“W. Cox has come to stay.” Those were the words of John Betts in an article in his ‘Winners for 1950’ annual. “As he is but seventeen he has made his mark early,” Betts continued. “He rides under six stone and looks the type to keep his weight within bounds.”
Warrington-born Walter Cox had made a big impression the previous year, riding ten winners from 89 mounts in 1949. He was apprenticed to Jack Leach at Newmarket. Leach even went so far as to purchase a three-year-old named Seawreck specially to give young Walter a chance of having the necessary rides in public. Leach’s judgement was not misplaced, for Walter won twice on Seawreck and was placed on several occasions.
His first win, however, came on Leach’s two-year-old colt Turn a Penny in the Apprentices’ Stakes at Newmarket on June 30, 1949. He won on Seawreck at Yarmouth in July, then scored a double on those two horses at Yarmouth on August 3.
Those early successes led to Walter being in demand by other trainers. Henri Jelliss was the first, putting Walter up on a winner for Dorothy Paget at Windsor. Harold Wallington was next, providing him with another Windsor winner in Tiber Glide. Then Norman Bertie employed him to win on Third Programme at Yarmouth. Doncaster trainer Albert Cooper supplied Walter with his last winner of the season, Harella at Newmarket in October.
Betts’ article continued: “He has nice hands of great strength. But what pleases his master is his ability to sit still. Perhaps even more to the point is the fact that he is good at the gate. He also understands the art of balance, so he should go far. In another three years Cox should be the finished article.”
Tadcaster trainer Walter Easterby invited Walter all the way up to Lanark to ride his first winner of 1950 on Trent Lady in a three-year-old handicap. Albert Cooper gave him another winner, Avon, at Beverley in June. Three more followed over the next three months. He rode five winners from 79 rides that year. But that was as good as it got.
Sadly, Betts’ prediction of a bright future for young Walter Cox did not bear fruit. He failed to ride another winner after 1950 and disappeared from the racing scene almost as quickly as he’d arrived.
Walter Cox’s winners were, in chronological order:
1. Turn a Penny, Newmarket, June 30, 1949
2. Seawrack, Yarmouth, July 7, 1949
3. Seawrack, Yarmouth, August 3, 1949
4. Turn a Penny, Yarmouth, August 3, 1949
5. Fair Deva, Windsor, August 17, 1949
6. Embosser, Folkestone, September 3, 1949
7. Tiber Glide, Windsor, September 10, 1949
8. Third Programme, Yarmouth, September 14, 1949
9. Turn a Penny, Nottingham, October 4, 1949
10. Harella, Newmarket, October 28, 1949
11. Trent Lady, Lanark, April 29, 1950
12. Avon, Beverley, June 15, 1950
13. Turn a Penny, Lincoln, July 20, 1950
14. Seawrack, Worcester, August 21, 1950
15. Aspen, Wolverhampton, September 12, 1950
