Amateur rider John Lubecki was the son of Slavic trainer Bogdan Lubecki, who trained firstly at Lewes and then at Lambourn.
John rode a couple of good chasers early in their careers, notably the French-bred M’as-tu-vu which gave him his first win when landing a Warwick novices’ chase on February 26, 1951. John won on him again at Wye in April.
Ma-tu-vu had originally belonged to Colonel Wladyslaw Bobinski, DSO, OBE, an exiled Polish cavalry officer who trained a few horses in France and sought out French-bred jumpers for the Queen Mother’s trainer Peter Cazalet.
Bobinski was born in Ukraine in 1901. After the Russian Revolution, his family lost their home and he lived as a teenager in the forests before fleeing to Poland. He rode the winner of the Polish Grand Military Steeplechase in 1938, just before the country was invaded by Germany on one side and Russia on the other. He fled to the Hungarian border on his way to continue the fight in France, narrowly avoiding being interned in Hungary. Eventually, by way of Budapest, Yugoslavia and Italy, he arrived in France to join the Polish Division reassembling there. He then fought Hitler’s forces in Syria, Palestine, Libya, Tobruk, ending up in Italy as second-in-command of the Polish Armoured Brigade.
After the war, with no country, no home, very little money and no profession, but a love of horses, he began riding work with a small English jumping stable near Petworth, in Sussex. He rode in a few steeplechases and became acquainted with Lord Mildmay, who was riding some of Peter Cazalet’s horses.
He then found a horse named Rhetorius in France, sent him to England to Freddie Maxwell’s stable, where Bobinski was then living, and trained him to win a steeplechase at Fontwell, ridden by the Polish jockey Josef Kurowski. Peter Cazalet subsequently bought the horse and a link was forged, which would eventually lead to Bobinski finding a succession of good horses for Cazalet, many of which were owned by the Queen Mother, including (as well as M’as-tu-vu) Jaipur, Laffy, Makaldar, Antiar, Worcran, Oedipe, Bel Ambre and Retz.
Bobinski had bought M’as-tu-vu around the time the Korean war broke out, when prices were low. He won a race at Plumpton at 33/1, after which Bobinski sold a half share to Bogdan Lubecki for his son to ride.
John won for a third time on M’as-tu-vu at Warwick in January 1952 (left). He also rode two winners over the 1952 Easter period, winning a Plumpton hunter chase on the Saturday on Alec Kerr’s horse Merry and an amateur riders’ hurdle at Wetherby on Easter Monday aboard Bobby Burns for Essex permit holder Hunter Rowe.
Shortly after John had won a handicap hurdle on M’as-tu-vu at Hurst Park in January 1953, the horse was bought by Peter Cazalet and duly became the third chaser (after Monaveen and Manicou) owned by the Queen Mother, for whom he won six races.
Luckily, the Lubecki family had another useful French-bred chaser named Tricolor II, on whom John won four races during the 1953/54 campaign and one the following season. They also had a hurdler named Lord Bell II, who provided John with his next three wins, albeit spread over nearly four years.
Their second really good horse was Caduval, on whom John won a pair of novice hurdles at Worcester and Uttoxeter in the spring of 1961. While Bogdan Lubecki continued to own and train the horse, Australian Olympic rider Laurie Morgan then took over in the saddle and proceeded to win three more novice hurdles in a row by the end of April. Morgan also rode Caduval to victory in the 1962 Broadway Chase (now the RSA Chase) at Cheltenham and the 1963 Capital and Counties Handicap Chase at Newbury.
John Lubecki rode no more winners. Two of his last rides were over hurdles at Uttoxeter on Easter Monday 1970, finishing unplaced on Seawell and third on Weak Moment.
John Lubecki’s winners were, in chronological order:
1. M’as-tu-vu, Warwick, February 26, 1951
2. M’as-tu-vu, Wye, April 16, 1951
3. M’as-tu-vu, Warwick, January 12, 1952
4. Merry, Plumpton, April 12, 1954
5. Bobby Burns, Wetherby, April 14, 1952
6. Tricolor II, Stratford-on-Avon, January 3, 1953
7. M’as-tu-vu, Hurst Park, January 15, 1953
8. Tricolor II, Manchester, December 4, 1953
9. Tricolor II, Wincanton, December 26, 1953
10. Tricolor II, Wolverhampton, January 18, 1954
11. Tricolor II, Leicester, March 22, 1954
12. Tricolor II, Hurst Park, January 12, 1955
13. Lord Bell II, Uttoxeter, April 14, 1956
14. Lord Bell II, Warwick, March 18, 1957
15. Lord Bell II, Wolverhampton, March 1, 1960
16. Caduval, Worcester, March 25, 1961
17. Caduval, Uttoxeter, April 3, 1961