| Willie Carson |
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| CATEGORIES ABOUT WILLIE CARSON | |
| 1942 births | |
| carson, willie | |
| living people | |
| people from stirling | |
| scottish jockeys | |
| lester award winners | |
| scottish sports hall of fame | |
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William Fisher Hunter Carson, born in Stirling on 16 November 1942, was apprenticed to Captain Gerald Armstrong at his stables at Tupgill, North Yorkshire in 1957. His first winner in Britain was Pinker's Pond in a seven-furlong apprentice handicap at Catterick on 19 July 1962. He was British Champion Jockey five times (1972, 1973, 1978, 1980 and 1983), won seventeen British Classic Races , and passed 100 winners in a season 23 times for a total of 3,828 wins, making him the fourth most successful jockey in Great Britain. His best season as a jockey came in 1990 when he rode 187 winners, including riding 6 winners on the card at Newcastle in June, one of only four jockeys to complete this feat during the 20th century. Curiously he only came second in the 1990 jockey's championship to Pat Eddery who rode 209 winners. He had a long association with trainer Major Dick Hern for whom he rode his first 3 Derby winners. 5 feet tall and riding at a an easily maintained weight of 7st 10lbs he was much in demand as a jockey up to his retirement in 1996 at the age of 54. He was awarded the OBE for services to horse racing in 1983. {Link without Title} . In 1980 he took over the Minster House Stud at Ampney Crucis near Cirencester and he and his wife Elaine have developed it into a state of the art stud complex. He is almost certainly the only jockey in the 20th century to have ridden a horse that he bred, ''Minster Son'', to victory in one of the Classic races, the St. Leger Stakes 1988. He and his wife have 3 sons Anthony, Neil, and Ross. From 1982-83 Carson joined Bill Beaumont as one of the team captains for A Question Of Sport . With Clare Balding , Carson now co-presents BBC horse racing coverage. He was chairman of Swindon Town FC from 2001 until August 2007 when, following a takeover of the club by Best Holdings SGPS S.A, he was replaced by Jim Little. MAJOR WINNERS Great Britain
France
Germany
Ireland
Italy
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