1981 Gold Cup winner Wilson dies aged 72
JIM WILSON, one of only three amateur jockeys to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup, has died after a long battle with cancer at the age of 72.
Wilson partnered Peter Easterbytrained Little Owl, which he owned jointly with his brother Robin, to win the 1981 Gold Cup.
But Wilson’s massive association with jump racing’s biggest meeting extended way beyond winning its feature race.
In all he rode the winners of seven races there, being crowned the Festival’s leading jockey in 1980 when he won three of a then 18-race meeting. No amateur jockey has been top rider at the meeting since.
Among those 1980 wins was one on punters’ favourite Willie Wumpkins. Trained by Wilson’s mother-in-law Jane Pilkington, Willie Wumpkins landed the fiercely competitive Coral Golden Hurdle Final — now known as the Pertemps Hurdle — three seasons running from 1979, the final time when he was 13 years old.
Appropriately, after he set up as a trainer close to the track, that was the Festival race Wilson managed to win with the Luke Harvey-ridden Taberna Lord in 1987.Harvey, now a TV pundit for ITV and Sky, said: ‘The race was very special to Jim and meant so much to him because of Willie Wumpkins. The planning of Taberna Lord’s run was pretty meticulous.
‘There was a few quid on him when he won at Sandown before Cheltenham and there he absolutely bolted up. I don’t think any horse would have beaten him that day.
‘He was great to ride for. He always had a good story and was very amusing. He didn’t train many horses but he liked to be really hands-on and having been a good jockey himself he knew what he was doing.’
Wilson also trained Glenbrook D’Or to win the 1994 Midlands National in the hands of Brian Clifford.
OWEN BURROWS- trained Minzaal is the 7- 2 favourite for Saturday’s Group One Haydock Sprint Cup after a bumper 19 runners were left entered at the penultimate forfeit stage.
Minzaal is bidding for a first top-level win after finishing second to Nunthorpe Stakes winner Highfield Princess in the Prix Maurice de Gheest on his latest run. Opposition is headed by last year’s Kevin Ryantrained winner Emaraaty Ana and Charlie Appleby-trained Royal Ascot winner Naval Crown.