[1] Clift was born at Wentworth Park, Yorkshire, on the estate of the Marquess of Rockingham.

Clift won the race convincingly and Rockingham invited him to join his private stable, under the guidance of trainer Christopher Scaife.

He returned to his roots for his 1807 St. Leger victory, riding for the Earl Fitzwilliam, who had inherited the Wentworth estate from his uncle.

[2] Aged 80, he would walk from Newmarket to Bury St. Edmunds and back, "just to give my legs a stretch".

[3] Clift has been described as "a rider of singularly little polish... [who] punished his mounts severely and would race neck and neck from start to finish with anything else that wanted to make the running"[2] He "doffed his cap to no man"[1] and, once, when asked by the Duke of Dorset what he thought of the horse he had just ridden, he replied, "You see I won; that's enough for you!