John Burns

John Burns

Article by Alan Trout

John Burns was an Irish jockey who made periodic visits to England and rode eleven winners between 1912 and 1923. Even before opening his account in Britain, he had tackled the famous Liverpool fences, when partnering Prince Hugo in the 1912 Champion Chase. Only two of the eleven-strong field completed the course and Prince Hugo was not among them.

His first win in England was at Bridgnorth on April 23, 1912, when he walked over on Glenside in the Wheatland Steeplechase. The one-eyed ten-year-old had been the hero of the 1911 Grand National, being the only one to completed the course without mishap. However, he had been an early casualty in the 1912 race, and his next start, that walkover at Bridgnorth, presented him with a far simpler task.

Both Prince Hugo and Glenside were owned by Frank Bibby, and it was another of his horses, The Babe, who provided John with a second chance to tackle the Liverpool fences in the 1913 Stanley Chase. They finished second, beaten four lengths by Carrigrue, ridden by Tom Hulme. Again, only two of the eleven runners finished. John also managed to get round on his third attempt in the 1914 Stanley Chase, this time finishing last of five finishers on Andy White, the race being won by future Grand National winner Ally Sloper.  

Mr Bibby was also the owner of John’s second English winner, Conifer, who landed the Abbeydore Hurdle at Hereford on Easter Monday, April 13, 1914. John rode two winners in 1915 (a double at Portsmouth Park) but there was then a long gap – with the First World intervening – before he next visited an English winner’s enclosure. 

Before doing so he had two further attempts to win a Liverpool steeplechase, on consecutive days in 1922. But Fly Mask fell in the Stanley Chase, as did Mask On in the Grand National. 

Later that year, in a heady 15-day spell in December, John rode six winners, all of them trained by Gilbert Bennett at Epsom. They included a double at Sandown Park on Somerville in the Bookham Selling Chase and Good Points in the Pond Handicap Chase. They also included an extraordinary match race at Hurst Park between John on Spoil Five and James L’Estrange on Puro for the Molesey Handicap Chase. After completing the first circuit of the three-mile course, the two jockeys mistakenly took their mounts past the winning post instead of heading out for another circuit of Hurst Park. Both jockeys were fined for riding the wrong distance but the result was allowed to stand, with Spoil Five adjudged to have beaten Puro by 12 lengths. 

John’s final winner in England was The Star in the Harville Hurdle at Wye on March 14, 1923. 

John Burns’ winners were, in chronological order:

1. Glenside, Bridgnorth, April 23, 1912 

2. Conifer, Hereford, April 13, 1914

3. Chang, Portsmouth Park, April 5, 1915

4. Marengo, Portsmouth Park, April 5, 1915

5. Carrolstown, Leicester, December 4, 1922

6. Carrolstown, Gatwick, December 7, 1922

7. Somerville, Sandown Park, December 9, 1922

8. Good Points, Sandown Park, December 9, 1922

9. Spoil Five, Hurst Park, December 15, 1922

10. Matcho Paani, Lingfield Park, December 20, 1922

11. The Star, Wye, March 14, 1923