The leading amateur rider of his era.
A jump jockey with over 200 winners to his name.
Everyone’s favourite loser of the Grand National.
Journalist.
Author.
Radio and Television presenter.
Owner and proud breeder of Carruthers.
Founder and Life President of the Injured Jockeys Fund.
Winner of the prestigious Sir Peter O’Sullevan award for services
to racing.
Wit.
Raconteur.
After dinner speaker extra-ordinary.
And all round thoroughly good egg.
He even has something good to say about John McCririck.
Everybody
knows and loves Lord Oaksey or, rather John Geoffrey
Tristram Lawrence, 4th Baron Trevethin and 2nd Baron Oaksey,
whose father was the famous judge Geoffrey Lawrence, 1st Baron
Oaksey, who was chief prosecutor at the Nuremberg trials, which
was responsible for trying the Nazi leaders after World War II.
<< Judge Geoffrey Lawrence, 1st Baron Oaksey
Although Oaksey, who this year celebrates his 80th birthday,
has always preferred to be called Oaksey he was initially known
as John Lawrence for a short time during his media career, which
spanned more than 50-years. Educated at Eton College, New College,
Oxford and Yale University, at 16 he spent the summer with his
father attending the Nuremberg Trials. But the Trials over, he
has since then devoted his life to horses. Racing them. Writing
about them. Talking about them.
The highlight of his career as
a jockey came in the 1963 Grand National at Aintree Racecourse
in Liverpool riding Carrickbeg, when in the final strides of
an epic struggle he was beaten by only three quarters of a length
by Ayala, ridden by Pat Buckley. After weighing in, Oaksey being
Oaksey he made straight for the nearest telephone to file his
report of the race to the Sunday Telegraph, for which he was
racing correspondent.
Fellow racing journalist and pundit, Brough
Scott described the article he dictated that day as the best
first-hand piece of reporting he had ever read. . Later in retirement,
during a long stint on the after-dinner speech circuit, Oaksey
would regularly relate the story of how he was once approached
in the men's lavatory at Piccadilly Circus by a shifty character,
who declared: "You're the bugger who got tired before your horse
in the Grand National."
In 1964 Oaksey founded the Injured
Jockeys Fund following the
devastating accidents to Tim Brookshaw, and Paddy Farrell in
the 1964 Grand National. Since then the IJF has raised and spent
over £16million in helping over 1,000 jockeys whose injuries
have forced some of them to give up riding.
In 1969 he joined ITV and was regularly seen and heard on The
ITV Seven and later Channel 4 Racing, where he was invariably
referred to by John McCririck as "My Noble Lord".
<< Injured Jockeys Fund - Oaksey House
In the 1980s he also appeared on BBC Radio alongside Peter
Bromley. Together they covered Bob Champion's famous win on Aldaniti
in the 1981 Grand National. Bob had been diagnosed with cancer
but had fought back to win the race. Oaksey remarked afterwards:
"If an imaginative novelist had dreamt up that result everybody
would have called him a very silly imaginative novelist."
Towards
the end of 1999 Oaksey retired from regular broadcasting
though he still appeared occasionally. He also continued to write
for The Daily Telegraph for many years after that. In November
last year he was awarded one of the sport's greatest honours
when he became the 12th recipient of the annual Peter O'Sullevan
Award for services to racing. By coincidence. the award was made
during Hennessy Gold Cup week, which 50-years previously Oaksey
had won on Taxidermist. He also won the Whitbread Gold Cup the
same year on the same horse.
Bob Champion's famous win on
Aldaniti in the 1981 Grand National
>>
Visit Oaksey today at his farm just
outside Malmesbury, Wiltshire. Sit in the kitchen with him and
his dog, Jacko and he is still bubbling with as much fun and
enthusiasm as ever and firing off his views and comments in all
directions..
His
first pony? "Mince Pie," he says. "She kept stopping. I must have
got her when I was about four-years-old. After that, I got Plum
Pudding. She never stopped. I had three sisters, Libby, Robby
and Jenny. Libby was the eldest. She was also the best rider
of all of us. I remember we went to all the local shows. We used
to win everything."
Did he enjoy being a jockey? "I was happiest when I was a jockey," he laughs. " I
was even happier when I won. I think the best horse I ever rode
was Taxidermist. I would have liked to have won the Grand National
on him. But it wasn’t to be. We won lots of other races, though.
If I didn’t become a jockey, I think I would have become a barrister
like my father. But I don’t think I would have had as much fun."
His
greatest jockey?
"Fred Winter," he says immediately. "He was great.
He just was. He was straight. Trouble was you always knew he
was going to beat you. But he wasn’t conceited at all. I didn’t
know Leicester Piggott very well although in the old days he
was a jump jockey. He always rode bloody well."
Owners? "I remember Mrs Topham. She was the owner of Aintree. She was
a great character. And, of course, the Queen Mother. The newspapers
always said she liked her gin-and-tonic. I don’t think that was
true. She was always very nice."
Horses? "Arkle," he says without a moment’s hesitation. "The
greatest horse of all time. He didn’t seem to race. He just seemed
to float over the ground. Fantastic. Desert Orchid. Wonderful."
Statue of Lord Oaksey
at Oaksey House >>
Racecourse? "Sandown," he says equally briskly. "Goodwood is too
flat. Ascot is mostly flat. Sandown is the best."
Racing commentators? "Clare Balding. I think she is marvellous. She seems to know
everything. John McCririck. He’s very knowledgeable. He’s made
himself a character. But he is a thoroughly nice man."
Books? "I’m reading about Seabiscuit, at the moment. I’m only halfway
through."
Films? "I don’t know much about films. I can remember Ben-Hur.
I didn’t
like the chariot race. I thought the horses were going to get
hurt."
Is he a gambler? "I never gambled much. In fact, I lost most of what I won. Not
many jockeys die rich."
What is his idea of heaven? He laughs
"Watching Arkle at Sandown," he says. "With Clare Balding
and John McCririck on the television, drinking champagne – and
losing money."
How would he like to be remembered? Again,
he laughs. He looks at his dog. " ’m
with Jacko," he
says.