Shergar’s jockey Swinburn dies at 55
THERE is little chance of contradiction when you listen to Frankie Dettori’s description of Walter Swinburn, the jockey whose name will for ever be linked with the great 1981 Derby winner Shergar.
‘The most naturally talented jockey of his generation’ is how the Italian described the three-time Derby-winning jockey, who died peacefully at his London home yesterday aged 55.
Michael Haggas, who acted as Swinburn’s agent when he was riding, said: ‘Walter had been suffering from epilepsy but this is just terrible news and a terrible time for it to happen so near Christmas.’ AP McCoy tweeted: ‘Brilliantly stylish & a genius in the saddle. A jockey God hath retained. RIP’
There are jockeys who you can watch knowing they will always be hideously hard to beat in a finish and ones who will be so tactically astute that they will occasionally make their rivals look like fools.
But you will have to search far and wide to find a jockey more natural on horseback than Swinburn.
When you watched Walter ride, you were witnessing not just a race-winning athlete in action but also a thing of silky-smooth beauty. His soft hands seemed to transmit messages down the reins to his mounts. He knew a racehorse’s language and was a fluent speaker. His 5ft 7in body’s battle with the scales prevented him from matching the numbers posted by his more prolific colleagues. It also prompted a break from the saddle when he admitted he had succumbed to bulimia in a desperate attempt to keep the pounds off and also to the sense of relief when he finally gave up riding for good in 2000.
But when it came to riding big-race winners, Walter Swinburn was a man whose record compared with the very best.
Nothing illustrated that better than his three Derby wins on Shergar, Shahrastani (1986) and Lammtarra (1995). All were different and masterclasses in how to ride Epsom. But it was with Shergar, the widest-margin winner in Derby history with his 10- length success, that Swinburn will be most closely associated.
He was a 19-yearold novice who had been plucked from m relative anonymity byy trainer Sir Michael l Stoute when the ride came along. But Swinburn, nicknamed The Choirboy becausee of his youthful looks,, took everything in his stride.
Describing Shergar, Swinburn would later say: ‘ When you were galloping, you didn’t realise exactly how fast you were going because he had this really short, daisycutting action. He was far and away the greatest horse I ever rode and that is no insult to my two other Derby winners.’
Swinburn was back on Shergar when the colt owned by the Aga Khan landed the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Royal Ascot that summer. Other big races Swinburn won included the 1983 Arc on All Along. The best horses he was associated with also included brilliant sprinter Green Desert, 1983 Irish Derby winner Shareef Dancer and Pilsudski, the 1996 Breeders’ Cup Turf winner, and the 1989 Sussex and Queen Elizabeth II Stakes winner Zilzal.
When he retired aged 38, it was a relief. Swinburn was already on a comeback having taken a step away from the sport to try to stabilise his weight.
He had also suffered serious head injuries in a fall while riding in Hong Kong in 1996. That possibly contributed to the epilepsy he suffered later in his life.
Swinburn, who was born in Oxford of Irish parents, became a good friend while working as a columnist for this newspaper. He could be great company but was also at times a tortured soul.
The regime he lived as a jockey appeared to have left its mark and he never seemed completely settled after his riding career ended.
He had seven years as a trainer, when he took over the stable of his then father-in-law Peter Harris, and trained 270 winners. But that never seemed to fill the gap left by not riding.
One of my favourite stories he told concerned a trip to a riding school in Hyde Park with his young daughters for an hour or two on horseback. Unimpressed with Walter’s posture in the saddle, the instructor started giving him riding tips. Walter never let on who he was and what he had done.
He told that story with a huge grin on his face. It’s how I will remember him.