Clifford Richards

Clifford Egerton Richards was born at Donnington Wood, Shropshire, on March 4, 1907, and was the younger brother of the famous jockey Gordon Richards.

He was apprenticed initially to Gerald Armstrong in 1923 and then to Captain Tommy Hogg, for whom he rode his first winner on Procis in the Apprentices’ Handicap at Newmarket on September 29, 1925. 

He recorded his first important victory on West Wicklow in the 1929 Cesarewitch, then won the following year’s Cambridgeshire on The Pen.  

The best horse he rode was Court Marshall, on whom he recorded his sole British classic success in the 1945 Two Thousand Guineas, along with that year’s Champion Stakes. 

He retired from the saddle in 1956 and thereafter kept a pub in Newmarket.

Cliff Richards died on August 10, 1980, aged 73.

Classic winner:

Two Thousand Guineas: Court Marshall (1945)

Other big winners:

1929: Cesarewitch Handicap – West Wicklow 

1930: Queen Anne Stakes – The Recorder 

1930: Cambridgeshire Handicap – The Pen 

1932: City and Suburban Handicap – Clogheen 

1935: John Porter Stakes – Night Owl 

1936: Great Jubilee Handicap – Infatuation 

1938: City and Suburban Handicap – Pigskin 

1938: Chester Vase – Cave Man 

1938: Chester Cup – Mr Grundy 

1938: Royal Hunt Cup – Couvert 

1939: Greenham Stakes – Fairstone 

1941: Manchester November Handicap – Crown Colony 

1945: Jockey Club Cup – Amber Flash 

1945: Champion Stakes – Court Marshall  

1946: Chester Cup – Retsel 

1946: Ormonde Stakes – High Stakes 

1946: Lingfield Derby Trial – Fast And Fair 

1946: Falmouth Stakes – Wheedler 

1946: Gordon Stakes – Fast And Fair 

1946: Royal Lodge Stakes – Royal Barge 

1946: Liverpool Autumn Cup – Fighter Command 

1947: Queen Anne Stakes – Woodruffe 

1948: Portland Handicap – Gold Mist

1948: Liverpool Autumn Cup – Desir