James Beaver

James Beaver

1894-1965

Article by Alan Trout

Despite riding for five years on the Flat, James Gordon Beaver did not manage to win a race.

Born in 1894, he was apprenticed to Tom Waugh (1874-1946) who ran a successful stable at Meynell House, Newmarket. James had his first ride in public on April 25, 1911 when finishing unplaced on Singlet in the Apprentices’ Handicap at Newmarket, a race won by John Dillon on Pickmore.

James must have done enough in his first year to convince connections he had some ability, because at the start of 1912 he was given the chance to ride in the season’s first big race, the Lincolnshire Handicap. His mount, 50-1 chance Ben Alder, had won twice the previous year, but on this occasion he finished down the field.

Although James continued to have the occasional ride, the breakthrough did not come. The closest he came to victory was at Birmingham on Easter Monday, March 24, 1913 when finishing second on Primrose Knight, beaten a length and a half by Walter Buckley on Denison in the Decker Hill Maiden Plate.

He was granted a full professional jockey’s licence for the 1915 season but his fortunes did not change. He had his final ride at Newmarket on June 15 that year, when his mount Mona-toi lined up alongside 42 others for the Maiden Two-Year-Old Plate. Mona-toi finished in the pack after dwelling at the start and losing ground, the race being won by Steve Donoghue on Wist.

James Beaver did not renew his licence for 1916. He died in 1965.