Arthur Yates (born 1881)

Arthur Yates

Born in 1881, Arthur Yates rode over jumps on both sides of the First World War and had 22 wins altogether. He is not to be confused with the more famous Arthur Scotland Yates (1841-1922) who rode more than 450 winners during the 1860s and 1870s, including the Scottish Grand National, and also became a successful trainer. 

This particular Arthur Yates’ first win came in dramatic fashion. At Cardiff on November 6, 1909 he lined up in a match race for the Novices’ Chase. It was his first ride. Furthermore, his mount, Cymreig, was running for the first time under National Hunt rules. Their sole opponent was Bughouse, ridden by his owner Mr J. Keane, already the winner of a hurdle race back in March. Both horses fell but Cymreig was remounted to complete the course, giving Arthur his first success. 

Some 18 months would elapse before he next visited the winner’s enclosure. Again it was at Cardiff, on May 13, 1911, but this time he had two opponents, one of which fell, leaving Arthur to win the Try Again Chase on Little Brother by eight lengths from his only remaining rival. He had his last ride before the war in April 1912, once more at Cardiff and again on Little Brother, but this time they fell. 

Arthur did not reappear until March 1920, when he started to make up for lost time. Things did not go smoothly at first. At Torquay on Easter Monday, April 8, he competed in another match, on this occasion for the Tor Abbey Chase on the gelding Reversed. They passed the winning post 30 lengths of the other runner, Sultan Of Egypt, but the owner of the runner-up objected to the winner on the grounds of going the wrong side of a flag. The objection was sustained and Sultan Of Egypt was awarded the race. 

Fortunately, Arthur did not have to wait long for compensation – just 24 hours, in fact – for the following afternoon, the second day of Torquay’s Easter fixture, Arthur and Reversed lined up for yet another match, this time for Petit Tor Chase, and when their sole opponent, Curraghgour, refused, Arthur had his first win for nine years. 

He added only one more win that year, but 1921 went much better with a score of eight, including three each on hurdlers The Miner and Decimal, both of which he also trained, having taken out a licence at the start of the year, based at stables at Tidworth, in Wiltshire. 

Progress than slowed with only two wins in 1922, again both of which he trained, and none at all the following year. However, he bounced back in 1924 with six wins, mostly at the Devon courses. Three he trained himself, while the other trio were for fellow trainers Harry Jesty and Guy James. 

Arthur started 1925 well with a training/riding double at Tenby Hunt on January 8. However, the second of these, Tretes in the Victory Hurdle, turned out to be his final win as a jockey.  

He continued to combine training with riding for some years, having his last mount on Who’s Looking, a faller in the Cardiff Juvenile Hurdle at that course on October 23, 1929.

He trained at Tidworth until the mid-1930s, eventually renewing his licence for a couple of seasons in the mid-1940s, having relocated to Snowshill, near Broadway, in Worcestershire.