Handicap Hurdle at Fontwell Park on Whit Monday, May 18, 1964.

It is interesting to note that only one of those 41 winners – Mariner’s Call at Fontwell in March 1952 – was gained in a steeplechase, the other 40 all being over hurdles. It appears that, as with contemporaries Johnnie Gilbert and Dennis Dillon, he may have restricted himself to riding only in hurdle races, at least in the latter part of his career.

He died on September 6, 1992, aged 63.

If anyone has further information regarding Frank Crouch, Jockeypedia would be pleased to hear about him.

Since this article was first added to Jockeypedia, I have received this further information from Don Byrne:

Frank Crouch's father was also named Frank.

Frank Crouch (senior) had a brother who was a jockey, and he was a very well known jockey, too.

 His name was Jackie (John) Crouch the highly rated jockey who was killed in a plane crash in 1939 on his way to Newcastle races. So Frank Crouch (junior) was actually the nephew of the famous, but ill-fated, Jackie Crouch.

 When the riding career of Frank Crouch (junior) was finished through injury he opened a coffee bar in Walton-on-Thames and he named it the "Odds On" coffee bar. Another nice snippet about Frank is that he appeared as an extra in some films, namely Ben Hur, The Day of the Triffids, and Gorgo.

Frank Crouch’s winners were, in chronological order:

1. Zeus II, Wye, October 22, 1951

2. Terenure, Leicester, January 7, 1952

3. Pont Cordonnier, Lingfield Park, February 29, 1952

4. Pont Cordonnier, Wye, March 10, 1952

5. Mariner’s Call, Fontwell Park, March 12, 1952

6. Oui Oui II, Nottingham, March 27, 1952 (dead-heat)

7. Pepperbox Hill, Huntingdon, April 14, 1952

8. Oui Oui II, Plumpton, April 30, 1952

9. Cabalistic II, Uttoxeter, May 3, 1952

10. Pont Cordonnier, Hurst Park, November 19, 1952

11. Miss Fax, Hurst Park, November 20, 1952

12. Sam’s Song, Sandown Park, November 21, 1952

13. Pont Cordonnier, Newbury, November 26, 1952

14. Pont Cordonnier, Hurst Park, December 20, 1952

15. Pont Cordonnier, Windsor, January 31, 1953

16. Pont Cordonnier, Lingfield Park, February 21, 1953

17. Alligator, Kempton Park, March 11, 1953

18. Scottish Hope, Manchester, April 4, 1953

19. Pepperbox Hill, Huntingdon, April 6, 1953

20. Bonnie Royal, Stratford-on-Avon, May 7, 1953

21. Monsieur Isy, Manchester, November 14, 1953

22. Devon Cottage, Kempton Park, November 28, 1953

23. Annie Trail, Plumpton, January 6, 1954

24. Mid View, Hurst Park, March 5, 1954

25. Annie Trail, Wye, October 18, 1954

26. Fate, Wolverhampton, November 22, 1954

27. Kantaka, Plumpton, April 2, 1956

28. Vicomte III, Worcester, October 18, 1958

29. Speaker, Hurst Park, January 8, 1959

30. Royal Shoe, Fontwell Park, February 16, 1959

31. Silver Dome, Windsor, January 2, 1960

32. Speaker, Hurst Park, March 17, 1960

33. Sibour, Towcester, April 3, 1961

34. March Vista, Plumpton, September 27, 1961

35. James Edgar, Plumpton, October 9, 1961

36. James Edgar, Sandown Park, November 17, 1961

37. Belle Barker, Towcester, June 11, 1962

28. Belle Barker, Plumpton, September 29, 1962

29. James Edgar, Newton Abbot, May 25, 1963

40. Belle Barker, Stratford-on-Avon, August 31, 1963

41. James Edgar, Newton Abbot, September 21, 1963