Sidney Lawton

Sidney Lawton

1882-1917

Article by Alan Trout

After riding five winners in 1906, Sidney Lawton only managed three more in the next six years. Born in Essex in 1882, his first winner, Crafty Thought, was the only one of a field of five to finish the Selling Handicap Chase at Wye on October 1, 1906, the others having refused or fallen. 

This was not the first time the pair had passed the post in front, for they had occupied that position the previous month, at Totnes on September 7. However, they had missed a fence and were disqualified. In his defence, Sidney explained that he had misunderstood the starter’s instructions. This time there were no such mistakes. Crafty Thought certainly earned his victory, for he had run twice on the day after his Totnes debacle, finishing third both times.  

Sidney rode Crafty Thought twice more that year, but one fourth place was all that they managed. However, he did have four more successes, including two wins on the same day on the four-year-old The Tigress at Chelmsford in November. The first race was a maiden hurdle, the second a maiden chase. 

He only rode two winners during the next two years, but they were achieved in the same race, recording back-to-back victories in the Bungay Hunters’ Hurdle at that course on Periwinkle II. 

There was a long gap before he had his final winner when Flanagan took the Broughton Maiden Hurdle at Nottingham on December 10, 1912. The three-year-old was making his debut under National Hunt rules, and beat Sauterne, the mount of Frank Lyall, by three-quarters of a length. Flanagan was also Sidney’s final ride when finishing unplaced in the Doveridge Handicap Hurdle at Derby on March 4, 1913. 

During the First World War, he served as a Corporal in the Army Volunteer Corps (AVC). He was killed in action in Greece on October 14, 1917, and buried at  Salonika (Lembet Road) Military Cemetery, CWGC* Cemetery/Memorial, Greece. He was 35.

Sidney Lawton’s winners were, in chronological order:

1. Crafty Thought, Wye, October 1, 1906

2. The Tigress, Chelmsford, November 8, 1906

3. The Tigress, Chelmsford, November 8, 1906

4. Tollsworth, Folkestone, December 13, 1906

5. The Tigress, Wye, December 20, 1906

6. Periwinkle II, Bungay, April 3, 1907 

7. Periwinkle II, Bungay, April 8, 1908

8. Flanagan, Nottingham, December 10, 1912

*Commonwealth War Graves Commission