Billy Stott

1898 - 1036

National Hunt jockey William George Stott was born in Ripon on December 1, 1898. Apprenticed to Jonathan Riste and Stanley Wootton, he had his first ride on the Flat when Triple Blue was unplaced in the Holyport Selling Handicap at Windsor on April 6, 1918.

Just over a year later, Billy celebrated his first win when Queen’s Double beat dead-heaters Nonentity and Betsy’s Barn by a short-head in a very close finish to the Landport Maiden Two-Year-Old Plate at Lewes on May 13, 1919. There were seven more winners that year and two in 1920, but none in 1921.

Weight problems forced Billy to turn to jumping and rode his first winner on Polisson in the Moderate Handicap Hurdle at Newbury on February 23, 1922. During the summer months he found time to add another couple of winners to his tally on the Flat. The final one was at Sandown Park on July 15, when Polisson, the horse who had given him first win over hurdles, won the Surrey Selling Handicap by two lengths from Croiseur, the mount of Charlie Elliott.

Standing just five feet tall, strong, brave as a lion and always irrepressibly cheerful, Billy was champion National Hunt jockey five times in succession from 1927/28 to 1931/1932, achieving a career-best score of 88 winners during the 1927/28 season, which included the Lancashire Chase at Manchester on Tuskar.

In 1933 he won the Cheltenham Gold Cup on Golden Miller, the Champion Hurdle on Insurance, and the Coventry Chase on Forbra. Surprisingly, despite winning the Gold Cup, he was taken off Golden Miller for the Grand National in favour of Ted Leader on the somewhat flimsy excuse that was not the ideal jockey for Aintree. Instead, Billy accepted a chance ride in that National; a mountainous animal called Pelorus Jack. The combination led the eventual winner, Kellsboro’ Jack, into the last, but fell heavily.

Just eight days later, on April 1, 1933, Billy was badly injured in a car crash and underwent plastic surgery to his face. He returned to the saddle six months later. He was reunited with Pelorus Jack in the 1934 Grand National, only to take another heavy fall.

Billy continued to take the occasional ride on the Flat and had his last one when finishing unplaced on Fancy Dress in the Maghull Plate at Liverpool’s Grand National meeting on March 30, 1935. Just 12 days later his racing career was over, his last ride ending in a fall from a horse named Claude Duval in a handicap hurdle at Cheltenham. It wasn’t the severity of the fall that terminated his career. He was forced to retire because of heart trouble.

Having quit the saddle, he ran a laundry business which he had bought a few years earlier. He died of a massive heart attack at his Epsom home on October 11, 1936, leaving a wife and two young sons, one of whom, William, also became a jockey, although not as successful as his father.

He was buried in Christ Church in Epsom on October 16. He left £7,288.

Billy Stott rode more than 600 winners during his career. He was the best friend and rival of the ill-fated jockey Billy Speck who was killed in a race fall in 1935.

On September 3, 1919 at Lewes, Billy Speck, riding Tresham, beat Billy Stott on Adam Bede by two lengths, with Keith Piggott on Verna back in third place. On face value, there was nothing strange in that, three leading National Hunt jockeys battling it out as they did throughout the 19290s. The clue that this was unusual is in the name of the racecourse, for Lewes did not stage jump meetings. The three jockeys were all riding on the Flat, and like so many others, that is where they started their race-riding careers.

Over jumps, Billy Stott was the more successful, being crowned champion jockey five times, whereas Billy Speck was six times runner-up. On the Flat, However, Speck was far more successful with 57 wins against 12 for Stott.

Billy's son, William Stott, was apprenticed to Stanley Wootton at Epsom. He died on October 24 2010 aged 87.

Billy Stott’s Flat wins were, in chronological order:

1. Queen’s Double, Lewes, May 13, 1919

2. Watergruel, Worcester, July 3, 1919

3. Vice Versa, Sandown Park, July 21, 1919

4. Momette, Leicester, July 22, 1919

5. Muscovite, Nottingham, August 12, 1919

6. Green Fly, Lewes, September 2, 1919

7. Mexican Belle, Folkestone, September 5, 1919

8. Aris, Lingfield Park, October 18, 1919

9. Silver Jug, Kempton Park, April 5, 1920

10. Silver Jug, Newbury, April 9, 1920

11. Black Magic, Worcester, June 30, 1922

12. Polisson, Sandown Park, July 15, 1922

Billy Stott’s biggest wins over jumps were:

1928: Lancashire Chase – Tuskar

1932: Hurst Park National Trial – Bicester

1932: Grand International Chase (Sandown) – Cathalan

1933: Coventry Chase – Forbra

1933; Cheltenham Gold Cup – Golden Miller

1933: Champion Hurdle – Insurance

Additional information on Billy Stott’s Flat career provided by Alan Trout.