Born in 1939, Greville Michael Wilson Starkey began his horse racing career as an apprentice in 1956 and he quickly began to forge a reputation for his brilliant horsemanship and ability to read a race.
Raised in Lichfield, in a working class family, unlike many of his contemporaries, Starkey did not come from racing or even sporting roots, with his father working in a factory.
However, at just 15, he left school and headed for the British flat racing headquarters of Newmarket, Suffolk.
Having secured work under the legendary Harry Thomson Jones (who became known as ‘Tom Jones’), this proved to be a vital foundation for Starkey, who learned the fundamentals of grooming, horse psychology and stable management.
Immediate Success On The Track
There was an almost instant payoff for his dedication; he won his first professional race on Russian Gold at Pontefract in West Yorkshire, while, just one year into his apprenticeship at the age of 16, Starkey was dominant on the junior circuit. As a result, he won the British Apprentice Jockeys’ Championship; a considerable signal of intent, while being a warning to the world that a major talent had arrived on the scene.
In the couple of years that followed, he began to establish himself on the southern circuit of the UK and developed a reputation for having “ice in his veins” as well as a style that favoured dropping his horses to the back of the field before making a charge. A tactic that paid off on many occasions and one really that defined his career.
He broke into the sport’s elite in 1964 when he won his first British Classic; The Oaks Stakes at Epsom, atop the filly, Homeward Bound, trained by John Oxley.
Relocation And Global Stardom
In 1969, he moved to Yorkshire, where he linked up with powerhouse trainer Sam Hall at Spiggot Lodge; a partnership that bred a string of high-profile wins that included the Ayr Gold Cup in 1972.
Starkey was also responsible for one of the sport’s biggest shocks three years later. On top of German-trained, 119/1 outsider, Star Appeal, he executed a flawless, tactical race to win Europe’s ultimate prize; Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. Earlier that year, he also won the Eclipse Stakes.
Joining forces with trainer Guy Harwood in Sussex, 1977, Starkey then saw his stock sky-rocket, winning the legendary Classic clean sweep, one year later, also earning a career-best 107 winners, finishing fourth in the Jockeys’ Championship.
Between 1980 and 1985, he won almost everything in sight and was essentially regarded as untouchable in the racing world.
Kalaglow was a major influence on this; the older horse performing for Starkey in the Eclipse Stakes, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes.
His trajectory slowed down in the couple of years that followed; a combination of injury and controversy played its part and in 1989 after a 33-year career in the saddle, he retired, with Pat Eddery taking over.
Despite briefly working as a training assistant, he moved into bloodstock and became a highly sought-after consultant.
In 2010, Starkey died peacefully at the age of 70 after a long battle with cancer.