Geoff Shoemark

Article by Chris Pitt

Geoff Shoemark is the younger brother of Bill Shoemark and followed him into racing, beginning as an apprentice on the Flat with Frenchie Nicholson. He rode his first winner for Charing, Kent trainer Chris Nesfield on Spectrum in the Long Distance Apprentices’ Selling Handicap at Sandown on April 24, 1970. His second winner followed just 24 hours later on the Ryan Price-trained Jewel Of Spring at Nottingham.

Although able to ride his first winner at just 7st 7lb, as with his elder brother, rising weight soon determined that his future would lie over jumps. He followed Bill to ride for David Gandolfo at Wantage and rode his first winner over jumps on Gandolfo’s On The Map in a novice riders’ hurdle race at Uttoxeter on May 1, 1971. He then won a similar contest on the Gandolfo-trained Regal Jump at Devon & Exeter later that month.

Matt McCourt’s handicap hurdler Lateen got Geoff off the mark for 1971/72 when winning at Newton Abbot in August. On Easter Monday 1972 he rode David Gandolfo’s useful staying hurdler Moyne Royal to victory at Chepstow. On May 1 he won the Gay Kindersley-trained Ventora at Plumpton, just four days after brother Bill had won on him at Devon & Exeter.

Geoff rode a career-best 11 winners in 1972/73, three of which came courtesy of David Gandolfo’s The Clerk, at Cheltenham and Leicester in November and culminating in the valuable Joe Coral Handicap Hurdle at Wincanton on Boxing Day.

Gay Kindersley’s Hit Parade gave Geoff a flying start for 1973/74, winning at Newton Abbot on the second day of the season, then David Gandolfo’s Kareol obliged over fences at Fontwell the following week. Having been switched to handicap chasing, The Clerk won three such races in a row with Geoff on board, finishing with the Torbay Challenge Trophy at Devon & Exeter on March 23, 1974.

Three early season victories at Newton Abbot on David Gandolfo’s useful dual purpose performer Pine Lodge set Geoff up for another good campaign in 1974/75 before The Clerk won the Charles Davis Handicap Chase at Ascot on November 15, yet the remainder of the season was a disappointment, producing a final score of just six winners.

Geoff retired around the same time as his brother in 1976, while Paul Barton took over as David Gandolfo’s stable jockey, going on to forge another long-lasting partnership.

Geoff’s retirement, Pat Eddery – with whom Geoff had been an apprentice at Frenchie Nicholson’s – helped to arrange a job for him as chauffer to prominent racehorse owner Geoffrey Greenwood. He did that for many years until moving to live in Spain in the early 2000s.