Samuel Chifney Jr. (born 1786) was an English

jockey A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing. The word "jockey" originated from England and was used to describe the individual ...

. He was the younger son of a prominent 18th century jockey, also called

Samuel Chifney Samuel "Sam" Chifney (''c.'' 1753 – 8 January 1807), also known as Sam Chifney Sr., Sam Chifney the Elder or Old Sam Chifney to distinguish him from his son, was an English jockey. He was a pioneer of professional race-riding, developing a tra ...

. In terms of talent, he reportedly outshone all his peers, but "he owned a self-destruct button and had a fatal tendency to press it". This failing meant "his talent was not converted into the kind of concrete achievement that stands the test of time". He stood at 5 feet 6

inch Measuring tape with inches The inch (symbol: in or ″) is a unit of length in the British imperial and the United States customary systems of measurement. It is equal to yard or of a foot. Derived from the Roman uncia ("twelfth") ...

es tall and struggled with weight. He was too lazy to waste, which it is reported he thought "akin to Chinese water torture". He was once referred to as "the long, thin, lazy lad". He had a strong friendship with fellow jockey Jem Robinson, and Robinson modelled his riding style on Chifney.

Early life

Samuel Chifney was born in 1786. From the age of 6, he was out on Newmarket gallops twice a day, riding the Prince of Wales' Kit Karr under the tuition of his father. The father taught the son the slack rein style he himself used, known as 'the Chifney rush'. At 13, Chifney was apprenticed to Frank Smallman, his maternal uncle. Smallman trained in

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

for the

Earl of Oxford Earl of Oxford is a dormant title in the Peerage of England, first created for Aubrey de Vere by the Empress Matilda in 1141. His family was to hold the title for more than five and a half centuries, until the death of the 20th Earl in 1703. ...

and once it became clear how successful the Smallman-Chifney pairing was, the Prince of Wales took on Smallman as his trainer. Chifney became the Prince's retained jockey at a fee of £8 per annum. He first rode for the Prince of Wales at the Stockbridge meeting in 1802.

Career

Chifney arrived as a major jockey in Newmarket's Claret Stakes in the spring of 1805. On board Pavilion for Lord Darlington, he beat the previous year's Derby, Oaks and

St. Leger The St Leger Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at Doncaster over a d ...

winners partnered by

Bill Arnull William Arnull was a British jockey. He was from a famous family of jockeys, being the son of John Arnull and nephew of Sam Arnull. Arnull was known to many as the best of the three. Career He was apprenticed to Frank Neal in Newmarket b ...

Bill Clift William Clift (1762–1840), born Wentworth, South Yorkshire, was a British jockey. He won the first runnings of both the 1,000 Guineas and 2,000 Guineas and was the first jockey to win all five of the British Classic Races, British Classics. ...

and

Frank Buckle Francis Buckle (1766–1832), known to the British horse racing public as "The Governor", was an English jockey, who has been described as "the jockey non-pareil" of the opening quarter of the 19th century, and the man who "brought respectabi ...

He was five times winner of the Oaks, on Briseis in 1807, on Sorcery in 1811, on Landscape in 1816, on Shoveller in 1819, and on Wings in 1823. Twice he took the Derby on Sam, a horse called after himself, in 1818, and on Sailor in 1820. The One Thousand Guineas also fell to him in 1843, when he rode Extempore, being at the time fifty-seven years old. He had training stables of his own at Newmarket, where with his brother William he had the care of Mr. Thornhill's and Lord Darlington's horses. The two brothers also had a small stud of their own, but this led them into difficulties, and the horses had to be sold in June 1834. Chifney died in Hove, Sussex on 29 August 1854 and was buried in the churchyard of St Andrew's. His epitaph on the headstone simply reads ''of Newmarket''. His wife, Sarah Mary Perren, (daughter of Newmarket trainer Thomas Perren) is also commemorated on the stone.

Classic race victories

Great Britain *

1,000 Guineas The 1000 Guineas Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old fillies. It is run on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket over a distance of 1 mile (1,6 ...

– ''Extempore (1843)'' *

2,000 Guineas The 2000 Guineas Stakes is a Group 1 flat race in Great Britain open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket over a distance of 1 mile (1,609 metres) and scheduled to take place each year at ...

– ''

Cwrw Cwrw (foaled 1809) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and sire and best known for winning the classic 2000 Guineas in 1812. In a racing career which lasted from April 1812 until September 1816 he won six of his twenty-six races. He won the 200 ...

(1812)'' * Epsom Oaks – (5) – ''

Briseis Briseis (; grc, Βρῑσηΐς ''Brīsēís'', ) ("daughter of Briseus"), also known as Hippodameia (, ), is a significant character in the ''Iliad''. Her role as a status symbol is at the heart of the dispute between Achilles and Agamemnon t ...

(1807), Sorcery (1811),

Landscape A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or man-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes the ...

(1816), Shoveler (1819), Wings (1825)'' *

Epsom Derby The Derby Stakes, also known as the Epsom Derby or the Derby, and as the Cazoo Derby for sponsorship reasons, is a Group 1 flat horse race in England open to three-year-old colts and fillies. It is run at Epsom Downs Racecourse in Surrey o ...

– (2) – ''

Sam Sam, SAM or variants may refer to: Places * Sam, Benin * Sam, Boulkiemdé, Burkina Faso * Sam, Bourzanga, Burkina Faso * Sam, Kongoussi, Burkina Faso * Sam, Iran * Sam, Teton County, Idaho, United States, a populated place People and fictional ...

(1818), Sailor (1820)''

References

Bibliography

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chifney, Samuel Jr. English jockeys 1786 births Year of death missing