Richard Wilkins

Richard Wilkins

Article by Alan Trout

Although Richard Henry Wilkins had at least one ride on the Flat in 1920, it was over jumps that he enjoyed some success with eight wins in the years immediately following World War I, including one at Cheltenham’s National Hunt meeting.. 

Born in 1884, his first victory was at Ludlow on April 25, 1919, when Ophion beat eight rivals to take the Caynham Selling Hurdle, beating the subsequently disqualified Towyn by five lengths. 

Eight months elapsed before he recorded his second victory but he fared better in 1920 with six wins. They included three on the four-year-old Toluoi, trained by Etienne De Mestre, the best of which was in the Gloucestershire Hurdle at Cheltenham’s National Hunt meeting on March 10. Two unplaced efforts followed, including in the Liverpool Hurdle. 

Sadly, despite tasting success on jump racing’s biggest stage, he rode only one more winner, Little Mischief in the Juvenile Handicap Hurdle at Hawthorn Hill. He had his final ride over jumps when finishing third on Bandycoot in the Southam Selling Hurdle at Cheltenham on April 14, 1920, just a month after his greatest triumph there.

He appears to have had his last ride on the Flat on June 30 of the same year when Polisson was unplaced in the Plantation Plate at Newmarket.

Richard Wilkins’ winners were, in chronological order:

1. Ophion, Ludlow, April 25, 1919

2. Yellow Jimmy, Newbury, December 30, 1919

3. Hanway, Kempton Park, January 31, 1920

4. Yellow Jimmy, Lingfield Park, February 11, 1920

5. Toluoi, Lingfield Park, February 12, 1920

6. Toluoi, Newbury, February 26, 1920

7. Toluoi, Cheltenham, March 10, 1920

8. Little Mischief, Hawthorn Hill, March 23, 1920