Charles Richard Kettlewell, known as Richie, was born in 1908. He was one of trainer Bobby Renton’s first apprentices and had his first ride in public when Beautiful Maid finished down the field in the Hackfall Three-Year-Old Handicap at Ripon on May 16, 1924.
He had no success from limited opportunities on the Flat. When he got too heavy he became a National Hunt jockey for Walter Easterby, who trained at Catterick. His first effort over jumps was on Boreas, who finished unplaced in the Hall Orchards Selling Handicap Hurdle at Wetherby on October 27, 1927. Just a few weeks later the same horse gave him his first success when landing the Appleton Selling Handicap Hurdle at Catterick Bridge on November 19, beating the favourite Essandra, ridden by Bob Lyall, by three-quarters of a length.
Over the next five years, Richie had two more wins on Boreas and three victories on the hurdler Taipa. He did not hold a licence for part of the 1930s but came back to ride a final winner when Constant Brother took the Lambton Handicap Hurdle at Catterick Bridge on March 8, 1939, although helped by both of his rivals falling. He had already taken out a licence to train by then and this was one of his first victories.
He held a jockey’s licence until the 1946/47 season and continued to train until the mid-1950s, based near Catterick. He died in 1988.
Richie Kettlewell’s winners were, in chronological order:
1. Boreas, Catterick Bridge, November 19, 1927
2. Boreas, Sedgefield, December 16, 1927
3. Dix-sept, Tenby, January 12, 1928
4. Boreas, Hexham, May 26, 1928
5. Radio Rex, Carlisle, December 5, 1928
6. Ballynoble, Brocklesby Hunt, April 18, 1929
7. Fabulist, Hexham, May 20, 1929
8. Marinero, Sedgefield, April 16, 1930
9. Marinero, Carlisle, April 21, 1930
10. Taipa, Sedgefield, May 16, 1931
11. Taipa, Hexham, May 23, 1931
12. Ambition, Hexham, May 25, 1931
13. Taipa, Sedgefield, December 26, 1931
14. Nawton, Sedgefield, April 1, 1933
15. Constant Brother, Sedgefield, March 8, 1939