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John Francombe – The Man who Courted Lady Luck

Most race goers will know the name John Francome either from his racing days or from his time as a racing journalist and presenter of Channel 4 Racing.

Born in 1952, Francome’s early days around horses started with a round on the milk cart and having left school with few qualifications to show for his time there it was unclear what career path he would take. He is the son of a railway fireman and the family had no connections to the racing world as his family had very little money to spare on the “horsey” circuit.

His father was interested in horse racing but had never ridden himself, but John did manage to take part in show jumping and gymkhanas, and his father saw an opportunity for his son on leaving school to work at the stables of the trainer Fred Winter. Francome senior knew that Winter had no sons and that he would need someone to ride out for him and so told his son that the stables would be a good place for him to work and so, in his teens, John Francome’s racing career began as an apprentice jockey at Winter’s stables.
His first wage packet saw him go home with £5.00 a week plus a clothing allowance of £1.00 per week but he was never afraid of hard work and he topped up his wages with odd jobs such as making the beds for 10p and even doing a spot of babysitting when required.

Of his position at the stables Francome said: “I had no interest in racing whatsoever when I first arrived and I didn’t even know who Fred Winter was but I couldn’t have gone to anyone better”. Francome had already realised that although he had had some success as a showjumper there was going to be little financial security in that and that racing was the best direction to take.

Fred Winter had been Champion trainer many times and he had had the favourite in the Cheltenham Gold Cup for four years running (1974 – 1977) but he had never managed to land the winner in the race, and it was the one thing missing from the trophy cabinet having successfully trained not one but two Grand National winners.

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March 1978 saw a heavy snow fall at the Cheltenham track which was so bad the meeting had to be postponed until a month later in the April that year. Winter’s entry this time around was Midnight Court a horse which Francome was to ride. On reflection Francome certainly felt that the additional month’s delay in the race had played in to his and Winter’s favour as the horse was continuing to improve all the time.

Come race day Francome won the race on Midnight Court for Winter’s and still considers this to be the highlight of his career. He saw it as a repayment for the loyalty and support that Winter’s had shown him in his racing career. Without the trainers support in those early days Francome says he would never have made it in to the jockey’s saddle, but what Winter’s saw was a willingness to work hard and it was that which Winter’s was rewarding. The pair remained loyal to each other throughout Francome’s racing career, something which these days is rarely seen as jockey’s find themselves bumped off through injury or lack of success for the latest up and coming hopeful. Francome felt that some of his success though was all down to lady luck. “I was very, very lucky. The first book I wrote was called Born Lucky. I was in the right place at the right time.”

Unlike many of his counterparts he never befell a serious injury unlike others he had known, all of them excellent riders, but who found themselves through injury and breaking a leg laid off for a year or more only to find on their return almost impossible to get a ride. In the early days in only his second race Francome broke his wrist but back then the winters were harsh and with plenty of snow on the ground meetings were few and far between if at all, his broken wrist had time to recover before he was required to be back in the saddle and as he says luck seemed to shine on him.

He also thanks Richard Pitman who was also based at the Winter’s yard for his generosity in handing rides to Francome from different trainers. In Francome’s words any jockey needs “a spread of trainers, so when your yard is out of form, someone else’s horses are running well”.

By the end of his racing career in 1985 Francome had won over 1100 races and been crowned champion jockey on seven occasions between the years of 1976-1985. After Tony McCoy who won the title a staggering 20 times and Peter Scudamore who was crowned Champion National Hunt jockey on eight occasions Francome has been the most successful Champion jockey, but, even after his success, he is often still referred to as the “best jockey never to have won the Grand National”.

His luck didn’t stretch as far as being naturally slim though and managing his weight would become one of the contributory factors to Francome hanging up his riding crop at Chepstow in 1985 at the age of just 32.

Managing his weight all became too much for him. He got fed up with feeling hungry all of the time, of the stomach cramps, and of watching the calories and decided that enough was enough and that he wanted a normal life.

In fact he admits he basically got bored with the racing.

“It was just one of those things. You go racing every day and keep going round the same courses and driving round the same rounds. I just fancied a change.”

So what do you do after a successful racing career, well you go in to training of course, but even that didn’t last long for Francome, and after 18 months or so he popped up on our TV screens on the now defunct Channel 4 Racing and started putting pen to paper and follow in the footsteps of Dick Francis becoming a published author of fiction bestsellers.

In his own words he fell into writing purely by chance, and it didn’t come easily to him, he “found it bloody hard work”. “Some people love it, but for me, it was an effort”, and now with more than twenty racing themed books under his belt he has put his pen away for good. Apparently he feels he has put his readers through enough 🙂

His pundit’s role on Channel 4 Racing also came to an end in 2012 after having worked for them for 27 years. He enjoyed the live television as it required him to think on his feet and most will admit that he was a natural broadcaster who was well suited to being in front of the camera.

He enjoyed giving his “six pence worth” on events as they occurred and realised that those watching the racing in the comfort of their home wanted to hear a true account of what was happening on the track and Francome was always happy to give his opinion, although some would say on occasions he could be a little too opinionated, but he makes no apologies for calling a spade a shovel. “It would be boring if you didn’t say what you think. We’re too politically correct these days. How can you go through life not having an opinion? I’ve got an opinion on everything”.

He doesn’t miss seeing himself on the TV screen though and as he points out “There’s only so many times you can say ‘that’s a nice horse'”.

In his words he got out in 2012 on his own terms while he felt that others would say that he possibly jumped before he was pushed, either way he still feels that it was lady luck which played a big part in him having just two jobs in his working life, his time with Winter and his time at Channel 4.

When the racing coverage went over to ITV this year there were rumours of a return of Francome but he firmly turned down the request to join the team and has voiced categorically that he will continue to do so if they approach him again.

He is still happy to voice his opinion over matters though as he did with respect to Victoria Pendleton riding at Cheltenham where he referred to her racing as “an accident waiting to happen”. He wasn’t alone in that thought though as many others also expressed similar concerns albeit not so publicly perhaps.

He certainly didn’t have any ill will toward her and commented that “Every time she gets round in one piece, I'm absolutely delighted …” but he certainly felt that her riding ability was lacking.

His thoughts about the more recent plans for the redevelopment of Kempton racecourse for a housing development have also been publicly aired and needless to say he does not approve. His main argument being that those horses that run in the King George which has always been run at Kempton are not the same type of horses you would likely see tackling the Cheltenham race track.

The Jockey Club are planning to move the King George meeting over to Sandown and this track is notoriously similar in its undulations to the Cheltenham course. Francome’s suggestion if it is to be moved is over to Ascot where the facilities are much more suitable to a big meeting both in terms of racing spectacle and infrastructure.

Following his retirement from TV he followed in the footsteps of Lord Oaksey and became president of the injured jockey’s fund a mantle he has now passed on to A P McCoy while he remains as Vice President, but we don’t think that he is a man to sit still for long.

He has in his own words “never once” wished that he was still riding in fact he is far happier “out laying bricks”. “If someone said to me, do you want to sit down and talk about horses all afternoon or do you want to get the concrete mixer going or hang a couple of doors? – it’s a no brainer for me.”

We’re looking for a builder if you’re interested John!

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