He quickly built up a loyal following, and his popularity was matched by critical plaudits. Francis was fascinated by a variety of professions, and his heroes were private investigators, pilots, artists, antique dealers and government agents, and a wine merchant.įrancis published a book per year for the following 38 years (all but two were novels: A Jockey’s Life (1986) was a biography of Lester Piggott, while Field of 13 (1998) was his only collection of short stories). Not all of Francis’s protagonists were jockeys. Like Dead Cert, most of Francis’s books were set against the shady backdrop of the racing world, many with jockey Alan York as their hero. In retrospect, given his insider’s knowledge of racing, as a jockey and a journalist, and his heroic service during the war, it seemed inevitable that Francis would write fiction. Offered the job as racing correspondent for the Sunday Express, he held the position for 16 years. After retiring as a jockey, Francis published a well-received autobiography, The Sport of Queens, in 1957. That loss, Francis said in later years, was his life’s greatest regret. Famously, or infamously, he was riding Devon Loch in the 1956 Grand National when the horse, five lengths clear and only 40 yards from the finish line, suddenly collapsed.
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