Edward Gayton

Edward Gayton

1907-1984

Born in 1907, Edward Charles Gayton took out a licence to train under National Hunt rules for the 1931/32 season. He was later granted a jockey’s licence and rode a total of eleven winners on a combination of four horses. 

He started out as an amateur rider, among his early mounts being Nimbo, who he rode ten times during the 1932/33 campaign, achieving one fourth-place finish. There was a slight improvement the following season, with a second and a fourth place from just two early season outings - he was not seen after August 30.

However, Nimbo blossomed in the 1934/35 season, winning five races and being placed in another three out of nine efforts. Previously owned by Miss E. M. Bullock, he was now the property of Miss Norah Gayton, possibly the sister of Edward, who had by now turned professional and was also training the horse. 

Nimbo’s first win was also Edward’s first, at Taunton on November 22, 1934, when, running for the first time in 15 months, he beat Cee Spring, the mount of Fred Gurney, by three lengths to land the Corfe Selling Chase. The partnership was successful again at Leicester in December and, later that season, at Torquay’s Easter Monday fixture. 

On May 6, Edward registered a double, officially at Pershore but actually at Cheltenham. He won the Evesham Selling Hurdle on the seven-year-old Faust, who was running for the first time under National Hunt rules, then won Pershore’s feature race, the Land o’ Plums Handicap Chase, on Nimbo. 

The reason why Pershore’s main meeting, usually held on the first Monday and Tuesday of May, took place at Cheltenham that year, was that Pershore’s previous course, located at Weir Meadow, between Defford Road and the banks of the River Avon, was prone to flooding, and after the 1932 meeting had been abandoned due to a waterlogged course, it was decided to seek an alternative venue.  

A suitable site was found at the opposite end of the town, near to the railway station. The last meeting at the Weir Meadow course took place in May 1934, but the new course was not ready for the 1935 May fixture – it finally opened in October that year – hence the temporary switch to Cheltenham. 

Nimbo and Edward ended that 1934/35 season on a high note, winning a match for the Buckfastleigh Handicap Chase at that Devon course’s traditional Whit Monday fixture, defeating the 6-4 on favourite Saucy Boy, ridden by champion jockey Gerry Wilson. Nimbo was listed in the form book for that Buckfastleigh success as being trained by Gilbert King at St Giles, Salisbury, hence it appears that Edward had relinquished his trainer’s licence to focus on riding. 

The following season went almost as well for Edward the jockey, with five wins, comprising three in a row on the five-year-old Madam Butterfly, owned by Miss E. M. Bullock, and two on Broken Hill II, the latter providing his last two wins, at Hawthorn Hill in March and at Buckfastleigh on Whit Monday, June 1, 1936. Interestingly, Broken Hill II was owned by Miss E. M. Bullock when winning at Hawthorn Hill, but by Miss Norah Gayton when scoring at Buckfatleigh. All five of those wins are recorded as being privately trained but there is little doubt that Gilbert King was responsible for preparing them.  

Edward Gayton maintained a jockey’s licence until the 1937/38 season. He died in 1984.  

His winners were, in chronological order:

1. Nimbo, Taunton, November 22, 1934

2. Nimbo, Leicester, December 4, 1934

3. Nimbo, Torquay, April 22, 1935

4. Faust, Cheltenham, May 6, 1935

5. Nimbo, Cheltenham, May 6, 1935

6. Nimbo, Buckfastleigh, June 10, 1935

7. Madam Butterfly, Newton Abbot, August 6, 1835

8. Madam Butterfly, Newton Abbot, September 6, 1935

9. Madam Butterfly, Taunton, October 3, 1935

10. Broken Hill II, Hawthorn Hill, March 3, 1936

11. Broken Hill II, Buckfastleigh, June 1, 1936