Fred Johnson

Fred Johnson

Article by Alan Trout

National Hunt jockey Frederick (Fred) Johnson rode 17 winners – six of them at Shincliffe – between 1901 and 1912. His first victory was at Hooton Park on November 2, 1901, when riding Hugath Lath to win the Priory Handicap Chase by two lengths from Maudlin, with the only other runner, the odds-on favourite Nell, ridden by Ernie Piggott, failing to complete the course. 

Fred did not have to wait long for his second and third successes, recording a double later that month at the old Hamilton Park course (the present one did not open until 1926), and, over the next few years, he continued to ride the occasional winner. In 1906 he won four races on selling chaser The Villager II. 

His final win was on Etrick, which beat six rivals to take the Watergall Four-Year-Old Handicap Hurdle at Warwick on February 15, 1912, winning by three lengths. He had his last ride soon after when Talk Of The Town finished last of four in the Dover Selling Hurdle at Folkestone on April 15, 1912. 

Fred Johnson’s winners were, in chronological order:

1. Hugath Lath, Hooton Park, November 2, 1901

2. Early Pearl, Hamilton Park, November 21, 1901

3. Haskeval, Hamilton Park, November 21, 1901

4. Veridian, Grindon Hunt, October 4, 1902

5. Royal Stream, Wetherby, April 24, 1905

6. Royal Chief, Shincliffe, May 10, 1905

7. The Villager II, Shincliffe, May 9, 1906

8. The Villager II, Shincliffe, May 10, 1906

9. The Villager II, Hexham, October 10, 1906

10. The Villager II, Leicester, November 28, 1906

11. Rainy Day, Catterick Bridge, April 4, 1907

12. Red Rush, Shincliffe, May 8, 1907

13. Prime Warden, Catterick Bridge, October 28, 1908

14. Wire Puller, Shincliffe, March 17, 1909

15. East Hill, Shincliffe, March 18, 1909

16. Prime Warden, Wetherby, April 13, 1909

17. Etrick, Warwick, February 15, 1912