Former champion apprentice Stephen Davies dies aged 53

Stephen Davies, the former champion apprentice and father of rising star of the saddle Harry, has died at his home in south Wales. He was 53.

Davies, who had been suffering with throat cancer, was best known for his association with the Sir Henry Cecil stable in the early 1990s and later achieved success at the highest level abroad when winning the Group 1 Gran Criterium on Noble Pearl in 1998.

He rode 124 winners domestically, of which the highlight was Rambling Bear in the Listed Sirenia Stakes at Kempton in 1995, and many more abroad.

Davies, from Barry Island, joined Cecil in 1991 and achieved instant success at Warren Place, where he rubbed shoulders with the likes of Pat Eddery and Willie Ryan. 

He then left Newmarket to join Peter Chapple-Hyam at Manton in 1993, and partnered future Arc second White Muzzle to win a conditions contest at Beverley. A year later he was crowned champion apprentice, when the bulk of his rides were for Mikey Heaton-Ellis.

After 25 winners in 1995, Davies increasingly rode abroad and got a job in Germany in the late 1990s, when he registered his Group 1 win and also Listed victories in France and Italy aboard Sign Of Nike in 2000.

He had his last ride for Sir Michael Stoute in 2006, after which he drifted in and out of racing, while more recently he had a spell with David Evans.

His son Harry, runner-up in the apprentice championship in 2022, said: “It's quite sad really as I didn’t have much of a relationship with my dad as he was dealing with his demons most of the time. 

"I met him only a few times, but they did say when he was dying he had photos of me riding winners all around him. He was proud but struggled to reach out.”

The 18-year-old added: “He split with my mum when I was a baby. I don’t think he had it easy and with a better support network around him, like there is now. perhaps he could have done better. It’s a shame to hear what potential he had."

Davies also leaves two brothers, Dean and Carl, and sister Natasha Wilson, who said: “Racing was Stephen’s life. We were all so proud of him when he was champion apprentice and Harry has followed in his footsteps now, which is really nice.”

Chapple-Hyam said: “It’s very sad. Stephen came to me at Manton from Henry’s, which takes a bit of doing as I don’t remember Henry having many apprentices. He rode me plenty of winners, including White Muzzle, and then he got offered a job with Mikey Heaton-Ellis when he became champion apprentice. 

"Stephen was a very good jockey and hopefully through his son it will carry on.”

Jason Weaver was a rival in Newmarket in the early 1990s, when he was attached to the Luca Cumani yard. 

He said: “When I was a kid at Luca’s, Steve was up at Sir Henry’s, which were two of the powerhouses of the sport then. We were both Welsh so we gelled together and I always remember him being a great little rider. He was super competitive and had a lovely way on horseback.”

Dual Derby-winning stable lad Dave Goodwin was a colleague of Davies at Warren Place in the 1990s. 

He said: “Steve was a good rider but Warren Place wasn’t a place for an apprentice really and it wasn’t until he left to go to Peter Chapple-Hyam’s that he took off and became champion apprentice. He could have made it but it wasn’t to be, and it looks like it’s going to be left to his son to do it for him.”