Fred Norris

Fred Norris

Article by Alan Trout

Frederick Norris rode 17 winners over jumps, 10 of them coming in 1909 alone. 

He appears to have won on his first ride, at Catterick Bridge on October 30, 1907, when his mount Weather Eye landed the Hartforth Selling Hurdle by 30 lengths. 

Fred rode one winner in 1908 but then came what might have been his breakthrough year, with nine wins in just over seven weeks. Six of those victories, including a dead heat, were on The Czar, who won four selling chases and two selling hurdles. There were doubles at Sedgefield and at Carlisle, the latter comprising finishing alone in a match and a dead heat. 

However, Fred only managed two wins in 1910 and he does not appear to have ridden the following year. He did return to ride two more winners in 1912, and had a final victory in a match for the High Sheriff’s Maiden Chase at Newport on November 6, 1913, when his mount Extinguisher finished alone after the 2-1 on favourite Kilwilliam, ridden by Michael Tighe, had fallen. 

His last ride was on a horse named Colonel Potts, who finished unplaced in the Carlton Selling Hurdle at Southwell on May 13, 1915.

Fred Norris’s winners were, in chronological order:

1. Weather Eye, Catterick Bridge, October 30, 1907

2. Fanny Barks, Wetherby, November 9, 1908

3. Young Buck II, Shincliffe, March 17, 1909

4. The Czar, Shincliffe, March 18, 1909

5. Young Buck II, Sedgefield, March 30, 1909

6. The Czar, Sedgefield, March 30, 1909

7. The Czar, Sedgefield, March 31, 1909

8. The Czar, Rothbury, April 21, 1909

9. Coal Sack, Carlisle, April 29, 1909

10. The Czar, Carlisle, April 29, 1909 (dead heat)

11. The Czar, Hexham, May 6, 1909

12. Fanny Barks, Hexham, October 6, 1909

13. Knight Of St. John, Bridgnorth, April 19, 1910

14. Brown Princess, Worcester, April 27, 1910

15. Hardybug, Picton, April 20, 1912

16. Mulier, Picton, December 26, 1912

17. Extinguisher, Newport, November 6, 1913