'He loved partying with Lester and the rest' - the life of Derek Morris, lightweight jockey who rode for the Queen

With the recent retirements of Franny Norton and Jimmy Quinn, we've witnessed the disappearance of perhaps the last two genuine lightweight jockeys. Racing has mirrored the rest of the world, races now take a different shape and chances for the little man are few and far between, but it was once a very different place.

The loss of royal jockey Derek Morris, who died on November 3 aged 93, stirs memories of an era when young jockeys were often required to weigh in below 7st for handicaps that held far greater significance than they do today. Morris, for example, reached one of his career peaks when he landed the 1956 Lincolnshire at Lincoln racecourse.

There were 41 runners – the race had had a world Flat record 58 runners eight years before – and he put up 1lb overweight at 6st 13lb on Three Star, an eight-year-old entire who had not won for five years and was now trained by Harry Davison at Findon, Sussex. Morris was nearly last early on but brought the 40-1 shot through steadily to lead in the last 100 yards and score by a length. He had just spent the winter in India, riding 16 winners in Calcutta (Kolkata).