William Collis

William Collis

Article by Alan Trout

Although he rode for only four seasons on the Flat, William Collis had 13 winners and was placed on numerous occasions.

Born in 1894, William Henry Collis began his racing career as an apprentice to Alfred Day (1860-1935), the last in a family of great trainers, and had his first ride in what was then one of the most famous handicaps of the season, the Great Metropolitan Stakes at Epsom on April 22, 1913. His mount, the four-year-old Cavalry, finished unplaced, the race being won by William Beasley on Annecy. 

He did not ride his first winner until October 21 of that year, when Sarson won the Ifield Selling Plate at Gatwick by a neck from Scotch Heiress, the mount of Morny Wing, who was to become champion apprentice in 1914 and again in 1915. 

William had three wins in 1914, but 1915 was far better with a score of eight. At Ayr’s two-day meeting on May 10 and 11 he not only won two races but also finished second on five occasions, admittedly in small fields. His biggest win came on Voldy in the Earl of Sefton’s Stakes at Liverpool on March 27. 

Sadly, he was unable to build on those efforts and, as with so many other jockeys, losing the apprentice allowance probably did not help. 

He took out a full professional jockey’s licence in 1916 but there was only one more victory to come. That was at Newbury on April 29 when The O’Neill won the Compton Selling Handicap by half a length.

Back at Newbury on July 1 that year, he had his final ride when unplaced on Frank Cundell’s horse Ranelagh in the Ogbourne Welter Handicap, won by Arthur Smith on Schamyl. 

Although he may not have achieved that much, it is a mark of how highly he was regarded that he had 118 rides in the curtailed 1915 season alone. 

After the war he went to ride in India but had returned by 1920 and was living at Eaton Road, Haverstock Hill. That year he was charged, together with other defendants, with fraud, being accused of having substituted one horse (Jazz) for another (Coat of Mail) at Stockton in October 1919. 

He was described in court as a jockey and was “bound over in his own recognisances in £100 and one surety in £100 to come up for judgment if called upon.” 

William admitted backing the ringer and was reminded in court that “as a jockey he was not permitted to gamble”. His co-defendants were warned off but there is no evidence that William suffered the same fate, although it is likely that any future applications for a jockey’s licence would have been refused.  

William Collis’s winners were, in chronological order:

1. Sarson, Gatwick, October 21, 1913

2. Beer Ox, Newmarket, May 12, 1914

3. Game Chief, Gatwick, June 12,1914

4. The Crown, Worcester, October 30, 1914

5. Voldy, Liverpool, March 27, 1915

6. Sudden Squall, Warwick, April 7, 1915

7. Sordello, Hurst Park, May 1, 1915

8. Sealskin, Chester, May 6, 1915 

9. Nihilist, Ayr, May 10, 1915

10. Topper’s Folly, Ayr, May 11, 1915

11. Wild Lass, Bath, May 19, 1915

12. Neville Holt, Newmarket, August 10, 1915

13. The O’Neill, Newbury, April 29, 1916