Nat Flatman
Nat Flatman | |
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St. James's Palace Stakes (1850)
(1835, 1845, 1846, 1848) Stewards' Cup (1841, 1846) Nassau Stakes (1842, 1843, 1847, 1849, 1852, 1859) July Stakes (1843) Coronation Stakes (1844, 1845, 1848, 1849, 1851) Ascot Gold Cup (1846) Doncaster Gold Cup
International race wins: Prix du Jockey Club (1837, 1846, 1856) Prix de Diane (1850, 1852) Grand Critérium (1855, 1856) | |
Racing awards | |
British flat racing Champion Jockey (1840-1852) | |
Honours | |
Nat Flatman Street, Newmarket, Suffolk, England | |
Significant horses | |
Voltigeur, Preserve, Orlando, Alarm, Surplice |
Elnathan "Nat" Flatman (1810 – 20 August 1860), born
Early life
Flatman was born in
Career
Apprenticeship
With all his belongings wrapped in a handkerchief and slung over his shoulder Flatman hiked from his home to Newmarket – a scruffy 15-year-old, 4 stone (25 kg) stripling[2] looking for work. When he arrived at the yard of trainer, William Cooper, "one of the most upright trainers and best men that ever lived",[4] he was initially dismissed on account of his dishevelled appearance. Cooper's wife took kindly to him, though, and pleaded Flatman's cause to her husband. As a result, Flatman was taken on as apprentice to the Cooper stable in 1825.[5]
Flatman worked with Cooper for three years before he was offered his first opportunity to race in public. At this time he could ride at just a little over 6 stone (38 kg).[6] This debut was a high-profile one, riding Lord Exeter's Golden
1830s
Cooper had several prominent owners at his yard, including Colonel Peel, the Earl of Strafford,[2] General Yates, Captain Gardnor and, in later years, Mr. Payne, Mr. Greville, Lord Chesterfield and Lord Glasgow,[2] so Flatman was well placed to ride winners. Yet, despite the profile and wealth of some of these patrons, Flatman never took a retainer from Cooper during his time at the yard and took no more than 20 per annum from Colonel Peel.[8] He was, however, a remarkably loyal jockey. It was said that "never was there a more faithful or honest servant than Flatman proved himself to all his employers." [8]
Soon, Flatman was taking up more rides than any other jockey, on account of his being able to ride at 7 stone 5 lbs (46.7 kg)[8] and his profile began to rise. In 1832, he had his first classic rides for Cooper. He is reported as having ridden The General in that year's renewal of the Derby,[3] although the Racing Calendar of 1832 shows no record of a horse with that name running in the race.[9] He also rode Gretna Green in the Oaks but finished unplaced.[10]
His first big race win came not for Cooper, but for
In the summer of 1837 he was now "at the height of his profession".[3] He took the Goodwood Cup for a second time, as well as a first Doncaster Cup. He also formed a winning partnership with Mango, only to lose the ride, for unrecorded reasons, to Sam Day. Day rode the horse to victory in the St Leger, a race that would elude Flatman himself until the late 1840s.
Flatman had by now started to ride for George Payne, who became his regular master and for whom he would ride for the rest of his life.[3][8]
1840s
By the 1840s, Flatman was firmly established as the top rider of his generation. Prominent jockeys of earlier times such as Arthur Pavis, Patrick Conolly and John Chapple were no longer around to compete, the former two having met with early deaths.[3][6]
His profile was such that he began to be in demand at northern racecourses like Manchester and Newcastle, riding for Malton-based trainer John Scott.[1] In a manner more akin to his modern day counterparts than some of his contemporaries, he would regularly travel up and down the country to take rides. On one occasion in 1840 he won the Chester Cup one day and rode at Newmarket next, a remarkable logistical achievement given the transportation of the time.[3] This strategy bore fruit in the number of winners he was riding. In 1840, he rode 50 winners; in the period 1846-1848 he was creating new records year-on-year, peaking at 104 wins in 1848, the sport's first century of winners.
He missed a possible winning chance in the 1841 Derby when he was knocked off Alarm amongst a scuffle at the starting post. Then, in 1844, he was involved in one of the most controversial races in turf history. In the
The first seasonal record of jockeys' winners was published in 1846[1] and from that first publication until 1852, Flatman was always at the top of the list. Records for the years before that show he also accumulated the most wins in the period from 1840 to 1845, equating to 13 jockeys' championships.
1850s
The closing years of Flatman's career were not so successful. By the early 1850s, John 'Tiny' Wells, George Fordham, John Charlton, Henry Custance and brothers James and Luke Snowden were coming to the fore, all able to ride at 7 stone 7 lbs (47.6 kg).[3] During his prime, Flatman had ridden at 7 stone 8 lbs (48.1 kg)[6] but he could no longer compete at this weight. John Wells was the first to overhaul Flatman in the jockeys championship in 1853. By 1854, both Wells and Charlton had headed him, and from then on Flatman gradually fell out of favour until in his final year of riding in 1859, he won only fifteen races.
However, he did take part in one of the most famous races of the century, the so-called
Among his last brilliant victories were the
Flatman had his portrait painted by equine artist
Death
The last win of Flatman's career came on the Tuesday of the first October meeting of 1859. He won a match on Golden Rule for
Flatman left £8,000 on his death.[1] The epitaph on his headstone in All Saints Church, in Newmarket states that he was "known to be honest, sober, discreet and plain living." The town later named a street in Nat Flatman's honour. He had won 13 championships and 10 classics, every classic but the Oaks.
He was survived by a widow, three daughters and two sons, neither of which followed their father into the profession.
Critical opinion
Flatman was known as an inelegant rider who lacked the "horsemanship and flashes of genius" of his contemporary Frank Butler.[1] Instead, his success was attributed to his dependability[1] or, put another way, to "a steady course of good riding and good conduct, extending over many years, rather than to any more characteristic qualities of jockeyship."[6] He was not a whip jockey.[6]
He "earned a reputation for honesty and talent combined, excelled by none of his compeers."[16] Elsewhere, it is said that he rode scrupulously to orders and could not be induced to bet.[17] Some other accounts dispute this, saying he occasionally bet like all jockeys, but was careful and shrewd.[3] It is said that even though he rode many trials of horses, he would never afterwards reveal how they had performed.[18] He was, in fact, "One of the most honourable and meritorious men of his class [that has been] ever encountered,"[4] "one of the most respectable and honourable knights of the pig-skin that ever performed upon an English race-course"[18] and "a pleasant, cheerful fellow, a thoroughly good sportsman, and charitable withal."[3]
Greatest rides
The dead heat between his horse Gibraltar and Crucifix in the 1839 Criterion Stakes has been described as "the race ... whereby his fame was established".[3] However, his Doncaster Cup defeat of The Flying Dutchman on Voltigeur is often called his greatest triumph.[5][6] It was the only time Flying Dutchman was beaten. Other races that have been put forward as highlights of his career are the 1834 Goodwood Cup on Glencoe and the 1846 Ascot Gold Cup on Alarm[5] Flatman himself regarded Alarm as the best horse he rode.[5]
Career stats
Number of wins by season:
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Classic race victories
- 1,000 Guineas– Preserve (1835), Clementina (1847), Imperieuse (1857)
- 2,000 Guineas– Idas (1845), Hernandez (1851), Fazzoletto (1856)
- Epsom Derby – Orlando (1844)
- St. Leger– Surplice (1848), Warlock (1856), Imperieuse (1857)
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Mortimer, Onslow & Willett 1978, p. 214.
- ^ a b c d e f Silzter 1923, p. 80.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q
"Celebrated Jockeys: Nat Flatman". Launceston Examiner. Launceston, Australia. 5 April 1882. Retrieved 26 April 2013.
- ^ a b Kent 1892, p. 143.
- ^ a b c d e "The Apotheosis of Jockeys". The Australian Town & Country Journal. 31 March 1900. Retrieved 27 April 2013.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Seccombe, Thomas (1901). Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography (1st supplement). London: Smith, Elder & Co. . In
- ^ a b Weatherby, Edward and James (1830). "Epsom". Racing Calendar. 57: 13.
- ^ a b c d e f g Kent 1892, p. 144.
- ^ Weatherby, Edward and James (1833). "Epsom". Racing Calendar. 60: 58.
- ^ Weatherby, Edward and James (1833). "Epsom". Racing Calendar. 60: 59.
- ^ Foulkes 2011.
- ^ "Sporting". Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle. 1 November 1851. Retrieved 3 January 2012.
- Hillsborough, NC9 June 2007.
- ^ "English Sporting Reminiscences". Auckland Star. Auckland, New Zealand. 13 April 1903. p. 3. Retrieved 26 April 2013.
- ^ a b "A Retrospect". The Australian Town & Country Journal. 10 March 1900. Retrieved 26 April 2013.
- ^ "The English Turf". Bell’s Life in Sydney and Sporting Chronicle. Sydney, Australia. 20 October 1860. Retrieved 26 April 2013.
- ^ Kent 1892, p. 145.
- ^ a b Kent 1892, p. 147.
Bibliography
- Foulkes, Nicholas (2011). Gentlemen & Blackguards: Gambling Mania and the Plot to Steal the Derby of 1844. Phoenix. ISBN 978-0753824757.
- Kent, John (1892). Lawley, Hon. Francis Charles (ed.). Racing life of Lord George Cavendish Bentinck, M. P. and other reminiscences. Edinburgh: Blackwood. Retrieved 28 April 2013.
- Mortimer, Roger; Onslow, Richard; Willett, Peter (1978). Biographical Encyclopaedia of British Racing. ISBN 0-354-08536-0.
- Silzter, Frank (1923). Newmarket: its sports and personalities. p. 80. Retrieved 28 April 2013.
- Tanner, Michael; Cranham, Gerry (1992). Great Jockeys of the Flat – A celebration of two centuries of jockeyship. ISBN 978-0-85112-989-1.