Franny Norton, a fixture in the weighing room for more than 30 years, has called time on his career—with the rider taking his final rides at Chester’s last meeting of the season Sept. 21.
The 54-year-old, who became known as the king of Chester with more victories at the track than any other jockey, will bow out at the end of the meeting after partnering almost 2,000 winners domestically, including three group races aboard Sir Ron Priestley and wins in the Ebor and Chester Cup.
“When you’re riding at my level, the game retires you,” said Norton. “A lot of people call it a day due to a battle with the scales but I’ve had a battle to get on them. I was still fit and hungry for it but if the opportunities aren’t coming all you’re doing is blocking the pathway to your next chapter.”
Asked what he is most proud of reflecting on his lengthy career, the veteran jockey said: “When I look back, I knew nothing about horses when I started in racing but I went on to ride nearly 2,000 winners and I’m proud to have reached that level.”
Norton made his debut in 1988 and rode his first winner in Pisa, Italy. The lightweight jockey made a quick start, winning the 1991 Ebor aboard the Sir Michael Stoute-trained Deposki but he found life hard after riding out his claim.
A couple of fallow seasons prompted him to consider a career in the boxing ring, but he decided to return to racing and later formed an enduring partnership with Mark Johnston, which continued when his son Charlie took over the license.
Alongside a pioneering approach to health and nutrition, Norton lists his association with the Johnston yard as one of the reasons for his longevity and said: “Mark was unbelievably loyal to me. I was offered a few jobs when I was doing well there but there was no way I was ever going to leave. I rode lots of winners, there were plenty of horses and Mark was great to ride for.”
Norton passed 50 winners for the first time in 2000, a mark he has hit in all but four of the subsequent years, and rode a career-best 112 British winners in 2018. One year later, he landed the Chester Cup aboard Making Miracles at a track where he has partnered more than 150 winners.
“If you go to tracks like Ascot or Goodwood you only really get a feel from the crowd of what’s happening in the final furlong, whereas at Chester you get it all the way around, inside and outside the track,” said Norton. “Racegoers can watch the race from anywhere and it’s an incredible buzz.”
However, the highlight of his career did not come at Chester but at Doncaster. Norton singles out The Gold Cheongsam’s narrow success in a sales race in 2012—a victory the Liverpool fan dedicated to the victims of the Hillsborough disaster—as his most memorable.
“The news had broken that there was going to be justice for the 97,” said the jockey. “When Jeremy Noseda phoned me up to ride the horse, who only had a light weight, he gave me loads of confidence. I thought I had already won and when I did I wanted to do something for Hillsborough.”
