Joe Mercer

Joe Mercer, OBE (25 October 1934 to 17 May 2021) was an English thoroughbred jockey, nicknamed Smokin' Joe, who was born in Bradford, West Yorkshire, one of eight children. Active from 1947 to 1985, he rode 2,810 winners in Britain. Apprenticed to the trainer Frederick Sneyd, he won his first British Classic on Ambiguity in the 1953 Oaks while still an apprentice and was Champion Apprentice in 1952 and 1953. He later rode as stable jockey for Jack Colling, Dick Hern, Henry Cecil and Peter Walwyn, and won his only Champion Jockey title in 1979. His best-known partner was Brigadier Gerard, who won all but one of 18 races between 1970 and 1972. Mercer won every British Classic except the Derby, in which he twice finished second. After retiring in 1985 he became racing manager for Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum.