John Crotty

John Crotty

John Joseph Crotty was an Irish jockey who enjoyed limited success in his homeland but rode 13 winners in England, all bar one in the late 1920s. 

His first English win was gained at Hurst Park on January 15, 1927, when riding Shady Night to land the Novices’ Chase by eight lengths. Trained by George Poole at Lewes, the 10-year-old had won a similar race at Plumpton on New Year’s Day when partnered by Poole’s stable jockey Dick Rees. The horse picked up a penalty for that win, so John’s claim helped reduce the burden, although he was still obliged to carry 12st 7lb to victory.

John rode five more winners by the end of that campaign. There were no wins in 1927/28, but he then recorded scores of four and two in the following seasons. 

He rode over the Liverpool fences once, when partnering Tootenhill in the Stanley Chase on March 21, 1929, but like 11 others in the 15-strong field, they failed to finish. John did, though, manage to win three races on Tootenhill during that year. 

A five-year gap ensued before John rode the last of his English winners, at Lingfield Park on November 23, 1934, when Tuscan Noble won the Cobham Selling Hurdle by four lengths from Rosy Sky, the mount of Frenchie Nicholson. That was the last season in which John rode in England. 

He may well have been the father of – or at least related to – Patrick Crotty who won the 1949 Leopardstown Chase and achieved his sole British success on Vulgan’s Palace at Cheltenham in November 1966.

John Crotty’s British wins were, in chronological order:

1. Shady Night, Hurst Park, January 15, 1927

2. Fleecy Wave, Chelmsford, February 9, 1927

3. Goodford, Lingfield park, February 12, 1927

4. Fleecy Wave, Hurst Park, February 17, 1927

5. Moytura, Chelmsford, March 16, 1927

6. Gibus, Bournemouth, April 8, 1927

7. Tootenhill, Lingfield Park, January 24, 1929

8. Garryheaken, Fontwell Park, April 20, 1929

9. Tootenhill, Lingfield Park, May 1, 1929

10. Tootenhill, Folkestone, May 8, 1929

11. Letham, Isle of Wight, August 5, 1929

12. Garryheaken, Sandown Park, December 7, 1929

13. Tuscan Noble, Lingfield Park, November 23, 1934