Sunday October 31st 1920, Halloween or All Hallows Eve saw the safe arrival of Richard Stanley Francis in Pembrokeshire, South Wales. The son of a jockey, Richard, or Dick as he is more familiarly known was a horse mad youngster.
He learnt to ride at the age of five having taken a bet of sixpence, or two and a half pence in decimal coinage, from his brother, that he could sit backwards astride a donkey and jump a small fence. It took the plucky youngster five attempts, but he managed it.
His first serious riding accident occurred at the age of thirteen when in 1933 he suffered broken teeth, palate, jaw and nose, but this did not deter him. Dick went on to win several best boy rider awards in major horse shows before leaving Maidenhead County School at fifteen.
1940 saw Dick joining up like countless other able bodied young men. He enlisted in the RAF and trained as an airframe fitter and pilot. Originally he learned how to fly Spitfires, but went on to finish his service as a Lancaster bomber pilot. Demobbed after six years service, Dick was eager to resume his racing career, debuting as an amateur jockey in 1946 riding ‘Russian Hero.’ The following year brought mixed fortunes, his first win after thirty-nine races, a broken collar bone and his wedding to the lady who was to be his wife for over fifty years, Mary Margaret Brenchly.
In 1950 Dick rode for Lord Mildmay as substitute to a jockey who had mysteriously disappeared. This led to a racing relationship between him and royal race horse trainer Peter Cazalet where he caught the eye of the first lady of National Hunt racing, the late Queen Mother. Dick was to wear the distinctive pale blue and buff colours of Her Majesty for four seasons.
Winning seventy-six out of three hundred and thirty one races during the 1953/54 season led Dick to be champion jockey, a precursor to what was to be one of the most mysterious rides of his career.
Journalism led him onto his first book; December 1957 saw the publication of his autobiography ‘The Sport of Queens’. His first novel ‘Dead Cert’ was published in 1962.
Undeniably one of the Queen Mothers favourite authors, Dick ensured that an autographed copy of each new book was delivered to Clarence House as it was published.
Not only loved by the public, Dick was to receive the recognition he deserved from his peers. In 1965 he was awarded the British Crime Writers Associations silver dagger for his novel ‘For Kicks’. In 1980 he was awarded the gold dagger and in 1990 the Cartier diamond dagger for his life works. He has received the Edgar Allen Poe award an unprecedented three times from the Mystery Writers of America, and was made Grand Master by the same organisation in 1996 for his life work. In 1991 Dick was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Tufts University.
In 1984 Dick Francis was made an Officer of the Most Noble Order of the British Empire and received the CBE in the Queens Birthday Honours list 2000.
As a national hunt jockey Dick was used to knocks and setbacks, but disaster struck when on September 30th 2000, Mary, his wife of fifty three years died of a heart attack. Since her death, some have speculated that Mary Francis who wrote the novels using her husbands’ fame as a National Hunt jockey to get them published. What is known is that they worked closely together, with Mary doing much of the research necessary for the novels. Dick now spends much of his time at their home in the Cayman Isles, a home that they set up together in 1993.
He learnt to ride at the age of five having taken a bet of sixpence, or two and a half pence in decimal coinage, from his brother, that he could sit backwards astride a donkey and jump a small fence. It took the plucky youngster five attempts, but he managed it.
His first serious riding accident occurred at the age of thirteen when in 1933 he suffered broken teeth, palate, jaw and nose, but this did not deter him. Dick went on to win several best boy rider awards in major horse shows before leaving Maidenhead County School at fifteen.
1940 saw Dick joining up like countless other able bodied young men. He enlisted in the RAF and trained as an airframe fitter and pilot. Originally he learned how to fly Spitfires, but went on to finish his service as a Lancaster bomber pilot. Demobbed after six years service, Dick was eager to resume his racing career, debuting as an amateur jockey in 1946 riding ‘Russian Hero.’ The following year brought mixed fortunes, his first win after thirty-nine races, a broken collar bone and his wedding to the lady who was to be his wife for over fifty years, Mary Margaret Brenchly.
In 1950 Dick rode for Lord Mildmay as substitute to a jockey who had mysteriously disappeared. This led to a racing relationship between him and royal race horse trainer Peter Cazalet where he caught the eye of the first lady of National Hunt racing, the late Queen Mother. Dick was to wear the distinctive pale blue and buff colours of Her Majesty for four seasons.
Winning seventy-six out of three hundred and thirty one races during the 1953/54 season led Dick to be champion jockey, a precursor to what was to be one of the most mysterious rides of his career.
The 1956 Grand National and the Devon Loch Mystery
Devon Loch, owned by the Queen Mother was Dick’s mount for the 1956 Grand National; one of eight times he was to ride in the race during his career. Devon Loch had successfully cleared the last fence and was several lengths ahead of his nearest rival, ESB, but just fifty yards from the winning post disaster struck. Devon Loch jumped into the air, landing on his stomach. The horse scrambled to his feet but was in no fit state to continue the race, leaving the way clear for ESB to sail past and win. Typically the Queen Mother was more concerned over the welfare of her horse, jockey and trainer than the fact that she had just lost the Grand National. In spite of countless theories no one will ever know what really went wrong. Some say that the horse slipped on a wet patch of the course, others, that the roar of the crowds as the horses entered the home straight frightened the animal, but Devon Loch was no novice, he had heard the roar of the crowds before. It has also been said that the un-blinkered, Devon Loch caught sight of the jump on the other side of the rails, confused, the horse jumped into thin air. Strange though this theory may sound there is some evidence to substantiate it. During the 1901 Grand National, Grundon ‘jumped’ a narrow footpath that crossed the course; fortunately, unlike Devon Loch, he didn’t suffer any ill effects and went on to win the race.Dick Francis Retires from Racing
A serious fall in 1957 led Dick to retire from racing, He accepted a position of racing correspondent for the Sunday Express, a position he held for sixteen years. However even with his experience, Dick didn’t always get it right. In 1962 he wrote that the Grand National is rarely, if ever won by a horse over the age of twelve, or by one that had not won all season. He was to be proved wrong when Kilmore went on to win that year’s race.Journalism led him onto his first book; December 1957 saw the publication of his autobiography ‘The Sport of Queens’. His first novel ‘Dead Cert’ was published in 1962.
Undeniably one of the Queen Mothers favourite authors, Dick ensured that an autographed copy of each new book was delivered to Clarence House as it was published.
Not only loved by the public, Dick was to receive the recognition he deserved from his peers. In 1965 he was awarded the British Crime Writers Associations silver dagger for his novel ‘For Kicks’. In 1980 he was awarded the gold dagger and in 1990 the Cartier diamond dagger for his life works. He has received the Edgar Allen Poe award an unprecedented three times from the Mystery Writers of America, and was made Grand Master by the same organisation in 1996 for his life work. In 1991 Dick was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Tufts University.
In 1984 Dick Francis was made an Officer of the Most Noble Order of the British Empire and received the CBE in the Queens Birthday Honours list 2000.
As a national hunt jockey Dick was used to knocks and setbacks, but disaster struck when on September 30th 2000, Mary, his wife of fifty three years died of a heart attack. Since her death, some have speculated that Mary Francis who wrote the novels using her husbands’ fame as a National Hunt jockey to get them published. What is known is that they worked closely together, with Mary doing much of the research necessary for the novels. Dick now spends much of his time at their home in the Cayman Isles, a home that they set up together in 1993.
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