Walter Swinburn Sr.

Serving his apprenticeship in England with Sam Armstrong, Walter Robert Swinburn, born on January 11, 1937, rode his first winner at Warwick on Metalon, May 4th, 1953.

He was one of a select group of jockeys who have ridden full-time in Ireland, England and France.

Wally had a two-season spell with P J Prendergast (1958-1959) but struck up a successful partnership with Dermot Weld which saw him becoming the first jockey to win 100 races in an Irish Flat season (his final tally of 101 beat Johnny Roe's record of 87) in 1977. That was his second jockeys' title following his first the previous year.

He rode three Irish Classic winners; two 1,000 Guineas (Pidget 1972 and Princes Polly 1982) and an Irish Oaks (Blue Wind 1981). He was as also associated with another useful filly in Sookera, who won the Cheveley Park Stakes in 1977.

Wally's first important success in England was By Thunder! in the Ebor. He won the Yorkshire the following year on the same colt.

He was associated with the Sussex Stakes winner, Romulus.

His six winners at Royal Ascot were Martial (1958 Coventry Stakes), Sookera (1977 Chesham Stakes), Nanticious (1977 Ribblesdale Stakes), Sweet Mint (1978 Cork & Orrery Stakes), Sutton Place (1978 Coronation Stakes) and Day Is Done (1981 Norfolk Stakes).

Numerically, his best season in England was in 1961 with 39 winners

Wally was a well-known and popular figure in India during the winter months where he rode a record number of Classic winners.

Wally retired in 1982 and, after spending a year as assistant to Dermot Weld. bought the 125-acre Genesis Green Stud in Newmarket in 1984.

His height was 5ft 7ins.

Son Walter, who retired in April 2000, won every British and Irish Classic bar the Irish & the English St Legers, and was noted as a consummate big-race jockey.

Classic winners in Ireland:

Irish Oaks: Blue Wind (1981)

Irish One Thousand Guineas: Pidget (1972), Princes Polly (1982)

Big race winners in Britain include:

1954: Ebor Handicap – By Thunder!

1955: Winston Churchill Stakes – By Thunder!

1955: Yorkshire Cup – By Thunder!

1959: Coventry Stakes – Martial

1962: Greenham Stakes – Romulus

1962: Sussex Stakes – Romulus

1962: Hungerford Stakes – Romulus

1962: Queen Elizabeth II Stakes – Romulus

1977: Ribblesdale Stakes – Nanticious

1977: Chesham Stakes – Sookera

1977: Cheveley Park Stakes – Sookera

1978: Coronation Stakes – Sutton Place

1978: Cork and Orrery Stakes – Sweet Mint

1981: Norfolk Stakes – Day is Done

In Ireland

1974: Beresford Stakes – Mark Anthony

1974: Anglesey Stakes – Mark Anthony

1975: One Thousand Guineas Trial – Donna Cressida

1975: Derrinstown Derby Trial – Nuthatch

1975: Tetrarch Stakes – Dempsey

1977: National Stakes – Diamonds Are Trumps

1977: Blandford Stakes – Panamint

1977: Whitehall Stakes – Aristocracy

1978: Phoenix Stakes – Kilijaro

1978: Blandford Stakes – Valley Forge

1978: Anglesey Stakes – Dickens Hill

1979: Phoenix Stakes – Smokey Lady

1979: Tetrarch Stakes – Gerald Martin

1980: Derrinstown Derby Trial – Ramian

1981: National Stakes – Day Is Done

1981: Tetrarch Stakes – Dance Bid

1981: Phoenix Sprint – Runnett

1981: Silken Glider Stakes – Princes Polly

1982: Pretty Polly Stakes – Princes Polly

In Italy

1969: Premio Presidente della Republica – Light Wind