National Hunt jockey Jim Wibberley had the misfortune to break his back on three separate occasions but bounced back each time to ride winners.
James William Wibberley was born on March 8, 1926. He served his apprenticeship between 1941 and 1947 with Frank Butters at Newmarket and had one winning ride on the Flat, on Bellinzona, a two-year-old owned by the Aga Khan, in the Apprentices’ Nursery Handicap at Newmarket on September 14, 1945.
He commenced riding under National Hunt rules in 1948, but mingled with success were several bad falls, including the aforementioned three broken backs. He rode his first winner over jumps on Owens Bridge for Pycombe, Sussex trainer Doug Marks, in the Goodwood Handicap Hurdle at Fontwell Park on March 12, 1952.
Owens Bridge also provided Jim with his second win, at Wincanton in November 1953 and gave him another victory at Southwell’s 1954 Easter meeting. Two other winners that season, both for Doug Marks, contributed to his tally of four. He rode three winners the next season, two for Marks and one, Raree at Wye, for Jack Holt.
Jim made a bright start to the 1955/56 campaign, riding four winners by mid-September. Later that season he notched a double at Fontwell, winning both divisions of the Westergate Novices’ Hurdle on Weymouth Bay and Helvetian, both trained by Doug Marks, losing his allowance in the process (the 3lb allowance had not yet been introduced and riders lost the right to claim an allowance after just 15 winners).
Jim rode what were to be his last two winners on Marks’ four-year-old hurdler Delmacare, firstly at Wye and then at Fontwell Park on May 19, 1956.
Having survived three broken backs and defied doctors’ warnings, his career was finally ended by a fall from a juvenile hurdler named Zelican at Plumpton on December 5, 1956, sustaining severe fractures of the pelvis. This time he heeded the doctor’s advice against riding again.
He began training in 1959, based at Bellinzona Stables – named after his first winner – Dymchurch, Romney Marsh, in Kent. He trained his share of winners but had no big race victories. In 1965 he relocated to Chidrey House, Wantage, but relinquished his licence in 1968.
Jim Wibberley died in September 2011, aged 85.
Jim Wibberley’s winners were, in chronological order:
1. Bellinzona, Newmarket, September 14, 1945
2. Owens Bridge, Fontwell Park, March 12, 1952
3. Owens Bridge, Wincanton, November 5, 1953
4. Mowgli, Hurst Park, December 19, 1953
5. Cape Herion, Fontwell Park, March 31, 1954
6. Owens Bridge, Southwell, April 17, 1954
7. Raree, Wye, November 1, 1954
8. Radio Officer, Windsor, January 29, 1955
9. Cape Herion, Wye, March 21, 1955
10. Kantaka, Buckfastleigh, August 27, 1955
11. Kantaka, Newton Abbot, September 3, 1947
12. Cape Herion, Folkestone, September 5, 1955
13. Cape Herion, Fontwell Park, September 13, 1955
14. Weymouth Bay, Fontwell Park, March 21, 1956
15. Helvetian, Fontwell Park, March 21, 1956
16. Delmacare, Wye, April 16, 1956
17. Delmacare, Fontwell Park, May 19, 1956