Jakie Astor

Jakie Astor

1918-2000

A member of the prominent Astor family, John Jacob ‘Jakie’ Astor, MBE was born on 29 August 1918 at Cliveden, the family estate in Buckinghamshire. In addition to becoming a politician he was also a successful amateur rider on the Flat in the years immediately following World War II. 

The youngest of the four sons of Waldorf Astor, 2nd Viscount Astor and Viscountess Nancy Astor, the first woman elected to take her seat in Parliament, he was educated at Eton and New College, Oxford. He served in the Special Air Service and the Life Guards during World War II.

He rode solely in an amateurs riders’ races on the Flat in an era dominated by the fine Corinthian John Hislop, riding a total of 14 winners, seven of them in 1947. 

He rode his first winner on Bookseller, trained by Joe Lawson, in the Amateurs’ Welter Plate at Salisbury on 4 July 1939. As there were no Flat races for amateur riders during the war years, it would be seven years before he rode another. 

Salisbury was also the venue for his last victory when French Squadron, owned by his father, won the George Thursby Welter Plate on 5 July 1949. Six of his 14 wins were gained at Salisbury, reflecting the fact that it staged more races for amateur riders than any other course, including three at its Bibury Meeting in July. 

Having been elected to represent the Plymouth Sutton in 1951, he became a Member of Parliament for the Conservative Party, remaining Plymouth Sutton’s representative until losing his seat in 1959. 

He owned the West Ilsley Stables, where Dick Hern trained, and also owned the 1965 St Leger winner Provoke. In 1967 he was appointed High Sheriff of Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely.

He trained during the 1970s, initially with a permit but latterly with a full licence in order to train for friends, based at his home at Hatley Park, near Sandy, in Bedfordshire. His best horses included Harper’s Ferry, The Bugler and Vaunted. They were mostly partnered by leading amateur rider Lord John Oaksey.

In 1978 he was awarded a knighthood for services to agriculture, due to his chairmanship of the Agricultural Research Council and the success of his 1,900-acre farm at Hatley Park. 

Sir ‘Jakie’ Astor died on 10th September 2000, aged 82. 

His winners were, in chronological order:

1. Bookseller, Salisbury, 4 July 1939

2. Bancor, Lewes, 12 August 1946

3. The Diver, Birmingham, 5 May 1947

4. Dick The Gee, Salisbury, 9 July 1947

5. The Diver, Salisbury, 10 July 1947

6. Lode, Lingfield Park, 9 August 1947

7. Lode, Lewes, 1 September 1947 (walkover)]

8. Lode, Folkestone, 9 September 1947

9. The Diver, Brighton, 17 September 1947

10. Golden Wedding, Salisbury 6 July 1948

11. Lode, Salisbury, 8 July 1948

12. Lode, Lingfield Park, 14 August 1948

13. Lode, Worcester, 30 May 1949

14. French Squadron, Salisbury, 5 July 1949