Article by Alan Trout
After an unsuccessful stint on the Flat, where he failed to ride a winner, George Cannon fared better over jumps with 15 victories to his name between 1933 and 1941.
He rode for the first time on the Flat at Chester on May 5, 1931, finishing unplaced on All Adrift in the Cestrian Selling Handicap. He had to put up 7lb overweight at 7st 12lb that day, so the signs were already ominous that he would struggle with his weight. He had a few more rides on the Flat but it was when he turned to the jumps that his fortunes began to improve.
His first win came right at the start of the 1933/34 season. On the opening day, August 7, he finished third on Cherry King in the Selling Handicap Hurdle at Newton Abbot. A day later, at the same course, the partnership was victorious in the Brookside Selling Hurdle, beating Belle Bird, the mount of Fred Gurney, by eight lengths. He continued to do well on Cherry King, winning four more races, the last a non-seller, but then went three and a half years without visiting the winner’s enclosure.
He never rode more than five winners in a season and all his career victories were in hurdle races. His final win came on November 15, 1941, when Light Cone, trained by George Todd, beat 26 rivals to win the Cheltenham Handicap Hurdle at that course. He did not renew his licence after the war.
George Cannon’s winners were, in chronological order:
1. Cherry King, Newton Abbot, August 8, 1933
2. Cherry King, Stratford-on-Avon, April 21, 1934
3. Cherry King, Buckfastleigh, May 21, 1934
4. Cherry King, Newton Abbot, August 6, 1934
5. Cherry King, Newton Abbot, August 7, 1934
6. Peace Disturber, Hurst Park, February 17, 1938
7. Peace Disturber, Birmingham, February 28, 1938
8. Holne Chase, Kempton Park, March 2, 1938
9. Cesarion, Fontwell Park, October 17, 1938
10. Flying Mascot, Newbury, February 22, 1939
11. Holne Chase, Birmingham, February 28, 1939
12. Flying Mascot, Kempton Park, March 2, 1939
13. Parasol, Sandown Park, March 17, 1939
14. Peace Disturber, Worcester, April 18, 1940
15. Light Cone, Cheltenham, November 15, 1941
