Walter Hurst Ashurst had a brief career under National Hunt rules following World War Two and rode just one winner, Neville Lodge, which romped to a five-length victory in the Breadalabane Novices’ Hurdle (Division 1) at Perth on April 24, 1947. Trained by Tommy Rayson, the five-year-old had finished second at Bogside five days earlier with Walter aboard.
He held a licence for the following season, 1947/48, but the nearest he came to riding a winner was when finishing third on Widow’s Cruise in a selling handicap hurdle at Newport on Easter Monday.
There was then a gap before he renewed his licence for the 1950/51 campaign. It is pure speculation but the reason for his two-season absence may have been that he was called up for National Service. If so, he would have been typical of many jockeys of that time whose careers were interrupted by the introduction of compulsory National Conscription, brought in during 1947 for men aged between 17 and 21.
Neville Lodge went on to win two more races in the 1950/51 season, but Walter did not add to his winning tally.
