Date of Birth: 
About John Francome
- John Francome (13 December 1952) is a former National Hunt Champion Jockey, television pundit and author. Born in Swindon, Wiltshire, the son of a railway fireman, his family had no connection with the horse racing world.
- At sixteen years old he became apprentice to Lambourn trainer Fred Winter and so began his career as a jockey.
- He rode a total of 1,138 winners, his last being in April 1985.
- During the course of his career he was Champion Jockey seven times, between 1976 and 1985.
- Francome is the third most successful National Hunt jump jockey of all time after Tony McCoy (20 championships) and Peter Scudamore (8 championships).
- He is dubbed the best jockey never to have won the Grand National. After retiring, Francome was awarded the MBE in 1986 for services to racing.
- He was a trainer for 18 months before becoming a TV presenter for Channel 4's horse racing broadcasts.
- Like another former jockey, Dick Francis, Francome has taken to writing works of fiction.
- His books have featured on the bestseller lists.
- Francome ceased appearing on Channel 4 Racing at the close of 2012 when the Highflyer Production term ended.
- He stated in a Racing Post interview that he had only continued to work on TV for so long out of loyalty to producer Andrew Franklin.
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