Mark Sharratt

Mark Sharratt

Mark Raymond Sharratt rode two winners over fences in the 1990s, four years apart, both of which were gained in dramatic fashion. He typified the spirit of the unfashionable ‘ride anything’ jockey who had far more downs than ups during a career that lasted more than a decade.  

He had his first ride at Warwick on September 19, 1987, when Lowcross Venture was tailed off in a field of 17 for the Grunwick N.H. Flat Race. That set the tone for his career, partnering horses of limited ability that had little chance and either finishing in rear or failing to complete. 

It was just over four years later that he had his first winner. It came in the three-runner Nalgo Novices’ Chase at Market Rasen on September 21, 1991. Mark’s mount, Vantard, led till the fourth fence when Sudbrooke Park, ridden by Richard Guest, went on. At the tenth fence the leader fell and brought down Vantard. The third runner, Cairncastle, with David Skyrme on board, was thus left in front, only to refuse three times at the next. Meanwhile, Mark had remounted Vantard and found himself back in front after Cairncastle’s persistent refusals. However, Vantard fell at the next, but Mark again remounted and came home alone. The winner’s time for the two-and-three-quarter-mile trip was 7 minutes 24.3 seconds, almost two minutes more than standard.

Mark’s record on the nine-year-old before that day had been two last places and a fall. He rode him ten more times that season, the best they could manage being one third place (last of three finishers) and three fourth places (finished last twice). 

Mark had more than 50 rides that season and around the same number over the next three but did not manage a winner. His perseverance finally paid off at Towcester on November 9, 1995, and again it was not straightforward, with three runners and only one finisher. 

The race was the Firm Security Maiden Chase, and his mount, Seatwist, was lying last of the trio when both of his rivals unseated their riders at the fourth fence. According to the ‘Chaseform’ result, the six-year-old Seatwist was “all but rugby tackled by the riderless favourite at the third last and had to sidestep the other loose horse going to the next”. That was Seatwist’s first run of the season. He finished last, with Mark up, in two subsequent outings. 

At least Seatwist did manage to complete the course, unlike many that other jockeys refused to ride. Typical of that bunch was Typhoon, who, in three consecutive races during the 1996/97 campaign, unseated him at Leicester in December (at 50/1), did so again at Warwick in January (at 66/1), and then refused to race when back at Warwick in February (at 100/1). 

Known within the weighing room as ‘Shazza’, Mark continued to have plenty of rides, most of them useless and/or dangerous, up to the end of the 1998/99 season. 

Having relinquished his licence, aged 35, he set off to begin a new life in America and lived there for 24 years before contracting this degenerative disease Spinocerebellar Ataxia. Tragically, it progressed rapidly, resulting in Mark having be brought back home to live with his family who now support and care for him. 

A Google search revealed that, as of May 2025, “the entire family are trying their best to come to terms with the sad future that they face” and called for donations or, for those unable to donate, to “share this page and help us ease the burden for Mark and his family”. Hopefully, including his career on the Jockeypedia website may help to generate awareness.