John Francome

This biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. Find sources:  –  ·  ·  · scholar · JSTOR (December 2018) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

John Francome MBE (13 December 1952) is a former National Hunt Champion Jockey, television pundit and author.

Born in Swindon, Wiltshire, the son of a railway fireman, his family had no connection with the horse racing world. At sixteen years old he became apprentice to Lambourn trainer Fred Winter and so began his career as a jockey. He rode a total of 1,138 winners, his last being in April 1985. During the course of his career he was Champion Jockey seven times, between 1976 and 1985. Francome is the third most successful National Hunt jump jockey of all time after Tony McCoy (20 championships) and Peter Scudamore (8 championships). He is dubbed the best jockey never to have won the Grand National.

After retiring, Francome was awarded the MBE in 1986 for services to racing. He was a trainer for eighteen months before becoming a TV presenter for Channel 4's horse racing broadcasts. Like another former jockey, Dick Francis, Francome also took to writing works of fiction. His books have featured on the bestseller lists.^{[citation needed]} Francome ceased appearing on Channel 4 Racing at the close of 2012 when the Highflyer Production term ended. He stated in a Racing Post interview that he had only continued to work on TV for so long out of loyalty to producer . He also stopped writing after the release of his final book, Storm Rider, saying he "couldn't think of any more ways of killing anyone".^[1]

John Francome held the position of President of the Injured Jockeys Fund from 2012 to 2016 and is currently (February 2020) a Vice Patron.

Bibliography[]

1. EavesDropper (1986), ISBN 0-356-12744-3 (with James MacGregor)
2. Riding High (1987), ISBN 0-356-14558-1 (with James MacGregor)
3. Declared Dead (1988), ISBN 0-7472-0087-4 (with James MacGregor)
4. Blood Stock (1989), ISBN 0-7472-0129-3 (with James MacGregor)
5. Stone Cold (1990), ISBN 0-7472-0227-3
6. Stud Poker (1991), ISBN 0-7472-0390-3
7. Rough Ride (1992), ISBN 0-7472-0566-3
8. Outsider (1993), ISBN 0-7472-0749-6
9. Break Neck (1994), ISBN 0-7472-1032-2
10. Dead Ringer (1995), ISBN 0-7472-1264-3
11. False Start (1996), ISBN 0-7472-1653-3
12. High Flyer (1997), ISBN 0-7472-1896-X cover photography Peter Dazeley
13. Safe Bet (1998), ISBN 0-7472-2133-2
14. Tip Off (1999), ISBN 0-7472-2134-0
15. LifeLine (2000), ISBN 0-7472-7239-5
16. Dead Weight (2001), ISBN 0-7472-7241-7
17. Inside Track (2002), ISBN 0-7553-0060-2
18. Stalking Horse (2003), ISBN 0-7553-0668-6
19. Back Hander (2004), ISBN 0-7553-0681-3
20. Cover Up (2005), ISBN 0-7553-2690-3
21. Winner Takes All (2006), ISBN 0-7553-2948-1
22. Dark Horse (2007) ISBN 978-0-7553-4703-2
23. Final Breath (2008) ISBN 978-0-7553-3728-6
24. Deadly Finish (2009) ISBN 978-0-7553-4990-6
25. Storm Rider (2010) ISBN 978-0-7394-3069-9

Family[]

His nephew Sam Ricketts is currently a football manager with Shrewsbury Town and is a former Welsh international.

See also[]

• Dick Francis

References[]

External links[]

• John Francome interview
• John Francome's record at the Cheltenham Festival