Bruce Raymond

Bruce Hunter Raymond was born in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, on May 10, 1943. His father had served his apprenticeship with Fred Darling at Beckhampton but had left racing before the war and was working in an aircraft factory in Hatfield. His father took young Bruce racing one day at Brighton and he was hooked on racing from that moment.

 From 1959 to 1964, he was apprenticed to Willie Stephenson (whose daughter Jillian he married on December 2, 1965).

His first winner came on Arctic Bar at Birmingham on June 19, 1961 and,  just a year later, he was top apprentice with just 13 winners, which remains the lowest winning total ever (outside of the war years). His 13 wins did include, however, big race victories in the City & Suburban on Eastern Nip and the 1962 Newbury Autumn Cup on Rainstorm.

He had one winner from 12 rides over hurdles in the 1964/65 season, that being on Grey Charger, trained by Willie Stephenson, at Southwell on December 12, 1964. 

Having ridden as second jockey to Jack Clayton, he moved up to become stable jockey to Humphrey Cottrill, a position he held for five years before transferring to Michael Jarvis’ stable in 1970. 

His partnership with Jarvis was a successful one. His gained his first British Group 1 win on board Easter Sun in the 1982 Coronation Cup (his 1967 July Cup and Nunthorpe Stakes wins on Forlorn River for his father-in-law’s cousin Arthur Stephenson having preceded the introduction of the Pattern in 1971). He rode Jarvis’s Bob Back to beat Pebbles in the 1985 Prince of Wales’s Stakes.

In August 1985 he left Britain to take up a three-year contract in Hong Kong but returned a year later and managed his best domestic total of 77 winners in 1988. In 1989 he rode the Queen’s Unknown Quantity to win the Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club Trophy Handicap.at Sandown Park.

Bruce’s riding career continued into his 50s, and in 1993 he achieved his best Derby placing  at Epsom when finishing second aboard Blue Judge, a rank outsider owned by Sheikh Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the former Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.

He rode what proved to be his last winner in Britain on Marsoom, trained by Ben Hanbury, in the Ladbrokes-sponsored Knavesmire Handicap at York, August 18, 1994. His riding career came to a dramatic end three days later, on Sunday, August 21, when he broke his neck in a race fall. Aged 51, Bruce, was riding Moving Shoulder in a valuable six-furlong event in Hanover, in Germany and was unseated when leaving the stalls. 

In December that year, after 36 years as a jockey, Bruce announced his retirement. He had won in the region of 2,000 races worldwide in a long career and was widely regarded as the best jockey to ride in Britain without winning a British Classic.

He rode a total of 1,488 winners on the Flat in Britain plus one over jumps. His European Pattern wins (from 1971) comprised 54 (GB 27, Germany 13, Italy 11, France 2, Ireland 1). 

After retiring he served as his former weighing-room colleague Joe Mercer’s assistant as racing manager to Sheikh Maktoum Al Maktoum and his associates, which included Saeed Suhail.

In 2003 Suhail won the Derby with Kris Kin and in 2006, when Sheikh Maktoum died and Mercer retired, Bruce became racing manager to Rabbah Bloodstock, overseeing the racing and breeding interests of more than 20 UAE businessmen and friends of Sheikh Mohammed, including the former Gainsborough Stud associates. He also oversaw the horses of owners Jaber Abdullah and Saeed Manana. 

Bruce Raymond died on August 24, 2025, aged 82. He is survived by his wife, former champion lady rider Jennie Crossley, and son Martin from his first marriage, his first wife Jillian having died in 1993. 

Big winners:

1962: City & Suburban Handicap – Eastern Nip 

1962: Newbury Autumn Cup – Rainstorm

1965: Britannia Stakes – Sheridan 

1966: Carlisle Bell – Aberdeen 

1966: Horris Hill Stakes – Alcan 

1967: July Cup – Forlorn River

1967: Nunthorpe Stakes – Forlorn River 

1972: Cumberland Plate – King’s Fancy 

1973: Queen Mary Stakes – Bitty Girl 

1973: Molecomb Stakes – Bitty Girl 

1975: Queen Alexandra Stakes – Cumbernauld 

1975: Northumberland Sprint Trophy – Lochnager 

1975: Northumberland Plate – Grey God 

1975: Mill Reef Stakes – Royal Boy

1976: St Simon Stakes – Mart Lane 

1977: Ayr Gold Cup – Jon George 

1979: Wokingham Stakes – Lord Rochford 

1979: Northumberland Plate – Totowah 

1981: Haydock Sprint Cup – Runnett 

1981: Mill Reef Stakes – Hays 

1981: Cornwallis Stakes – My Lover 

1982: Diomed Stakes – Prima Voce 

1982: Coronation Cup – Easter Sun 

1982: Ribblesdale Stakes – Dish Dash 

1982: Queen Alexandra Stakes – Ore 

1982: Cumberland Plate – Ambience 

1983: Queen Mary Stakes – Night of Wind 

1984: Victoria Cup – Mummys Pleasure 

1984: Wokingham Stakes – Petong 

1984: Stewards Cup – Petong

1984: Haydock Sprint Cup – Petong 

1984: Rockfel Stakes – Kashi Lagoon 

1985: Prince of Wales’s Stakes – Bob Back 

1985: Norfolk Stakes – Colmore Row

1985: Cherry Hinton Stakes – Storm Star 

1987: Norfolk Stakes – Colmore Row

1988: Chesham Stakes – Jacamar 

1989: Queen’s Vase – Weld 

1989: Cumberland Plate – Cheerful Times 

1989: Richmond Stakes – Contract Law 

1989: Jockey Club Cup – Weld 

1989: November Handicap – Firelight Fiesta 

1990: Criterion Stakes – Rock City 

1990: Beeswing Stakes – Savahra Sound 

1990: Carlisle Bell – Causley 

1990: Stewards Cup – Knight of Mercy 

1990: Lowther Stakes – Only Yours 

1990: St Simon Stakes – Down the Flag 

1991: Ormonde Stakes – Per Quod 

1991: Dee Stakes – Hundra 

1991: Britannia Stakes – Ajaad 

1991: July Stakes- Showbrook 

1991: Gimcrack Stakes – River Falls 

1992: Haydock Sprint Cup – Sheikh Albadou 

In Ireland

1991: Moyglare Stud Stakes – Twafeaj 

1991: Goffs Million – Fair Crack 

In Italy

1984: Premio Parioli – Southern Arrow 

1985: Premio Presidente della Republica – Bob Back 

1990: St Leger Italiano – Parting Moment 

In Norway

1973: Norwegian Derby - Starry Ho

In Austria

1974:  Osterreichisches Derby – Perkeo 

In Germany

1983: Henckel-Rennen – Nandino 

1988: Grosser Presis von Baden – Carroll House