Tommy Loates

Thomas Loates (6 October 1867 – 28 September 1910) was a three times British flat racing Champion Jockey and one of only seven jockeys to have won more than 200 races in a season in Great Britain. He won the English Triple Crown on Isinglass in 1892, as well as individual Classics on Donovan (1889 Derby) (for which he was a last-minute booking), Siffleuse (1893 1,000 Guineas) and St. Frusquin (1896 2,000 Guineas). On Isinglass, he also won the 1894 Eclipse and 1895 Ascot Gold Cup and he had another top class win on Desmond in Newmarket's July Stakes in 1898.

Tommy Loates
In The Sketch, 27 March 1895
Occupation	Jockey
Born	(1867-10-06)6 October 1867 Derby, Derbyshire, England
Died	28 September 1910(1910-09-28) (aged 42) Brighton, Sussex, England
Major racing wins
British Classic Race wins as jockey:[1] 1,000 Guineas 2000 Guineas (2) Epsom Derby (2) St Leger Stakes
Racing awards
British flat racing Champion Jockey 3 times (1889, 1890, 1893)
Significant horses
Isinglass, Donovan, St. Frusquin

Life

Caricature in Vanity Fair, 4 October 1890

Tommy Loates was born in Derby on 6 October 1867.^[2][3] He was regarded as the best of a family of four jockey brothers which included fellow Classic-winner, Sam Loates.^[1]

He was apprenticed to Joseph Cannon at Newmarket and was known as "a good lightweight, with very good hands".^[1] For Donovan's Derby win, he weighed just 6 1/2 stone. Loates once narrowly escaped death when falling in the Liverpool Cup on Lord Derby's race mare Birch Rod. He was also badly injured in a fall at Manchester and later married the nurse who tended him. A low point for Loates came in 1891 when his licence to ride was withdrawn by the Jockey Club for his involvement in betting, but he was reinstated the following year.^[4]

He died in Brighton, England on 28 September 1910, leaving $1,250,000 in property.^[3][5][6] It was believed he had amassed this phenomenal sum ($31.8 million in 2013 prices^[7]) because his later employer was the financier Leopold de Rothschild who looked after his investments.

Brighton & Hove bus number 415 was named in honour of him.^[8]

References

1. "Loates, Thomas (1867-)". National Horseracing Museum. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
2. Mortimer, Roger; Onslow, Richard; Willett, Peter (1978). Biographical Encyclopedia of British Flat Racing. Macdonald and Jane's. p. 350. ISBN 0-354-08536-0.
3. Moorhouse, Edward; Vamplew, Wray. "Loates, Thomas". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/34573. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
4. "The English Turf – More Jockeys Warned Off". Auckland Star. 20 June 1891. p. 3. Retrieved 31 August 2023 – via Papers Past.
5. "Jockey Leaves $1,250,000" (PDF). The New York Times. London (published 16 October 1910). 8 October 1910. p. W4. Retrieved 31 August 2023.
6. "A Famous Jockey". Nottingham Evening Post. 29 September 1910. p. 3. Retrieved 31 August 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
7. "Wolfram Alpha Search, q.v. "1,250,000 1910 dollars in 2013"". Wolfram Alpha. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
8. "Names on the buses". Brighton & Hove Bus Company. Retrieved 16 April 2013.