Career
Born in London, England, Shepherd appeared in the finals of the 1931 Star Riders" Championship, the forerunner to the Speedway World Championship. His final season, 1939, saw Shepherd make his international debut for England. In 1933 Shepherd, along with New Cross promoter Fred Mockford invented the starting gate which is still in use today, by stretching a set of tapes across the track which were then released by a hand operated electric mechanism, similar to those used in horse racing.
This starting procedure allowed for much fairer starts.
Shepherd died in May 1988 at North Shore, Auckland, New Zealand. His final resting place is Leamington Cemetery in Cambridge, New Zealand.
