The post-war invasion of Australian jockeys in Europe was at its height from the 1950s to the 1970s. Edgar Britt had been one of the first to make his mark, arriving immediately after the war. Scobie Breasley, Bill Williamson and Ron Hutchinson, each of whom emulated Britt by riding classic winners, were among those to make their homes in Britain. In Ireland, Garnet Bougoure and Jack Purtell both rode for top Irish trainers and plundered English classics, as did the likes of French-based Rae Johnstone, Neville Sellwood, Bill Pyers and Pat Glennon.
Others who rode plenty of winners in Britain included Tommy Burn, Eddie Cracknell, Val Faggotter, Russ Maddock and Sheldon Geyer, to name just a handful.
Born circa 1952, Walter (Wally) Cronshaw may not have been the most successful of those Australians, but he could certainly lay claim to be the smallest. Standing well below five feet and easily able to go to scale at the minimum seven stone, diminutive Wally spent three seasons riding in Britain in the mid-1970s.
He was based with Bishop Auckland trainer Denys Smith for his first two seasons, 1973 and 1974. In 1973 he managed one winner from 18 mounts, that coming on the Denys Smith-trained Lotus Eater in the Black Friars Handicap at Chester on August 31.
The following season he again rode just one winner from a total of 60 mounts, Dizy Dave for County Durham trainer Taffy Williams, in the Dumfries Handicap for three-year-olds at Ayr on July 16, 1974.
His association with the Denys Smith yard at an end, Wally rode as a freelance during the 1975 season. His chief supporter was Newmarket trainer Peter Poston, but the closest he got to riding a winner was when finishing third on Poston’s two-year-old filly Blushing Bride in a four-runner seller at Liverpool on July 18.
Wally had what appears to have been his final ride in Britain on another of Poston’s horses, El Lardo, finishing ninth of eleven in a three-year-old seller at Redcar on July 31, 1975.
