Geoff Lewis was born in Talgarth, Breconshire, on 21 December 1935. He was one of thirteen children of Francis Lewis, a general labourer. He suffered dreadfully from stammering as a child, mostly overcoming it over the years.
His family moved to Shepherd’s Bush in London after the Second World War and he worked as a pageboy in the Waldorf Hotel. When, on entering the Waldorf one day, Tim Molony, then Britain’s champion National Hunt jockey, noticed him and said, “You're the right shape to make a jockey”. The small, stocky figure to whom the remark was addressed, took notice.
Geoff hated his job as a page boy there anyway, and Molony’s observation struck a chord. It meant a lot to Geoff who promptly handed in his notice and uniform and in 1952 made his way to the Epsom stables of Ron Smyth, the National Hunt champion jockey of 1942 (albeit with only 12 winners) who was then making a success of turning out both Flat horses and jumpers.
He rode his first winner, Eastern Imp at Epsom’s Spring Meeting on 23 April 1953.
By then, 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. His first big race winner was Daemon in the 1955 Cumberland Lodge Stakes.
By 1958 he was becoming established and was retained by the Kingsclere trainer Captain Peter Hastings-Bass. Geoff scored a notable victory for the stable when winning that year’s Coronation Stakes on St Lucia at Royal Ascot. Two years later, he won the Gordon Stakes at Goodwood on Kipling, beating Derby winner St Paddy. Then he took the 1961 Royal Hunt Cup on King’s Troop and the 1963 Jockey Club Cup on Gaul. Their best horse together was Secret Step, a grey filly who was nearly champion sprinter twice, winning the rich Vernons Gold Cup Handicap at York under top weight in 1962 and the July Cup in 1963.
Looking back, years later, Geoff 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.”
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 1969 he had a retainer from their trainer John Sutcliffe. Jimmy Reppin won the Sussex and Queen Elizabeth II Stakes, while Right Tack completed the 2,000 Guineas double at Newmarket and the Curragh and then added the St James’s Palace Stakes.
However, in the second half of that season, 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 VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes and produced one of his greatest ever riding performances to win.
Geoff then had a nightmare ride on Prince Regent in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe and another on the unmanoeuvrable Gyr. As a result, Etienne Pollet, their trainer, jocked him off future rides for the stable.
He rode the Queen's Magna Carta to win the Ascot Stakes and Doncaster Cup in 1970. He then caused an upset by leading all the way on Lorenzaccio in the Champion Stakes and beating Nijinsky by a length and a half in the last race of the Triple Crown winner’s career.
At the end of that year he became first jockey for the Noel Murless stable. He accepted this position on the strict understanding that he would still be free to ride the exiting juvenile 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 of action for several weeks.
His luck dramatically changed when he returned to the track. At Epsom he won the Derby on Mill Reef, the Coronation Cup on Lupe and the Oaks on Altesse Royale. He then rode Mill Reef to record wide-margin victories in the Eclipse, King George and Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. As a four-year-old he added the Prix Ganay and Coronation Cup, but a broken leg on the gallops forced his retirement after 12 wins in 14 races, with Geoff in the saddle on each occasion.
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, including the 1,000th of his career on Belle De Louvain at Bath on 23 July. He finished runner-up to Lester Piggott in that year’s jockeys’ championship and also the following year’s table
He retired from the saddle after winning the Haydock Sprint Cup on Double Form for Fulke Johnson Houghton in 1979. However, he made a one-off comeback to win on Naar in the George Boon Trainers’ Invitation race at Kempton Park on 23 May 1983. Including that trainers' race, he rode a total of 1,880 winners in Britain in 28 seasons (1953-79, 1983).
He began training in 1979, based at Thirty Acre Barn, he sent out his first runner, Welsh Jester, in the Rank Challenge Handicap Hurdle at Fontwell Park on Wednesday, 5 December 1979. Starting at 11-1, Welsh Jester pulled up.
His first winner as a trainer was Concert Hall, ridden by Philip Walsron, in the Northern Handicap at Doncaster on 20 March 1980, the opening day of the season.
Geoff’s best horse was the sprinter Lake Coniston, whose victories included the 1994 Prix de Meautry and, Diadem Stakes, and the 1995 Duke of York Stakes and July Cup. He trained Yawa to win two Group 1 contests, the 1983 Grand Prix de Paris and the 1984 Premio Roma. He gained his sole Classic success with Rough Pearl in the 1984 St Leger Italiano.
His other Group race winners were Kirchner (1983 Premio Umbria), Perion (1988 Palace House Stakes), Point Of Light (1989 Phoenix Sprint Stakes), Karinga Bay (1992 Spreti-Rennen), Silver Wedge (1994 Queen's Vase), and Passion For Life (1996 Benazet-Rennen).
His most successful season numerically was in 1992 with 54 winners. He finished third in that year’s Derby with Silver Wisp.
As a trainer he won 539 races in Britain, his last winner being Fast And Neat at Salisbury on 6 August 1999. He retired at the end of that season and lived in Marbella until returning to Britain in 2014.
Aged 89, Geoff Lewis died on 27 August 2025. He had married Noelene, daughter of dual Melbourne Cup-winning jockey Jim Munro in 1959. They had two children, Gary (who died young) and Marianne.
Oaks: Altesse Royal (1971), Mysterious (1973)
Two Thousand Guineas: Right Tack (1969)
One Thousand Guineas: Mysterious (1973)
1955: City of Birmingham Cup – Saykash
1955: Daemon – Cumberland lodge Stakes
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: 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: Imperial Stakes – Mill Reef
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
1969: Irish One Thousand Guineas – Right Tack
1969: Irish Derby – Prince Regent
1971: Irish Oaks – Altesse Royal
1968: Prix de l’Abbaye – Be Friendly
1971: Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe – Mill Reef
1972: Prix Ganay – Mill Reef
1972: Deutsches Derby – Tarim
1973: Deutches St Leger – Tannenbeg
1977: Preis von Berlin – Windwurf
1977: Grosser Preis von Baden – Windwurf
1966: Dansk Derby – Eminent