Sir Gordon Richards' Golden Spurs, a pair of 9ct. gold spurs by the Goldsmiths & Silversmiths Company Ltd, London, in original fitted case set with a plaque inscribed PRESENTED TO GORDON RICHARDS BY THE SPORTING LIFE, ON THE OCCASION OF THE LUNCHEON TO THE STEWARDS AND MEMBERS OF THE JOCKEY CLUB AT THE SAVOY HOTEL, LONDON, ON 14TH MARCH 1950, TO MARK HIS OUTSTANDING SUCCESSES ON THE TURF FOR 21 SEASONS Provenance: By family descent Sir Gordon Richards (lots 701 & 702) One of the outstanding jockeys of all time, Sir Gordon Richards was born in Donnington Wood, Shropshire, on 5th May 1904. His father was a miner who reared several pit ponies at home, and it was in this environment that Sir Gordon gained his first love of the equestrian. He was apprenticed to Martin Hartigan and rode his first winner at Leicester in 1921, before swiftly establishing himself as a supreme talent and was crowned champion jockey for the first time aged 21 in 1925. The following year a grave illness demanded convalescence at a Norfolk sanatorium and in Switzerland, but he made a complete recovering and became champion again in 1927. From this point on Sir Gordon dominated the jockeys ranks and by the time of his retirement following a bad fall at Sandown Park in 1954, he had ridden 4,870 winners, a total unapproached by any other rider in Britain, while the 269 winners he rode in 1947 still remains the British flat racing record. He was champion jockey 26 times and, famously, at a meeting at Chepstow rode every winner except that of the last race on the second day. He rode a total of 14 Classic winners but in his long career flat racing's greatest prize The Derby had always eluded him. In coronation year of 1953 Sir Gordon received his knighthood shortly before finally breaking his duck in the Blue Riband of the Turf when riding the great Pinza to victory. This long awaited win was the crowing moment of a glorious career and was accompanied at Epsom by thunderous cheers from an adoring public. Sir Gordon Richards died on 10th November 1988. The following two lots are offered by family descent and represent an extremely rare opportunity to acquire memorabilia relating to one of the greatest jockeys of all time and still the only jockey to have been knighted.
£4,000 - £6,000
Sir Gordon Richards' Golden Spurs, a pair of 9ct. gold spurs by the Goldsmiths & Silversmiths Company Ltd, London, in original fitted case set with a plaque inscribed PRESENTED TO GORDON RICHARDS BY THE SPORTING LIFE, ON THE OCCASION OF THE LUNCHEON TO THE STEWARDS AND MEMBERS OF THE JOCKEY CLUB AT THE SAVOY HOTEL, LONDON, ON 14TH MARCH 1950, TO MARK HIS OUTSTANDING SUCCESSES ON THE TURF FOR 21 SEASONS Provenance: By family descent Sir Gordon Richards (lots 701 & 702) One of the outstanding jockeys of all time, Sir Gordon Richards was born in Donnington Wood, Shropshire, on 5th May 1904. His father was a miner who reared several pit ponies at home, and it was in this environment that Sir Gordon gained his first love of the equestrian. He was apprenticed to Martin Hartigan and rode his first winner at Leicester in 1921, before swiftly establishing himself as a supreme talent and was crowned champion jockey for the first time aged 21 in 1925. The following year a grave illness demanded convalescence at a Norfolk sanatorium and in Switzerland, but he made a complete recovering and became champion again in 1927. From this point on Sir Gordon dominated the jockeys ranks and by the time of his retirement following a bad fall at Sandown Park in 1954, he had ridden 4,870 winners, a total unapproached by any other rider in Britain, while the 269 winners he rode in 1947 still remains the British flat racing record. He was champion jockey 26 times and, famously, at a meeting at Chepstow rode every winner except that of the last race on the second day. He rode a total of 14 Classic winners but in his long career flat racing's greatest prize The Derby had always eluded him. In coronation year of 1953 Sir Gordon received his knighthood shortly before finally breaking his duck in the Blue Riband of the Turf when riding the great Pinza to victory. This long awaited win was the crowing moment of a glorious career and was accompanied at Epsom by thunderous cheers from an adoring public. Sir Gordon Richards died on 10th November 1988. The following two lots are offered by family descent and represent an extremely rare opportunity to acquire memorabilia relating to one of the greatest jockeys of all time and still the only jockey to have been knighted.