Geoff Lewis

When, on entering the Waldorf Hotel, Tim Molony, then champion jumps jockey of Great Britain, said 'You're the right shape to make a jockey', the small, stocky figure to whom the remark was addressed, took notice.

Geoff Lewis hated his job as a page boy there anyway, and Molony's observation struck a cord. It meant a lot to Geoff who promptly handed in his notice and uniform and made his way to the Epsom stables of Ron Smyth, the NH champion jockey of 1942 (albeit with only 12 winners) who was then making a success of turning out both Flat horses and jumpers.

It wasn't until 1953 that he rode his first winner, Eastern Imp at Epsom's Spring Meeting.

Lester Piggott had ridden well over 200 while Joe Mercer, though still an apprentice, had won that year's Oaks on Ambiguity.

Geoff, on the other hand, had already, at 17, experienced the downside of racing when on a supposed certainty. He had been told that under no circumstances was he to strike the front before the final furlong.

The field had crawled along for the first four furlongs and Geoff was yanking the teeth of his mount to stay behind.

Suddenly the field took off, leaving Geoff some 50 yards in its wake. Well and truly beaten, he was hauled before the stewards to explain. Worse - he was offered hardly any more rides that season. However, he'd ridden 15, not too bad a first season total. The next season he rode 37, finishing 20th in the list of winning riders.

Looking back, years later, he said, 'The best Guv'nors are the ones who give the fewest orders.'

He rated Hastings-Bass the best, saying, 'He'd tell me to give the horse a chance, come the shortest way, and, if you get shut in, well, never mind – there's always another day.'

Such instructions gave the young Geoff the confidence to sit and wait.

'In this business,' he said, 'confidence is more than half the battle.'

Geoff was born in Talgarth, Breconshire, on 21 December 1935. He was one of thirteen children. He suffered dreadfully from stammering as a child, mostly overcoming it over the years.

By 1958, he was becoming established and was retained by the Kingsclere trainer Capt Peter Hastings-Bass. Geoff scored a notable victory for the stable when winning the Coronation Stakes on St Lucia at Royal Ascot that year: two years later, he won the Gordon Stakes at Goodwood on Kipling. Then he took the Royal Hunt Cup on King's Troop.

Unexpectedly and young, Hastings-Bass died, and his role was taken over by Ian Balding who kept Geoff on as stable jockey.

For Balding, Geoff won the 1964 Coventry Stakes and the Dewhurst Stakes on the irascible Silly Season which Geoff found to be the most difficult of rides. As a four year old, Silly Season became a jockey's nightmare, refusing to do more than he wanted despite the jockey's efforts. Geoff admitted that at the time he just didn't have the confidence to handle such a horse then.

In the second half of 1969, Geoff suffered another loss of confidence when nothing went right for him on the horses that really mattered.

He was beaten in the Eclipse on the red hot-hot favourite, Park Top.

Under orders not to hit the front too soon, he waited a moment too long: Piggott took instant advantage and beat him on Wolver Hollow.

'If there had been a hole in the ground I'd have gone down it' Geoff said after the race.

To rub salt in the wounds, Piggott then rode Park Top in the King George and produced one of his greatest ever riding performances to win.

Geoff then had a nightmare ride on Prince Regent in the Arc de Triomphe and another on the unmanoeuvrable Gyr. As a result, Etienne Pollet, their trainer, jocked him off future rides for the stable.

At the end of 1970, Geoff became first jockey for the Noel Murless stable. He accepted this position on the strict understanding that he would still be free to to ride Mill Reef in all his races.

Geoff was still followed by bad luck: he chose to ride Magic Flute over Altesse Royale in the 1,000 Guineas. Altesse Royale won, Magic Flute came fourth. Then Mill Reef was beaten by Brigadier Gerard in the 2,000 Guineas.

Then he fell from Sequence and was out for several weeks.

His luck dramatically changed when he returned to the track: he won the Derby on Mill Reef, the Coronation Cup on Lupe and the Oaks on Altesse Royale.

In the last season that he trained, 1976, Murless retained no stable jockey so Geoff moved on to become stable jockey to Bruce Hobbs. He gained his first important success for the stable on Tachypous in the Middle Park Stakes. He followed up the next season on Brightly (Cheshire Oaks), Royal Harmony (July Stakes), Grey Baron (Goodwood Cup) and Tumbledownwind (Gimcrack).

His best season, numerically, was in 1969, when he rode 146 winners: he also finished runner-up to Lester Piggott in the jockeys' championship. He rode a total of 1,880 winners in Britain.

Geoff turned to training on quitting the saddle, and sent out his first runner, Welsh Jester, in the Rank Challenge Handicap Hurdle at Fontwell Park on Wednesday, December 5, 1979.

Starting at 11-1, Welsh Jester pulled up.


Geoff Lewis


Classic winners:

Derby: Mill Reef (1971)

Oaks: Altesse Royal (1971), Mysterious (1973)

Two Thousand Guineas: Right Tack (1969)

One Thousand Guineas: Mysterious (1973)


Other big winners:

1955: City of Birmingham Cup – Saykash

1958: Victoria Cup – Red Letter

1958: Coronation Stakes – St Lucia

1958: Geoffrey Freer Stakes – Owen Glendower

1959: Royal Hunt Cup – Faultless Speech

1959: New (Norfolk) Stakes – Sound Track

1959: William Hill Gold Cup – Faultless Speech

1959: Stewards’ Cup – Tudor Monarch

1959: Princess Margaret Stakes – Lady Advocate

1960: Greenham Stakes – Filipepi

1960: Ribblesdale Stakes – French Fern

1960: Gordon Stakes – Kipling

1961: Chester Cup – Hoy

1961: Royal Hunt Cup – King’s Troop

1961: King Edward VII Stakes – Aurelius

1961: King’s Stand Stakes – Silver Tor

1961: Richmond Stakes – Sovereign Lord

1962: King Edward VII Stakes – Gaul

1962: Jockey Club Stakes – Gaul

1962: Bunbury Cup – Blue Over

1963: Dee Stakes – Elite Royale

1963: Coronation Stakes (Sandown) – Tacitus

1963: July Cup – Secret Step

1963: Jockey Club Cup – Gaul

1964: Coventry Stakes – Silly Season

1964: Dewhurst Stakes – Silly Season

1965: Greenham Stakes – Silly Season

1965: John Porter Stakes – Soderini

1965: Craven Stakes – Corifi

1965: Westbury Stakes – Goupi

1965: St James’s Palace Stakes – Silly Season

1965: Hardwicke Stakes – Soderini

1965: Jockey Club Cup – Goupi

1965: Champion Stakes – Silly Season

1965: Cheveley Park Stakes – Berkeley Springs

1966: Lockinge Stakes – Silly Season

1966: Ascot Stakes – Tubalcain

1966: News of the World Stakes – Le Cordonnier

1966: Hungerford Stakes – Silly Season

1967: New (Norfolk) Stakes – Porto Bello

1967: Goodwood Stakes – Tubalcain

1967: Ayr Gold Cup – Be Friendly

1967: Jockey Club Cup – Dancing Moss

1968: John Porter Stakes – Fortissimo

1968: Coventry Stakes – Murrayfield

1968: Solario Stakes – Murrayfield

1968: Hungerford Stakes – Jimmy Reppin

1968: Waterford Crystal Mile – Jimmy Reppin

1968: Imperial Stakes – Right Tack

1968: Middle Park Stakes – Right Tack

1969: Palace House Stakes – Be Friendly

1969: Coronation Stakes (Sandown) – Pembroke Castle

1969: St James’s Palace Stakes – Right Tack

1969: Hardwicke Stakes – Park Top

1969: Princess Margaret Stakes – Red Velvet

1969: Sussex Stakes – Jimmy Reppin

1969: Hungerford Stakes – Jimmy Reppin

1969: Select Stakes – Jimmy Reppin

1969: Queen Elizabeth II Stakes – Jimmy Reppin

1969: St Simon Stakes – Rangong

1970: Free Handicap – Shiny Tenth

1970: Lingfield Derby Trial – Meadowville

1970: Coventry Stakes – Mill Reef

1970: Ascot Stakes – Magna Carta

1970: Gordon Stakes – Rock Roi

1970: Gimcrack Stakes – Mill Reef

1970: Nassau Stakes – Pulchra

1970: Doncaster Cup – Magna Carta

1970: Flying Childers Stakes – Mummy’s Pet

1970: Select Stakes – Northern Wizard

1970: Royal Lodge Stakes – Yaroslav

1970: St Simon Stakes – Politico

1970: Champion Stakes – Lorenzaccio

1970: Dewhurst Stakes – Mill Reef

1971: Earl of Sefton Stakes – Pembroke Castle

1971: Greenham Stakes – Mill Reef

1971: Victoria Cup – Mon Plaisir

1971: Lockinge Stakes – Welsh Pageant

1971: Temple Stakes – Mummy’s Pet

1971: Coronation Cup – Lupe

1971: New (Norfolk) Stakes – Philip of Spain

1971: Ascot Gold Cup – Random Shot

1971: Coronation Stakes – Magic Flute

1971: Princess of Wales’s Stakes – Lupe

1971: Eclipse Stakes – Mill Reef

1971: National Stakes – Stilvi

1971: King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes – Mill Reef

1971: Nassau Stakes – Catherine Wheel

1971: Hungerford Stakes – Welsh Pageant

1971: Yorkshire Oaks – Fleet Wahine

1971: Royal Lodge Stakes – Adios

1971: Princess Royal Stakes – Hill Circus

1971: Sun Chariot Stakes – Hill Circus

1971: Royal Lodge Stakes – Yaroslav

1971: Cesarewitch Handicap – Orosio

1972: Craven Stakes – Leicester

1972: Ormonde Stakes – Selhurst

1972: Coronation Cup – Mill Reef

1972: Wokingham Stakes – Le Johnstan

1972: Hardwicke Stakes – Selhurst

1972: King’s Stand Stakes – Sweet Revenge

1972: Cherry Hinton Stakes – Mysterious

1972: Yorkshire Oaks – Attica Meli

1972: Park Hill Stakes – Attica Meli

1972: Princess Royal Stakes – Attica Meli

1972: Royal Lodge Stakes – Adios

1973: Fred Darling Stakes – Mysterious

1973: City and Suburban Handicap – Bus

1973: Cheshire Oaks – Milly Moss

1973: Dante Stakes – Owen Dudley

1973: Duke of York Stakes – Abwah

1973: Diomed Stakes – Owen Dudley

1973: Goodwood Stakes – Pamroy

1973: Geoffrey Freer Stakes – Attica Meli

1973: Benson & Hedges Gold Cup – Moulton

1973: Yorkshire Oaks – Mysterious

1973: Henry II Stakes – The Admiral

1973: Geoffrey Freer Stakes – Attica Meli

1973: Doncaster Cup – Attica Meli

1973: Cornwallis Stakes – Splashing

1973: Cambridgeshire Handicap – Siliciana

1974: Earl of Sefton Stakes – Owen Dudley

1974: Ormonde Stakes – Crazy Rhythm

1974: Dante Stakes – Honoured Guest

1974: Northern Goldsmith’s Handicap – Estaminet

1974: Coventry Stakes – Whip It Quick

1974: Lancashire Oaks – Mill’s Bomb

1974: Nassau Stakes – Mill’s Bomb

1974: Park Hill Stakes – Mill’s Bomb

1974: Cornwallis Stakes – Paris Review

1975: Ormonde Stakes – Rouser

1975: Musidora Stakes – Moonlight Night

1975: Britannia Stakes – Chil The Kite

1975: Cherry Hinton Stakes – Everything Nice

1975: Falmouth Stakes – Sauceboat

1976: Lincoln Handicap – The Hertford

1976: Earl of Sefton Stakes – Chil The Kite

1976: Musidora Stakes – Everything Nice

1976: Jersey Stakes – Gwent

1976: Britannia Takes – Strabo

1976: Andy Capp Handicap – Gunner B

1976: Mill Reef Stakes – Anax

1976: Middle Park Stakes – Tachypous

1977: Cheshire Oaks – Brightly

1977: Henry II Stakes – Grey Baron

1977: July Stakes – Royal Harmony

1977: Goodwood Cup – Grey Baron

1977: Gimcrack Stakes – Tumbeldownwind

1978: Cheshire Oaks – Princess Eboli

1978: Lancashire Oaks – Princess Eboli

1979: Vernons Sprint Cup – Double Form


In Ireland

1969: Irish One Thousand Guineas – Right Tack

1969: Irish Derby – Prince Regent

1971: Irish Oaks – Altesse Royal


In France

1968: Prix de l’Abbaye – Be Friendly

1971: Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe – Mill Reef


In Germany

1972: Deutsches Derby – Tarim

1977: Preis von Berlin – Windwurf

1977: Grosser Preis von Baden – Windwurf