Horses were in Dick Francis's blood. His father, grandfather and great-grandfather had all been amateur steeplechase jockeys and, subsequently, horse breeders and breakers. It was natural that Dick should learn to ride almost as soon as he could walk.
Richard Stanley Francis was born in Lawrenny, near Tenby, South Wales in 1920. He and his brother Doug rode donkeys, horses and ponies at their grandparents' farm, where they lived. Further opportunities came when their father became the manager of W J Smith's Maidenhead horse dealership, which supplied horses to the whole of the south of England.
For seven years from 1928 Dick became rider in the show ring. His horses usually belonged either to Smith or to Bertram Mills, the circus owner. However, Dick cannot remember a time when he didn't want to be a jockey. His first opportunity to exercise racehorses was provided by David Harrison, who trained near Tenby. Although this was an age at which a Flat apprenticeship usually began, Dick had grown too tall, whilst still lacking enough strength for National Hunt racing. Instead he became assistant to his father, spending his summers showing hunters in the ring and his winters hunting.
Hunting and racing was curtailed by the outbreak of war and so Dick was no longer needed to help his father, who had branched out on his own. Dick joined the RAF in 1940.
Following the war, Dick returned to racing and became one of the most celebrated National Hunt jockeys. He won more than 350 races, was Champion Jockey in 1953/1954 and was retained as jockey to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother for four seasons. He rode in the world famous Grand National eight times and in 1956 was just a few strides from victory with a clear field when his horse, the Queen Mother’s Devon Loch, suddenly collapsed beneath him.
In 1957, Dick suffered a serious fall and was advised to retire from race riding. He was approached to write his autobiography and The Sport of Queens was published in 1957.
Invited to write six features for the Sunday Express, he became the paper’s racing corrrespondent and stayed for sixteen years. His first bestselling novel, Dead Cert, was published in 1962.