Article by Chris Pitt
National Hunt jockey Joseph Coates was born at Maddenstown, County Kildare in 1934. He served his apprenticeship in Ireland and rode one winner there before crossing the water to England in 1959 and joining trainer Charles Beadell, who was based near Cranleigh, Surrey.
Joe rode his first British winner on Glenbourne in the Bob Wigney Handicap Hurdle on the Saturday of Plumpton’s Easter fixture, April 16, 1960. He rode four winners in each of the next two seasons and three in 1962/63, all of them trained by Beadell. They included two more on Glenbourne at the start of the 1962/63 season, three each on handicap hurdlers Parka and Cabriolet, and a brace of victories on three-mile chaser Dormead, including the Abergavenny Challenge Cup Handicap Chase at Plumpton on Easter Monday 1962.
In the autumn of 1963 Joe left his Surrey base and went to live in York in search of greater opportunities, however they failed to materialise and he soon returned south, this time joining forces with Joseph Boyes, who trained a string of around 20 at Pyecombe, in Sussex.
He rode his first winner for Boyes on Nothing New in a Newton Abbot maiden hurdle on Boxing Day 1963. His second – and final – success came on novice chaser Roundhead at Wincanton on February 6, 1964.
Probably the best horse in Boyes’ yard was a chaser named Magic Tricks. Joe rode him on several occasions during the 1963/64 season, finishing second twice and third twice but never quite managing to get his head in front. One of those second places was in a two-horse race at Lingfield on January 10, 1964, in which his sole rival was the Queen Mother’s good chaser The Rip, partnered by Bill Rees. The Rip won easily by 10 lengths. The following day’s Sporting Life published a fine photo of Magic Tricks leading The Rip over the water.
Joe Coates returned to Ireland at the end of that season, where he rode occasionally but with little success. He was noted for having ‘good hands’ and a way with horses which enabled him to get the best out of difficult mounts, which in some ways proved a double-edged sword in that it was mainly the difficult ones ones which he was asked to ride.
His British winners in chronological order were:
1. Glenbourne, Plumpton, April 16, 1960
2. Parka, Lingfield, January 20, 1961
3. Cardinal’s Drum, Plumpton, January 27, 1961
4. Parka, Plumpton, April 3, 1961
5. Cabriolet, Wye, April 17, 1961
6. Cabriolet, Sandown, January 13, 1962
7. Parka, Plumpton, February 12, 1962
8. Dormead, Lingfield, March 22, 1962
9. Dormead Plumpton, April 23, 1962
10. Glenbourne, Fontwell, August 22, 1962
11. Glenbourne, Plumpton, September 29, 1962
12. Cabriolet Windsor, December 13, 1962
13. Nothing New, Newton Abbot, December 26, 1963
14. Roundhead, Wincanton, February 6, 1964
