Jack Ormston

[Knowle]

Jack Ormston has died at the age of 97. I presume him to be the sole survivor of the 1920s era. I understand that he won the Star Riders Championship in 1930 at Crystal Palace, represented England in the first ever test against Australia at Wimbledon n the same year and rode for Wembley Harringay and Birmingham, reached the 1936 world final and retired before the war. Did anyone meet or interview him in recent years?

Edited June 26, 2007 by Knowle

[Knowle]

I have just noticed that a detailed Daily Telegraph obituary appears in the1949 World Finalists thread. Could someone cleverer than me transfer it to this thread where it deserves to be in its own right?

[Al Stewart]

I have just noticed that  a detailed Daily Telegraph obituary appears in the1949 World Finalists thread. Could someone cleverer than me transfer it to this thread where it deserves to be in its own right?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

It's an excellent obituary.

 

I met his daughter Liz many years ago and she told me her dad had been World champion.

 

I knew that wasn’t right, but lo and behold in the article there is a mention that he won an unofficial world series in Sydney in 1932-3.

 

It’s a fascinating story illustrated in the paper by a cigarette card of Ormston.

 

Jack Ormston

Last Updated: 2:07am BST 26/06/2007

 

Jack Ormston, who has died aged 97, was one of the pioneers of speedway - the sport that took Britain by storm in the decade before the Second World War - and later became a racehorse trainer.

 

Although there had been speedway on dirt tracks in Australia and parts of North America from the early 1920s, it was not until 1928 that the first meetings took place in Britain. In that year the meetings were spasmodic and individually promoted, but in 1929 proper leagues and championships were established.

 

The big, successful clubs were mainly in London, with Stamford Bridge, Wembley, Wimbledon, Harringay and New Cross the leading protagonists, although all of them struggled to overcome Belle Vue, Manchester, which frequently topped the national league. Huge crowds flocked to cheer on their teams and the leading riders. Of the top dozen riders, around half were from Australia and the United States; most of the English competitors, Ormston among them, were from the North.

 

Crowds of 50,000 or more turned out for the big ties and the championships. The riders had a glamorous aura, and were by some margin the best paid sportsmen in the country. (In the 1930s the leading footballers were paid around £6 a week, earning a £2 bonus for a win.)

 

The entrepreneurs setting up the speedway clubs knew they could prosper only by winning and that meant getting the best riders. The riders knew their value, and their demands were met. Top performers like Ormston rode five or six nights a week during the six-month season, and would get £100 appearance money at provincial meetings plus any prize money won in the match races. He would expect to earn as much as £15,000 in a season at a time when the average annual wage was £200. Ormston's preferred residence in London was the Park Lane Hotel.

 

John Glaholme Ormston (always known as Jack) was born on October 30 1909 at West Cornforth, Co Durham, the only son of a prosperous farming family who also had a butchery business. He was a boarder at the North Eastern County School (later re-named Barnard Castle). From the age of 14 he was borrowing a friend's motorcycle and driving the family's Buick, posing a constant challenge to the school authorities and the local police.

 

After leaving school in 1926 Jack bought his first motorcycle with the help of his mother and launched himself into grass track racing in the Middlesbrough area. Soon he was making a name for himself and being sponsored by Shell on the new Middlesbrough dirt track, which opened in 1928. It was not long before he was signed by Wembley, one of the new professional speedway clubs in London.

 

In 1930 Ormston won the inaugural London Riders' Championship, beating the leading Australian rider Vic Huxley along the way. That same year Ormston represented England in the first ever Test series against Australia. In 1931 and 1932 he captained the Wembley team which won the National League and most of the knockout championships.

 

In the winter of 1932-33 he led a British team to Australia, winning the individual unofficial world series in Sydney. As he paraded the trophy around the track he was roundly booed, a reflection not only of the traditional Aussie reaction to being beaten by a Pom, but also of the anti-English feeling whipped up that winter by the "bodyline" cricket series. With the Australian rider Frank Arthur, Ormston then formed a company, with the support of the manager and promoter Johnnie Hoskins, to take a group of riders to New York with a view to operating speedway at Madison Square Garden.

 

Despite the harassments of Tammany Hall and the Mafia (everyone wanted a share of the action) they succeeded in getting an option for "the Garden" and prospects looked good. Then Ormston received a telegram telling him that his father was seriously ill; he immediately left for England, arriving home in time to see his father, who died that same evening. Without Ormston's leadership and money, the New York venture collapsed.

 

Ormston missed the 1933 English season, as he was involved in revitalising the family's butchery business. He converted two vans into mobile butcher's shops which covered all the local villages; and he slaughtered all the cattle and sheep himself, whilst his mother made 1,500 pies a week, plus black pudding and sausages. That achieved, he returned to speedway for the 1934 season.

 

For a year Ormston rode for Tom Bradbury Pitt (owner of the Harringay and Hall Green tracks), having been signed for a £2,000 fee. He then spent four years at Harringay with Jack Parker, England's captain for many years.

 

Ormston got through to the World Finals four times - in 1935 he was beaten by only one point. He represented England in six Test series against Australia, and in another against the Dominions. He also toured Australia with the official British team in 1936-37 and 1937-38. He retired in September 1938.

 

Throughout his speedway career Ormston had pursued his hobbies of flying and hunting. He owned a succession of planes, and twice competed in the King's Cup air race, completing the course both times; he also came second in the Grosvenor Cup. When he was not touring Australia in the winter, Ormston hunted several days a week with the racehorse trainer Willie Stephenson.

 

After retiring from speedway, Ormston took on Lane Head Farm near Richmond, Yorkshire, and in 1940 married Jean Manners, who hailed from a well-known Durham farming family. He then established himself as a racehorse trainer.

 

He was a fine judge of a yearling. Among the fillies he bought were Hardiemma, who went on to be the dam of Shirley Heights, winner of both the English and Irish Derbies; and Manfilia, who was a great success at the Irish National Stud. When buying yearling colts Ormston often went for the big, backward types which he would put away until they were three-year-olds; then, if they showed promise, he would sell them on as jumping prospects. Peter Cazalet was a good customer and ex-Ormston horses won a Scottish Grand National and came second in a Champion Hurdle.

 

His gambling exploits were infrequent, but brilliantly executed. Not being burdened with heavy gambling owners who would spoil the price, he could wait until the weight, the going and the price were all in his favour. He was particularly adept at exploiting postal betting whereby, provided the postmarks were before the time of the race, the bet was valid but the bookmaker was unaware of his liabilities until the next day, and thus unable to hedge and force down the starting price.

 

On one occasion he had four horses running on the same day, two each at Hamilton Park and Newcastle. The horses were well-prepared, were "expected" and the money was down. All four won.

 

Ormston trained only about 400 winners before retiring in 1976; but he will be remembered for his brilliant handling of Le Garcon d'Or, who holds the 20th (and 21st) century record for flat races won -34.

 

In 1983 Ormston and his wife passed the farm to their son, John, and went to live in Spain, where they remained for a decade before returning to live near Darlington.

 

Jack Ormston, who died on June 22, is survived by his wife and by their son and daughter. Another son died in a riding accident in Australia in 1968.

[norbold]

I understand that he won the  Star Riders Championship in 1930 at Crystal Palace,  Did anyone meet or interview him in recent years?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

He won the London Riders' Championship in 1930. The nearest he came to the Star Riders' Championship was runner-up in 1935.

 

As I explained on another thread I did try to meet him when I was researching my Wembley book but I was unable to. I know some other people who tried to contact him in his last few years but they were unsuccessful as well. I think he had been very ill for some time.

[dantodan]

Jack Ormston has died at the age of 97. I presume him to be the sole survivor of the 1920s era. I understand that he won the  Star Riders Championship in 1930 at Crystal Palace, represented England in the first ever test against Australia at Wimbledon n the same year and rode for Wembley Harringay and Birmingham, reached the 1936 world final and retired before the war. Did anyone meet or interview him in recent years?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

Very sad news. There is one surviving rider from the 1920's he is Gordon Byers of Newcastle

[Ross Garrigan]

Al Stewart wrote: -

 

It's an excellent obituary.

 

I met his daughter Liz many years ago and she told me her dad had been World champion.

 

I knew that wasn’t right, but lo and behold in the article there is a mention that he won an unofficial world series in Sydney in 1932-3.

 

**************************************************

 

Jack Ormston did not win an unofficial world series in Sydney in 1932-33 - he won a qualifying round of that series held in Sydney.