Tom Olliver

1812 - 1874

Tom Olliver was born in 1812 and, the rider of three Grand National winners and three runner-ups, he remains one of the finest jockeys to have contested the race.

Tom (born Tom Oliver) added a second 'L' to his surname saying 'it is better to have an extra pound in hand.' Many people mistakenly thought he was referring to money (L being the sign of the British pound) when, in fact, he was referring to the weight a horse carried.

Tom was born in Angmering, Sussex, one of 16 children and, as a young man, worked at the Epsom training stables of Mr D. Page, his uncle. He had his first ride in public on the Flat at Epsom in 1828 and the same year rode his first winner there on Icarus. He had his first ride over jumps on Columbine at Finchley in 1837.

Because of his swarthy dark looks, he was known as ‘Black’ Tom. Generous to a fault, Tom would give hand-outs without question and, because of this, would often end up in serious financial difficulty himself, serving time at the ‘pokey’ - a debtors’ prison which became almost his second home. This caused him to lose many good rides.

He remained an extremely popular man: cavalrymen would visit him in prison and Tom's allure to the opposite sex was legendary.

His first National win came on Gay Lad in 1842. Jumping the last hurdle upsides Seventy Four, Tom's mount strode away to win by four lengths. Tom won the race again the following year, thereby becoming its first dual winner, on Vanguard. The horse was later given to Tom by the grateful owner and, such was the esteem in which Tom held it that when Vanguard died, he had its hide used to make a sofa. (The sofa is now the property of the Aintree Racecourse.)

Before mounting Peter Simple for the 1853 National, Tom, speaking to its owners, said of the horse: “Sometimes he means it and I don’t, sometimes I means it and he don’t - but today we both mean it!”

They did, too, winning by three lengths with Peter Simple, aged 15 years, becoming easily the oldest horse ever to win the great race.

Tom retired after one last National ride in 1858. He became landlord of the Star Inn in Leamington but soon grew to miss racing and set himself up as a trainer in Wroughton, Wiltshire. A particularly fine horse he sent out was Albert Victor who, ridden by Henry Custance, won the Thirteenth Newmarket Biennial Stakes on Tuesday, April 11, 1871. Custance dropped his whip inside the last furlong and the even money favourite scrapped home by a head.

In the winter of 1873, Tom found himself with a good horse on his hands, George Frederick, and set about training him for the 1874 Derby.

Sadly, Tom’s health began to fail him and, on January 7, 1874, he died.

Tom’s head lad continued with the horse’s preparation and, that June, George Frederick galloped away to win England’s richest prize.