Was Bob Davies the last Welshman to win the National Hunt Jockeys’ Championship?

To put it succinctly, yes, he was. Not to be confused with compatriot and contemporary Robert Arthur Davies, the ‘other’ Bob Davies, Robert Bertram Davies, won the National Hunt Jockeys’ Championship three times, in 1968/69, when he shared the title with Terry Biddlecombe, 1969/70 and 1971/72. Since then, the jockeys’ title has been won exclusively by Irish and English-born jockeys, just ten of them, of whom all bar one – Harry Skelton in 2020/21 – were multiple winners.

In chronological order, the Irish winners were Ron Barry, Tommy Stack, Jonjo O’Neill, Richard Dunwoody, Tony McCoy and, most recently, Brian Hughes. Of course, far and away the most successful of that sextet was McCoy, who won 20 consecutive titles between 1995/1996 and his retirement, at the end of the 2014/15 season. In a similar order, the English winners since 1971/1972 were John Francome, Peter Scudamore, Richard Johnson and the aforementioned Harry Skelton. Scudamore was the most successful of that quartet, with eight titles to his name, including seven in a row between 1985/86 and 1991/92. His first title, in 1981/82, though, owed much to the magnanimousness of reigning champion John Francome, who gave up riding when he drew level with Scudamore in the title race, allowing his injured rival to share the spoils.

 

As a footnote, we would like to thank esteemed author and journalist Brian Lee, Wales’ most respected horse and experienced horse racing writer, for submitting this question. In fact, we often refer to his previous work when researching questions relating to horse racing in The Principality because, quite frankly, he knows a lot more than we do! Nevertheless, if would like to put us to the test, please do submit your question, however obscure, and we’ll do our level best to provide you with a comprehensive, well-researched answer.