Ron Hutchinson (jockey)

Hutchinson was inducted into the Australian Racing Hall of Fame in 2005 and now lives in Mornington, Victoria, swimming a kilometre most days in his 90s.

He moved first to Ireland to work for Paddy Prendergast and on his first ride in England won the 2000 Guineas riding Prendergast’s Marshall He then gained a retainer from the Duke of Norfolk and would become the Duke’s stable jockey for 16 years. During his time in Europe, he won over 1000 races, including the Ascot Gold Cup, Goodwood Cup, St Leger, 1000 Guineas, 2000 Guineas, Irish 1000 Guineas (three times), and an Irish 2000 Guineas, as well as riding Sheikh Mohammed’s first winner.

He had four children with Norma – Raymond, Susan, Sally and Peter. Both Raymond and Peter worked in the racing industry. Raymond used to exercise horses at Scobie Breasley’s yard in Epsom, and was leading amateur rider in England for four years before graduating in Veterinary Science at the University of London. Peter was apprentice to Colin Hayes and became premier jockey in Adelaide in 1989-90 and 91 before moving to Melbourne. He won the 1993 Caulfield Cup on Fraar.

He concluded his career with a year in Malaysia and Singapore, where he won the 1978 jockeys’ premiership. His intention had been to retire before that, but on a cross-Atlantic flight he called into Singapore and visited the racecourse. He won nine races in four days and was invited to stay for the season.

Hutchinson married Norma Gum, of Sunshine, Victoria, at the Sunshine Presbyterian Church on 23 April 1953. The two met at a social gathering. Before they started dating, his trainer Claude Goodfellow had taken her out for a drive to see if he approved of her and came back saying “she’s a good girl”. Norma was not interested in racing and newspapers ran the story of their marriage with the headline “Ron marries a non-bettor”. The groomsman at the wedding was fellow jockey Bill Williamson who at the time had a two win lead over Hutchinson in the jockeys’ premiership and went on to win it.

Throughout the 1950s, he was one of Australia’s leading riders and won the Melbourne jockeys’ premiership in 1958–59. He had wins in the Newmarket Handicap, Futurity Stakes, Metropolitan Handicap, VRC Oaks and Doomben Cup. One of his other key associations was three times Victorian champion trainer Lou Robertson.

By the late 1950s, he had won most of Australia’s major races. Inspired by his idol and compatriot, Scobie Breasley, who had done similarly a few years earlier, he relocated to Europe in search of further success. He was one of several jockeys who did likewise, including Bill Williamson and Jack Purtell. Hutchinson had watched and learned from Breasley at Flemington Racecourse as an apprentice. He said he “worshipped” him, often trying to copy his dress sense. Eventually, they ended up meeting, and became friends.

That first Australian Cup in 1945 was the first of 60 Cup winners he would ride in Australia. After becoming a senior jockey in the 1949–50 season, he won the Coongy Handicap and Moonee Valley Cup on top stayer Hoyle, then a second Australian Cup. In 1953, he won another Australian Cup on the three year old Arbroath, who won the VRC St Leger, Cup and Carbine Stakes in the space of eight days.

He did not have his first race ride until December 1944, but displayed a natural talent for riding and soon became a leading apprentice. His first winner, on his 12th ride, was Busybody at the now defunct Mentone Racecourse and his first major success came quickly. After only three months, he won the Australian Cup on grey mare Spectre, trained by Cecil Godby. The day’s race report commented on how Hutchinson “handled Spectre with excellent judgment”. After the race, Hutchinson asked Goodfellow if he could go home and celebrate with his parents, but the trainer gave him some small change and told him to “go down to the shop and buy the Sporting Globe, go to bed and read about yourself”. In his first eight months, he rode 12 winners and 26 placed horses from 160 rides.

He had no contact with horses as a young child, but became a fan of jockeys Harold Badger and Bill Duncan through reading about them in newspapers. He was also inspired by the 1938 film Stablemates and the horseracing newsreels shown before films at the local Sun Theatre where he worked selling sweets.

Ron Hutchinson (born 14 December 1927) is a retired Australian jockey, who won over 1000 races in Europe. In a 37-year racing career, he was successful across three continents.