Ben Land Jr. was the son of trainer Ben Land senior who had trained The Lamb to win the 1868 Grand National but committed suicide in 1872. Both Ben and his younger brother John rode winners on the Flat for their father in the 1850s.
Ben junior rode in his first steeplechase at Charlborough, Chipping Norton, on a horse named Frank. He went on to become a successful National Hunt jockey, achieving his biggest success in the Cheltenham Grand Annual Steeplechase in 1864 on Jerry. He was placed three times in the Grand National, finishing second on Bridegroom (1862) and Arbury (1864) and third on Huntsman (1859),
He later trained for a time in Surrey and then for many years was a tram driver. In later years he was an ostler in Islington. He died on September 28, 1906 and was buried in Nunhead on October 2 of that year.
He was predeceased by his brother John, who died at Windsor in 1905, aged 63.