The Guardian: Sport: Horse Racing: Dick Francis obituary
NY Times: Books: Dick Francis, Jockey and Writer, Dies at 89
Telegraph: Books: Book News: Dick Francis dies aged 89
Wall Street Journal has it bylined from UK's Times: Comment: Obituaries: Dick Francis: the Times obituary
Had he remained in the racing world as a trainer or bloodstock consultant, after retiring from riding through injury in 1957, Dick Francis would have been remembered as one of the most successful National Hunt jockeys of his era — and as the man who spectacularly managed to lose out in the 1956 Grand National when he apparently had the entire field at his mercy. As it is, the photograph of him within a whisker of the finishing line, aboard the Queen Mother’s horse Devon Loch, flat on its belly with four legs helplessly splayed out, has provided one of the enduring enigmas of racing and one of its strangest images
BBC News: Arts and Culture: Author Dick Francis dies aged 89
LA Times has a blog entry.
alt.obituaries has posted the obit from the Guardian.
The most dramatic incident in his racing career was also a
mystery. In the Grand National at Aintree in 1956, his mount
Devon Loch, the Queen Mother's horse trained by Peter
Cazalet, had jumped all the fences and, well ahead, only 50
yards from the finish, without another horse near him,
suddenly collapsed and was unable to continue.
mystery. In the Grand National at Aintree in 1956, his mount
Devon Loch, the Queen Mother's horse trained by Peter
Cazalet, had jumped all the fences and, well ahead, only 50
yards from the finish, without another horse near him,
suddenly collapsed and was unable to continue.
Some said the horse had attempted to jump an imaginary
fence; another theory, put up years later by Bill Braddon,
Cazalet's head lad, was that the girth was too tight and the
horse suddenly let loose an enormous fart. Braddon said he
had tightened the girth just before the off, "one notch up
and another for luck", without realising that Cazalet had
already done it in the saddling enclosure.
fence; another theory, put up years later by Bill Braddon,
Cazalet's head lad, was that the girth was too tight and the
horse suddenly let loose an enormous fart. Braddon said he
had tightened the girth just before the off, "one notch up
and another for luck", without realising that Cazalet had
already done it in the saddling enclosure.
There was no question of Francis, like a crooked jockey out
of one of his own books, having pulled the horse. It had
been his great dream since he was a lad of eight in 1928 and
listened to the Grand National on the radio as Tipperary Tim
won at 100-1, to be a steeplechase jockey and win that
ultimate prize. Ironically, Devon Loch's melodramatic
collapse in front of a roaring crowd cheering him to the
finish has ensured Francis a place in the history of the
race he would not have had if he had been merely another
winner.
of one of his own books, having pulled the horse. It had
been his great dream since he was a lad of eight in 1928 and
listened to the Grand National on the radio as Tipperary Tim
won at 100-1, to be a steeplechase jockey and win that
ultimate prize. Ironically, Devon Loch's melodramatic
collapse in front of a roaring crowd cheering him to the
finish has ensured Francis a place in the history of the
race he would not have had if he had been merely another
winner.
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