Franny Norton: ‘I thought racing was a posh sport and they only wanted people whose dad had a boat’
Andrew Dietz talks to the jockey about his long career and his love of Chester
Franny Norton has more in common with Frankie Dettori than you might think. The no-nonsense Liverpudlian and the flamboyant Italian, both aged 52, have overcome their fair share of adversity to carve out long careers in the saddle. They also have an unlikely friendship – one forged in the enclaves of the weighing room where those with similarities, some not obvious at first, are bonded together like glue.
In the bar area of Norton's spotlessly clean home in Knowsley, Merseyside, there is a picture of the two jockeys at a function in Birkenhead a few years ago. Nothing out of the ordinary there you might think, but Norton is not your ordinary racing personality with memorabilia and trophies decorating the walls.
There are just a few, reserved for this space only, and each one carries special meaning. Pride of place is The Gold Cheongsam's win in a sales race at Doncaster in 2012 – a victory the Liverpool fan dedicated to the victims of the Hillsborough disaster. Then there is Norton's Chester Cup success on Making Miracles four years ago at a course he calls his own. Below that is the picture of him with Dettori.
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Copy- 'It's so wonderful to be here. If you're the only person in a wheelchair you find people tend to avoid you. Here you feel ordinary'
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- 'It's so wonderful to be here. If you're the only person in a wheelchair you find people tend to avoid you. Here you feel ordinary'
- 'I was in so much pain - I needed the time off for my mind and my body'
- 'There has been no promotion because there is nothing to promote' - will Premier racing recover from its stuttering start?
- 'There's a time to be serious because it's a multi-million-pound business - but you've got to have a laugh'
- Internal unrest and financial blows: is there a crisis brewing at the Jockey Club?