Tadeusz Urbaniec was the son of a wartime Polish soldier. He lived at Prees, near Whitchurch, in Shropshire and began his apprenticeship in 1968 with local trainer Tommy Shone, who operated from Warren Stables at Prees Heath.
He had his first ride in public on Shone’s hurdler Our Babur at Chepstow on Saturday, December 14, 1968. The race was part of that day’s ‘Grandstand’ coverage, and the ever thoroughly professional Peter O’Sullevan made a point of informing viewers about this young lad who was having his first ride. Our Babur was a long-shot and was pulled up, meaning there was no TV glory to be had.
Tadeusz did not ride again for three years but renewed his licence for the 1971/72 season. He found mounts hard to come by, managing only half a dozen over the next two seasons. Two came his way within 48 hours in May 1972 on the Burnip Cambridge-trained Always Sterling at Uttoxeter and Worcester, but on neither occasion did he threaten to trouble the judge.
He tried again in the 1974/75 season, by which time he was based with Peter Milner at Cuddington Grange, near Northwich, Cheshire. On December 28, 1974 – six years after his first ride – he got a belated Christmas present by riding his first winner, the mare Paco’s Darling in the two-mile Borough Selling Handicap Hurdle at Warwick. Tote backers also received a late Christmas present, receiving odds of more than 100-1 about Paco’s Darling, who returned an SP of 20-1.
It was Tadeusz’s first ride in public for eighteen months, but then, like London buses, two more came almost at once. He finished second on Milner’s Kath’s Bounty at Leicester two days later, then was third on Paco’s Darling at Haydock on January 3, 1975.
But that’s all there was. Despite finishing first, second and third in his only three rides that season, Tadeusz Urbaniec does not appear to have ridden in public again.