25 Facts About John Oaksey

John Geoffrey Tristram Lawrence, 4th Baron Trevethin and 2nd Baron Oaksey was a British aristocrat, horse racing journalist, television commentator and former amateur jockey.

John Oaksey was twice British Champion Amateur Jump Jockey, before becoming a celebrated journalist and recognisable racing personality both on television and through his charitable work for the Injured Jockeys Fund, which he helped establish.

John Oaksey has been described as "quite possibly the outstanding racing figure of modern times, touching so many via his compelling writing, broadcasting, race-riding and tireless fund-raising".

John Oaksey was the son of the noted jurist Geoffrey Lawrence, 1st Baron Oaksey, and his wife Marjorie, daughter of Commander Charles Robinson, RN.

John Oaksey preferred to be called Oaksey, although Trevethin is the longer-established title.

John Oaksey was educated at Eton College, where he was captain of the boxing team.

John Oaksey then went up to New College, Oxford, to read Philosophy, Politics and Economics.

John Oaksey had learned to ride on an old pony called Mince Pie, which later gave rise to the title of his autobiography, Mince Pie For Starters A photo of him being ejected from Mince Pie during the 1935 Purton pony trials appeared on the front page of the Daily Express.

John Oaksey began competitive riding in point-to-points, starting with a ride on a horse called Paula at Siddington, Gloucestershire, in April 1950.

John Oaksey had his first winner the following year on board Next of Kin at the Pegasus Club meeting at Kimble, a meeting confined to lawyers and their families.

John Oaksey had his first major victory at the same track: Flaming East in the 1958 Imperial Cup.

John Oaksey passed the post first, but was demoted to second after it was ruled he had interfered with The Dikler.

John Oaksey thought this immensely unfair, saying later, "The passing of time has done nothing to diminish my feeling that a great injustice was done".

John Oaksey retired from racing after being injured in a fall at Folkestone in 1975.

John Oaksey began his broadcasting career while still active in the saddle.

John Oaksey joined ITV's World of Sport in 1969, and was regularly seen and heard on The ITV Seven and later Channel 4 Racing, where he was invariably referred to by John McCririck as "My Noble Lord".

John Oaksey wrote for the Daily Telegraph, as the paper's racing correspondent "Marlborough" for over 30 years.

John Oaksey's most celebrated piece of writing was his account of the 1963 Grand National he rode on Carrickbeg.

John Oaksey is noted for his account of Fred Winter's win in the 1962 Grand Steeplechase de Paris on Mandarin.

John Oaksey's lasting legacy to the racing industry is the Injured Jockeys Fund.

John Oaksey was elected honorary member of the Jockey Club in 2001.

In 1959 he married John Oaksey Betjeman's former secretary, Victoria Dennistoun, whose father John Oaksey Dennistoun was a racehorse trainer.

John Oaksey married again, in 1988, to "Chicky" Crocker, who had been married to a family friend.

In later years, John Oaksey suffered from Alzheimer's disease and died in September 2012 at the age of 83.

John Oaksey was survived by his second wife and the children from his first marriage.