Ken Williams

Ken Williams

Article by Alan Trout

Ken Williams rode nine winners under National Hunt rules during the late 1970s and early 1980s and lost a tenth on technical grounds. 

He rode as a conditional for former jump jockey Basil Richmond and had one of his earliest rides at Nottingham on December 17, 1977, when Take Aim finished second in the Ton Up Selling Hurdle. The Jonjo O’Neill-ridden Harry’s Fizzale beat him that day by a length and a half, but at Perth on September 28, 1978 it was Ken’s turn to win on him, landing the Kinnoull Opportunity Selling Hurdle by 15 lengths. 

Ken rode two more winners that season and had the same score in 1979/80, including two wins in three days on selling hurdler Priddy Friendly. He then struck up a useful partnership with the novice hurdler Miss Couture, passing the post first on three occasions. However, they lost the last of those, at Newcastle on February 20, 1981, after an enquiry. They took their place in the line-up for that year’s Triumph Hurdle, only to fall at the first flight. 

Ken’s final victory came at Market Rasen on May 16, 1981, when Warren Gorse held off the challenge of Piu to take the Aveling Barford Invicta Selling Handicap Hurdle by a length. He had his final ride on Kanisa in the Haswell Novices’ Hurdle at Sedgefield on January 3, 1983 and was tailed off when unseated at the last flight. 

Ken Williams’ wins were, in chronological order:

1. Harry’s Fizzale, Perth, September 28, 1978

2. Square Note, Market Rasen, April 16, 1979

3. Jolly Melody, Towcester, May 25, 1979

4. Gay Twenties, Huntingdon, October 27, 1979

5. Priddy Friendly, Leicester, December 17, 1979

6. Priddy Friendly, Catterick Bridge, December 19, 1979

7. Miss Couture, Sedgefield, December 26, 1980

8. Miss Couture, Southwell, January 15, 1981

9. Warren Gorse, Market Rasen, May 16, 1981