Joseph Nolan

Joseph Nolan

1907-1980

Article by Alan Trout

Joseph Lawrence Nolan made a promising start to his career with 16 wins as an apprentice on the Flat. However, after losing his apprentice allowance he only added one more and then rode one winner over jumps.  

Born in 1907, he was apprenticed to the great trainer Fred Darling at Beckhampton and had his first ride when third on Trossach Girl in the historic City Bowl at Salisbury on May 31, 1923. His first win came more than a year later when Keror, owned by Lord Woolavington and trained by Fred Darling, won the Apprentices’ Stakes at Kempton Park on August 13, 1924, scoring by two lengths.

That was Joseph’s only win of the season. There was none in 1925, but in 1926 he had eight, then seven in 1927. His apprenticeship at an end, his final win on the Flat was on Jonah’s Trace, trained by Fred Darling, in the Lingfield Spring Plate on April 20, 1928, beating Harry Wragg on Pink Potato by a neck. 

His first effort under National Hunt rules came at Newbury on December 4, 1931, when Apache was unplaced in the Berks Handicap Hurdle. It was more than a year later that he had his sole success over jumps when, at Gatwick on January 7, 1933, Tetracun won the Leatherhead Selling Chase. He was riding the eight-year-old for the first, and only, time and edged out Saucy Boy, the mount of leading jockey Tony Escott, to win by a head. 

A few weeks later Joseph had his final ride over jumps when pulling up Bathtoi in the Prince of Wales’s Handicap Chase ay Sandown Park on February 2, 1932. He held a licence to ride on the Flat until 1933, returning after the war in 1946, with his final season in 1948. 

Joseph Nolan died in 1980. His winners were, in chronological order:

1. Keror, Kempton Park, August 13, 1924

2. Abbot’s Smile, Windsor, August 14, 1926

3. Friar Wile, Lingfield Park, October 6, 1926

4. ch. c by Abbot’s Trace out of Silver Urn, Lingfield Park, October 7, 1926 

5. ch. c by Abbot’s Trace out of Cherimoya, Lingfield Park, October 16, 1926 

6. Heart’s Desire, Worcester, October 28, 1926

7. Sweetie, Alexandra Park, October 30, 1926

8. Snip-Snap, Birmingham, November 1, 1926

9. Battalion, Liverpool, November 17, 1926

10. Sweetie, Windsor, May 21, 1927

11. Abbot’s Smile, Lingfield Park, May 27, 1927

12. Sweetie, Alexandra Park, July 2, 1927

13. Sweetie, Salisbury, July 7, 1927

14. Golden Chalice, Lingfield Park, July 8, 1927

15. Endowment, Goodwood, July 27, 1927

16. Frankly, Birmingham, August 1, 1927

17. Jonah’s Trace, Lingfield Park, April 20, 1928

18. Tetracun, Gatwick, January 7, 1933