John Francome
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John Francome (born 13 December 1952) is a retired seven-time British Champion jump jockey. He was previously a racing trainer and broadcaster with
Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...
, and is an author.


Racing career

Francome first rode a pony called Black Beauty at the age of six. His first riding successes came as a showjumper, and was a member of the team that won the European Junior Show Jumping Championship for Great Britain. Francome's father secured a meeting with trainer Fred Winter and he became an apprentice in October 1969. His first race ride came at Worcester in December 1970, a race he won riding Multigrey trained by Godfrey Burr. In February 1971, Francome rode his first of 575 winners for trainer Winter on Osceola at Towcester. Osbaldeston was an early success story for the Francome/Winter partnership, notching up 17 victories. Francome won his first British Champion Jump Jockey title in the 1975/76 season. The same year he secured his first Grade 1 victory in the Sun Alliance Chase at Cheltenham with Pengrail. On his way to the 1977/78 British Champion Jump Jockey title, he won the
Cheltenham Gold Cup The Cheltenham Gold Cup is a Grade 1 National Hunt horse race run on the New Course at Cheltenham Racecourse in England, over a distance of about 3 miles 2½ furlon ...
on Midnight Court. In 1981, he won the Stayers Hurdle on Derring Rose by 30 lengths again for Winter. One of Francome's most successful horses was Burrough Hill Lad, trained by Jenny Pitman. Francome took victories in the Welsh Grand National, Hennessy Gold Cup and King George VI Chase. At the 1984 Gold Cup, Francome could not ride Burrough Hill Lad due to his retainer with Winter, and finished second with Brown Chamberlin - a horse he had won both the Sun Alliance Chase and Hennessy Gold Cup on. Alongside riding for Pitman, Francome had success riding for Michael Dickinson, successes on Wayward Lad in the 1982 King George VI Chase and also on Silver Buck, Bregawn and Flatterer. Whilst many top successes came in Chases, Francome had success over hurdles with Sea Pigeon winning the 1981
Champion Hurdle The Champion Hurdle is a Grade 1 National Hunt racing, National Hunt Hurdling (horse race), hurdle race in Great Britain which is open to Horse racing, horses aged four years ...
. During the 1982 season, Francome stopped riding once he drew level with competitor, Peter Scudamore, in the Jump Jockeys Championship as Scudamore was injured. The two shared the title. Francome broke Stan Mellor's record of 1035 wins on Don't Touch at Fontwell in May 1984. In 1985, Francome retired and had ridden 1,138 winners over jumps in Britain and a total of seven British Champion Jump Jockey Titles. The John Francome Novices' Chase at Newbury was named after him in 2017.


Major wins

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...
*
Cheltenham Gold Cup The Cheltenham Gold Cup is a Grade 1 National Hunt horse race run on the New Course at Cheltenham Racecourse in England, over a distance of about 3 miles 2½ furlon ...
- Midnight Court (1978) * Sun Alliance Chase - Pengrail (1975), Brown Chamberlin (1982) * Stayers Hurdle - Derring Rose (1981) *
Champion Hurdle The Champion Hurdle is a Grade 1 National Hunt racing, National Hunt Hurdling (horse race), hurdle race in Great Britain which is open to Horse racing, horses aged four years ...
- Sea Pigeon (1981) * King George VI Chase - Wayward Lad (1982), Burrough Hill Lad (1984)


Cheltenham Festival winners (5)

*
Cheltenham Gold Cup The Cheltenham Gold Cup is a Grade 1 National Hunt horse race run on the New Course at Cheltenham Racecourse in England, over a distance of about 3 miles 2½ furlon ...
- Midnight Court (1978) * Sun Alliance Chase - Pengrail (1975), Brown Chamberlin (1982) * Stayers Hurdle - Derring Rose (1981) *
Champion Hurdle The Champion Hurdle is a Grade 1 National Hunt racing, National Hunt Hurdling (horse race), hurdle race in Great Britain which is open to Horse racing, horses aged four years ...
- Sea Pigeon (1981)


Controversies

Francome had several controversial moments during his riding career. In 1978 he was suspended for 35 days for passing information to bookmaker, John Banks. He once famously referred to the racing stewards as "Cabbage Patch Dolls".


Career after racing


Writer

In 1986, Francome published his first fictional novel ''Eavesdropper''. He went on to write a further 24 books. His most recent novel was ''Storm Rider'' published in 2010. His autobiography ''Born Lucky'' was published in 1985.


Bibliography

Francome's fictional books: Francome's non fiction books:


Broadcaster

Francome was a member of the Channel 4 Racing television broadcast team. He appeared on the weekly show The Morning Line and also on race day broadcasts. In 2012, when Channel 4 Racing changed production companies from Highflyer to IMG, Francome left his role.


Injured Jockeys Fund

Between 2012 and 2016, Francome was the President of The Injured Jockeys Fund. From 2017, he became a Vice Patron alongside fellow jockeys AP McCoy and Frankie Dettori.


Personal life

Francome was born in
Swindon Swindon () is a town in Wiltshire, England. At the time of the 2021 Census the population of the built-up area was 183,638, making it the largest settlement in the county. Located at the northeastern edge of the South West England region, Swi ...
,
Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...
. In 1976 he married Miriam Strigner. The couple divorced in 1990. Sam Ricketts, the former professional footballer for Wales is his nephew. In the 1986 New Year Honours, Francome was appointed a
Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...
(MBE) "for services to National Hunt Racing." Francome built and owns Beechdown Farm in Lambourn, a stableyard and training facility that can house 96 horses. Clive Cox is currently the resident racing trainer.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Francome, John 1952 births English jockeys Living people Members of the Order of the British Empire People from Lambourn Sportspeople from Swindon British horse racing writers British Champion jumps jockeys English_male_novelists English autobiographers British_sports_broadcasters