Gordon Richards was brought up in the Shropshire village of Donnington Wood (now part of Telford) where he was born at Ivy Row (now demolished),[4] the third son of eight surviving children of coal miner Nathan and former dressmaker Elizabeth.

[5] His mother was the daughter of another miner, William Dean, who was also a lay preacher, and Richards was given a strict Methodist upbringing.

[5] The family later moved during his childhood to Wrockwardine Wood where they lived in a row of cottages called The Limes, Plough Road, built on land bought by his mother.

He answered a newspaper advertisement to be an apprentice to Martin Hartigan, trainer at the Foxhill Stable near Swindon, Wiltshire, owned by Jimmy White, and on New Year's Day 1920 left home to move there.

[7][2] His apprenticeship at Foxhill lasted until 1924, when he moved to become first jockey to Captain Thomas Hogg, based at Russley Park, Wiltshire, near Lambourn.

Rowell became a friend and mentor, teaching the young jockey how to cope with wealth, and his increasing fame among high society in Britain's inter-war class system.

In Richards' absence from riding, Tommy Weston won the championship; but by December, he had returned to the saddle and in 1927 regained his title with 164 winners, following up in 1928 and 1929.

For Glanely, he won his first classics – the 1930 Oaks on Rose of England and the 1930 St Leger on Singapore – and narrowly missed out on a fourth successive title to Freddie Fox.

The move proved fruitful, and in his first season he scored 259 victories, breaking Fred Archer's longstanding record for the greatest number of wins in a year and becoming a national hero[5] in the process.

This included 11 consecutive victories at Chepstow in early October, as he closed in on Archer's target of 246, finally surpassing that total on Golden King at Liverpool on 8 November.

On George VI's Sun Chariot in 1942, he won the Fillies' Triple Crown of 1,000 Guineas, Oaks and St Leger.

In 1943, he became the jockey with the most wins in British history, surpassing Archer's career total of 2748 winners on Scotch Mist at Windsor and took a 16th championship.

At Newmarket in 1947, he won the 2,000 Guineas aboard Tudor Minstrel by 8 lengths, the largest winning margin in the race since 1900.

"[7] As heavily backed favourite for the Derby, the horse seemed set to break Richards' hoodoo in the race; however, he failed to stay and finished fourth.

The 1953 race occurred on a week of great national, and personal celebration for Richards himself, as he became the first jockey to receive a knighthood.

Winning The Derby at what was to be his final attempt was undoubtedly Sir Gordon's crowning victory, and he was promptly summoned from the winners' enclosure to be congratulated by the Queen.

An early owner was Dorothy Paget, and when she died he was an influence in Sobell and Weinstock purchasing her Ballymacoll Stud, breeding and racing stock.

At the end of the 1970 season, circumstances forced his hand and he had to give up training: the bookmaker William Hill, from whom he leased his stables, wished to restart his breeding operation there.

[1] He had the "ideal physique" for a jockey, being short, stocky and very strong for his weight,[5] but his style was unorthodox, riding upright and with a long rein.

[9] Clive Brittain, who was an apprentice with Murless at the time Richards was there, described him as "a warm, generous and modest man" whose "integrity and loyalty were beyond reproach."

[1] Richards married Margery Gladys (d. 1982), daughter of Swindon railway carriage fitter Thomas David Winckle on 1 March 1928.