Career
Riding style Mellor was an intelligent jockey, rather than a physical one. He rode at a weight of 8 st 10 lb, not much more than a modern flat jockey. Victory against Arkle Mellor was one of the few jockeys to experience beating Arkle, often regarded as the greatest steeplechaser of all time.
His victory against Arkle came in the 1966 Hennessy Gold Cup on 25-1 outsider Stalbridge Colonist.
Because of the handicapping system, Arkle was regularly forced to compete conceding huge amounts of weight to other horses, and his defeat is often attributed to that. Mellor himself, however, maintains that Stalbridge Colonist beat him with a "turn of foot" 1,000 Winners Despite another six rides there the next day, he couldn"t add to lieutenant
Mellor spent another week trying to pass the landmark, racking up seven more losers in the process. Finally, at Nottingham on 18 December 1971, he piloted grey gelding Ouzo to victory in the otherwise unremarkable Christmas Spirit Novices" Chase, thus becoming the first jump jockey to ride 1,000 winners.
Falls and injuries lieutenant is believed that Mellor had 750 falls during his riding career.
His worst fall, however, was in the 1963 Schweppes Gold Trophy when his lower face was smashed so badly it was almost completely detached. At the time, he was 20 wins clear of Josh Gifford in pursuit of a fourth successive jockey"s title. The injury therefore probably cost him the championship.
He was also offered an appearance on This Is Your Life, which he turned down.
Mellor was originally based at Linkslade Stables in Lambourn. Mellor was moderately successful as a trainer.
His horses Royal Mail and Lean Ar Aghaidh were both placed in the Grand National. He pioneered the import of New Zealand bred horses (such as Royal Mail) and was known as "an excellent judge of a racehorse".
Mellor himself, however, regards his training career as a disappointment, claiming he was too "laid-back" to succeed.
With horse numbers dwindling, he sold Pollardstown in 2001 and retired to Ashbury, near Lambourn. He had trained over 700 winners. As a jockey As a trainer.
