Former trainer and amateur jockey Ken Clutterbuck dies aged 77

Former Newmarket trainer Ken Clutterbuck died on Wednesday in West Suffolk Hospital, Bury St Edmunds after suffering a stroke. He was 77.

Clutterbuck was in the process of being discharged from the hospital after a minor fall from a horse last Friday.

A former point-to-point and amateur jockey, Clutterbuck’s training career spanned four decades and his most notable winner was Bayadere, who won a claiming hurdle at Fontwell in 2005 at odds of 100-1.

Clutterbuck began his training career at Fowlmere, near Royston, where he was well known in the pointing world. He then moved to Newmarket in 2000 when he bought Pond House Stables in Exning. Leading trainer at Fakenham for many years, Clutterbuck ceased training in 2014 before a five-year ban from the BHA for associating with a disqualified individual came into force. 

He later took over as landlord of The Shoes pub in Newmarket, which is popular with the racing fraternity but has been closed since his death as a mark of respect.

The Shoes pub in Newmarket

Clutterbuck’s son James, who is a trainer himself on a licence he shares with Peter Charalambous, said: “Dad went to hospital after the fall and they kept him in for 24 hours' observation and he was fine. As he was walking out he went to the pharmacy to pick up some tablets and had a severe stroke. 

"The doctors said there was something brewing. He’d had a mini-stroke in the past but he lived a fairly active lifestyle for his age, including doing 50 lengths of the swimming pool at Newmarket Leisure Centre only last Thursday.”

Reflecting on his training career, he recalled: “Vince Smith sold him Bayadere and said he wouldn’t get her to jump. In the end she won him a claiming hurdle at 100-1 and a chase at 25-1."

Clutterbuck leaves another son Paul and a daughter Emma, who works for Roger Varian.

The funeral is to be held at St Mary’s Church in Newmarket on April 22 at 1.30pm. Any donations to the Injured Jockeys Fund.