Stan Mellor
| Stan Mellor | |
|---|---|
| Occupation | Jockey |
| Born | 1937 |
| Major racing wins | |
|
As a jockey King George VI Chase (twice) Whitbread Gold Cup Mackeson Gold Cup Gloucestershire Hurdle Queen Mother Champion Chase Hennessy Cognac Gold Cup As a trainer Triumph Hurdle Stayers' Hurdle |
|
| Honours | |
| MBE | |
Stan Mellor (born 1937) is a former National Hunt jockey and trainer who was the first jockey to ride 1,000 winners and Champion Jockey three years in a row from 1960 to 1962.
Mellor was an intelligent jockey, rather than a physical one. He once bemoaned the effect this had on public perception of him: "If you win with strength people see it, and if you win with style people see it, but if you win with guile people don't see it."
He rode at a weight of 8 st 10 lb, not much more than a modern flat jockey.
Mellor was one of the few jockeys to experience beating Arkle, often regarded as the greatest steeplechaser of all time. His victory against Arkle came in the 1966 Hennessy Gold Cup on 25-1 outsider Stalbridge Colonist. Because of the handicapping system, Arkle was regularly forced to compete conceding huge amounts of weight to other horses, and his defeat is often attributed to that. Mellor himself, however, maintains that Stalbridge Colonist beat him with a "turn of foot"
On 10 December 1971, Mellor rode his 999th winner at Cheltenham. Despite another six rides there the next day, he couldn't add to it. Mellor spent another week trying to pass the landmark, racking up seven more losers in the process. His wife travelled with him every day so as not to miss the celebrations.
Finally, at Nottingham on 18 December 1971, he piloted grey gelding Ouzo to victory in the otherwise unremarkable Christmas Spirit Novices' Chase, thus becoming the first jump jockey to ride 1,000 winners. Dismounting from Ouzo, Mellor proclaimed it "a great relief" and was presented with an inscribed silver salver by his wife on behalf of the racecourse.
It is believed that Mellor had 750 falls during his riding career.
One especially bad fall coming down the hill at Cheltenham caused his riding cap to slip off and spin away causing his wife, watching in the stands, to scream, "Oh my God, his head has come off".
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