Eight time Cheltenham Festival winning jockey
Michael Scudamore the father of former champion jockey Peter and grandfather of Tom rode eight Cheltenham Festival Winners between 1956 and 1964. He also won the 1959 Aintree Grand National on Oxo. His biggest Cheltenham win was in the 1957 Gold Cup on the Charlie Mallon trained Linwell.
We have tabled his eight Cheltenham Festival winners here :
| Year | Race | Horse | Age | Trainer |
| 1956 | Triumph | Square Dance | 4 | Fulke Walwyn |
| 1956 | Cathcart | Amber Wave | 8 | Geoffrey Champneys |
| 1957 | RSA Chase | Mandarin | 6 | Fulke Walwyn |
| 1957 | Gold Cup | Linwell | 9 | Charlie Mallon |
| 1961 | Supreme Novices D2 | Greektown | 5 | Willie Stephenson |
| 1961 | Grand Annual | Barberyn | 6 | Willie Stephenson |
| 1964 | Arkle | Greektown | 8 | Willie Stephenson |
| 1964 | Cathcart | Panisse | 9 | Willie Stephenson |
We will have more about his RSA chase winner Mandarin (this is the horse the Cheltenham Racecourse Restaurant is named after -it’s not a Chinese Restaurant !) when we start our Cheltenham Festival Horses Hall of Fame.
Here is some newsreel of his 1959 Aintree Grand National win:
Obituary
The Racing Post reported his passing on 7 July 2014.
MICHAEL SCUDAMORE, who won the Grand National in 1959 aboard Oxo, and the Gold Cup in 1957 on Linwell, has died aged 81.
Scudamore was regarded as one of the greatest jockeys of his era, and his exploits in the saddle encouraged son Peter to follow in his footsteps, to great success. One of racing’s most popular dynasties has continued to a third generation through Peter’s sons, jump jockey Tom and trainer Michael.
Michael Scudamore, whose father was a point-to-point trainer, rode 496 winners between 1950 and a career-ending falll at Wolverhampton in 1966 that left him with a permanently damaged left eye.
He finished runner-up in the 1956-57 season, winning the King George VI Chase on Rose Park, and he educated Mandarin in his early races before winning the race that is now the RSA Chase at Cheltenham on him in 1957.
Peter said: “He was a hero to us. They were tough men in those days, he rode in a 40-runner novice chase round Hereford, and said when he had a fall his helmet hit the floor before he did as there were no straps in those days.
“They were just a different generation of toughness and without him and the other people of his era, National Hunt racing wouldn’t be held in the regard that it is today and I’d never want to forget the legacy they left us.
“People come up to me and say ‘I’ve watched many jockeys and he was the best one I’ve ever seen over a fence’, which makes you immensely proud. He was the toughest man I’ve ever met.”
After the enforced end to his riding career, Scudamore trained hin Herefordshire between 1967 and 1995, resuming in 2003 until 2008. His biggest successes were Bruselee in the 1974 Mackeson and Fortina’s Palace in the 1970 Grand Annual.
Scudamore’s wife Mary passed away last Friday, and Peter Scudamore added: “She couldn’t have survived without him and from that point of view it was a blessing.”
Trainer Michael Scudamore summed up his family’s emotions, as he tweeted: “A huge thank you for everyone’s kind words. Our feelings at the moment are of huge pride. To have known him, spent time with him and listened to his wonderful stories and have been able to call him Grandad.”
