Thomas Loates (6 October 1867 – 28 September 1910) was a three times

British flat racing Champion Jockey The champion jockey of flat racing in Great Britain is the rider who has the most wins during a season. For most of its existence, the jockeys championship was decided on the number of winners ridden between Lincoln Handicap Day and November ...

and one of only seven

jockey A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase (horse racing), 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 ...

s to have won more than 200 races in a

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

in Great Britain. He won the English Triple Crown on

Isinglass Isinglass ( ) is a form of collagen obtained from the dried swim bladders of fish. The English word origin is from the obsolete Dutch ''huizenblaas'' – ''huizen'' is a kind of sturgeon, and ''blaas'' is a bladder, or German ''Hausenblase'', ...

in 1892, as well as individual

Classics Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...

Donovan Donovan Phillips Leitch (born 10 May 1946), known mononymously as Donovan, is a Scottish musician, songwriter and record producer. He emerged from the British folk scene in early 1965 and subsequently scored multiple international hit singles ...

(1889

Derby Derby ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area on the River Derwent, Derbyshire, River Derwent in Derbyshire, England. Derbyshire is named after Derby, which was its original co ...

) (for which he was a last-minute booking), Siffleuse (1893 1,000 Guineas) and St. Frusquin (1896

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 (1.6 km) and scheduled to take place each yea ...

). On Isinglass, he also won the 1894

Eclipse An eclipse is an astronomical event which occurs when an astronomical object or spacecraft is temporarily obscured, by passing into the shadow of another body or by having another body pass between it and the viewer. This alignment of three ...

and 1895

Ascot Gold Cup The Gold Cup is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged four years or older. It is run at Ascot over a distance of 2 miles 3 furlongs and 210 yards (4 ...

and he had another top class win on Desmond in Newmarket's

July Stakes The July Stakes is a Group 2 flat horse race in Great Britain open to two-year-old colts and geldings. It is run on the July Course at Newmarket over a distance of 6 furlongs (1,207 metres), and ...

in 1898.

Life

Tommy Loates was born in

on 6 October 1867. He was regarded as the best of a family of four jockey brothers which included fellow Classic-winner, Sam Loates. He was apprenticed to Joseph Cannon at Newmarket and was known as "a good lightweight, with very good hands". For Donovan's Derby win, he weighed just 6 1/2 stone. Loates once narrowly escaped death when falling in the Liverpool Cup on Lord Derby's race

mare A mare is an adult female horse or other equidae, equine. In most cases, a mare is a female horse over the age of three, and a filly is a female horse three and younger. In Thoroughbred horse racing, a mare is defined as a female horse more th ...

Birch Rod. He was also badly injured in a fall at

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

and later married the nurse who tended him. A low point for Loates came in 1891 when his licence to ride was withdrawn by the

Jockey Club The Jockey Club is the largest commercial horse racing organisation in the United Kingdom. It owns 15 of Britain's famous racecourses, including Aintree Racecourse, Aintree, Cheltenham Racecourse, Cheltenham, Epsom Downs Racecourse, Epsom ...

for his involvement in betting, but he was reinstated the following year. He died in

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

, England on 28 September 1910, leaving $1,250,000 in property. It was believed he had amassed this phenomenal sum ($31.8 million in 2013 prices) because his later employer was the financier

Leopold de Rothschild Leopold de Rothschild (22 November 1845 – 29 May 1917) was a British banker, thoroughbred race horse breeder, and a member of the prominent Rothschild family. Biography Early life Leopold de Rothschild was the third son and youngest of t ...

who looked after his investments.

Brighton & Hove Brighton and Hove ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority area, ceremonially in East Sussex, England. There are multiple villages alongside the seaside resorts of Brighton and Hove in the district. It is administe ...

bus number 415 was named in honour of him.

References

British jockeys 1867 births 1910 deaths British Champion flat jockeys Sportspeople from Derby {{UK-horseracing-bio-stub