John Cutts (jockey)
Encyclopedia
John "Johnny" Cutts was the jockey who at the age of 32 rode Archer
, the winner of the first Melbourne Cup
in 1861. The next day Johnny rode Archer to win another long distance race, the Melbourne Town Plate. In May 1862 he rode Archer to win the AJC Queen Elizabeth Stakes, and returned to Melbourne later that year to win his second Melbourne Cup. Due to a technical error which stopped Archer from being entered in the third (1863) Melbourne Cup, Johnny was not able to attempt to win the hat-trick.
Johnny learnt his craft as a jockey at the stable of William Cutts, "the crack Homebush trainer". In 1859 Johnny married the widow of William Cutts, Mary Cutts (née Bradbury) (1839–1903) at Goulburn
, the daughter of Samuel & Mary Bradbury. Mary had been born on Norfolk Island
in 1839, and at only 12 years old had married her first husband William Cutts in 1851 at Sydney
. Johnny and Mary moved to Hartley
where daughter Emma Dillon (1859–1887) was born that year, followed the next year by son Clement Dillon (1860–1900), two years later by John Thomas Dillon (1862–1915) back in Goulburn, and followed by the two youngest boys at Randwick in Sydney in 1864 and 1868: Walter Edward Dillon (1864–1928), and William Charles Dillon (1868-?).
Archer, the horse John rode to victory in the first and second Melbourne Cups in 1861 and 1862, was from the stable of Etienne de Mestre
at "Terara" near Nowra
in New South Wales
. Mary's brother Walter Bradbury (-1875), had also had been employed by Etienne de Mestre, and had also been associated with Archer's training. In 1935 he told the Sydney Morning Herald "I remember the day when I saw Johnny Cutts off to his first Melbourne Cup."
John Cutts rode Archer in 16 of his 17 starts, winning 11 of these 16 races. The only race of Archer's where John did not ride him was once when Archer was ridden by Etienne de Mestre himself. Cutts last race for the de Mestre stable, and his last ride before retiring as a jockey, was on Archer who placed third in the three mile Seventh Champion Sweepstakes at Ballarat on 1 October 1863. In total Cutts rode 56 times for de Mestre, beginning on 1 January 1858 at Homebush when he won the Consolation Stakes on Greenmantle. From 1858 to 1863, whilst his growing family was living at Hartley and Goulburn, he was the principal jockey for de Mestre's Nowra stable. Other horses ridden by Cutts for de Mestre included Veno, Mariner, Greenmantle, Sailor, Moss Rose, Exeter, Inheritor, Lauristina, Potentate, and Red Rover.
A legend that has sprung up around the horse Archer is that his jockey, Johnny Cutts, was an Aboriginal
. Johnny Cutts was, according to the legend, born in the area around Nowra, and one of the many Aboriginal males who replaced the bulk of the white stockmen who walked off the land to join the goldrush. Although it would be romantic to believe that an Aboriginal jockey had won the first and second Melbourne Cups, the most famous horse race in Australia, the cold hard facts of history do not allow this notion. The spot in racing history for the first (and only) Aboriginal jockey to win the Melbourne Cup belongs to Frank Reys
on Gala Supreme in 1973.
Instead of having any Aboriginal blood, Johnny Cutts was born of English stock. He had been born John Dillon in Sydney in about 1829, the son of Thomas Dillon, a clerk, and his wife Ann Butler. A family photo of Johnny and his wife Mary has survived, published in Keith W. Paterson's book, that confirms that John does not have Aboriginal heritage.
Johnny is also remembered for winning the Queen's Plate at Flemington Racecourse
in 1851 and 1852 on Cossack. John was then at the height of his fame, and won many other races for Cossack's trainer John Tait before he ever rode a horse for Etienne de Mestre.
After retiring from racing at the end of 1863 John continued to enjoy close contacts with the racing fraternity through the Half Way Hotel that he and his wife managed on Sydney Road, near Randwick Racecourse
.
John 'Cutts' Dillon died, after an illness of more than 12 months, on 6 September 1872 at the age of 43. Coincidentally the horse with whom he will always be linked, Archer, died a few months later the same year in December 1872.
Johnny's family laid him to rest in Rookwood Cemetery
. His long illness had dwindled his savings leaving his widow and children destitute. A subscription was raised for the benefit of his family, and £130 was collected in just the first few days.
Archer (horse)
Archer was an Australian Thoroughbred racehorse who won the first and the second Melbourne Cups in 1861 and 1862. He won both Cups easily, and is one of only five horses to win the Melbourne Cup twice or more; he is one of only four horses to win two successive Cups.-Breeding:Archer was sired by...
, the winner of the first Melbourne Cup
Melbourne Cup
The Melbourne Cup is Australia's major Thoroughbred horse race. Marketed as "the race that stops a nation", it is a 3,200 metre race for three-year-olds and over. It is the richest "two-mile" handicap in the world, and one of the richest turf races...
in 1861. The next day Johnny rode Archer to win another long distance race, the Melbourne Town Plate. In May 1862 he rode Archer to win the AJC Queen Elizabeth Stakes, and returned to Melbourne later that year to win his second Melbourne Cup. Due to a technical error which stopped Archer from being entered in the third (1863) Melbourne Cup, Johnny was not able to attempt to win the hat-trick.
Background
During his long career John 'Cutts' Dillon was one of the best known, best liked and most respected jockeys in New South Wales. Keith W. Paterson in his book The Masters Touch, Racing with Etienne de Mestre, Winner of 5 Melbourne Cups tells us that he was "respected for his honesty, no less than for his skill as a horseman...gained the esteem of not only his fellow professionals but also of all owners of horses for whom he rode".Johnny learnt his craft as a jockey at the stable of William Cutts, "the crack Homebush trainer". In 1859 Johnny married the widow of William Cutts, Mary Cutts (née Bradbury) (1839–1903) at Goulburn
Goulburn, New South Wales
Goulburn is a provincial city in the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia in Goulburn Mulwaree Council Local Government Area. It is located south-west of Sydney on the Hume Highway and above sea-level. On Census night 2006, Goulburn had a population of 20,127 people...
, the daughter of Samuel & Mary Bradbury. Mary had been born on Norfolk Island
Norfolk Island
Norfolk Island is a small island in the Pacific Ocean located between Australia, New Zealand and New Caledonia. The island is part of the Commonwealth of Australia, but it enjoys a large degree of self-governance...
in 1839, and at only 12 years old had married her first husband William Cutts in 1851 at Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
. Johnny and Mary moved to Hartley
Hartley, New South Wales
Hartley is a historical village in New South Wales, Australia, in the City of Lithgow, located approximately 150 kilometres west of Sydney. It is below the western escarpment of the Blue Mountains....
where daughter Emma Dillon (1859–1887) was born that year, followed the next year by son Clement Dillon (1860–1900), two years later by John Thomas Dillon (1862–1915) back in Goulburn, and followed by the two youngest boys at Randwick in Sydney in 1864 and 1868: Walter Edward Dillon (1864–1928), and William Charles Dillon (1868-?).
Archer, the horse John rode to victory in the first and second Melbourne Cups in 1861 and 1862, was from the stable of Etienne de Mestre
Etienne L. de Mestre
Etienne de Mestre , a 19th century trainer of Thoroughbred racehorses, was Australia's first outstanding racehorse trainer. In his 30 year career he experienced all the highs and the lows of the turf in a career which ended with him dependent on donations from racing friends.With the five wins de...
at "Terara" near Nowra
Nowra, New South Wales
Nowra is a city in the South Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. Located SSW and approximately by road south of the state capital of Sydney, it has an estimated population together with its twin-town of Bomaderry of 34,479. It is also the seat and commercial centre of the City of Shoalhaven...
in New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
. Mary's brother Walter Bradbury (-1875), had also had been employed by Etienne de Mestre, and had also been associated with Archer's training. In 1935 he told the Sydney Morning Herald "I remember the day when I saw Johnny Cutts off to his first Melbourne Cup."
John Cutts rode Archer in 16 of his 17 starts, winning 11 of these 16 races. The only race of Archer's where John did not ride him was once when Archer was ridden by Etienne de Mestre himself. Cutts last race for the de Mestre stable, and his last ride before retiring as a jockey, was on Archer who placed third in the three mile Seventh Champion Sweepstakes at Ballarat on 1 October 1863. In total Cutts rode 56 times for de Mestre, beginning on 1 January 1858 at Homebush when he won the Consolation Stakes on Greenmantle. From 1858 to 1863, whilst his growing family was living at Hartley and Goulburn, he was the principal jockey for de Mestre's Nowra stable. Other horses ridden by Cutts for de Mestre included Veno, Mariner, Greenmantle, Sailor, Moss Rose, Exeter, Inheritor, Lauristina, Potentate, and Red Rover.
A legend that has sprung up around the horse Archer is that his jockey, Johnny Cutts, was an Aboriginal
Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....
. Johnny Cutts was, according to the legend, born in the area around Nowra, and one of the many Aboriginal males who replaced the bulk of the white stockmen who walked off the land to join the goldrush. Although it would be romantic to believe that an Aboriginal jockey had won the first and second Melbourne Cups, the most famous horse race in Australia, the cold hard facts of history do not allow this notion. The spot in racing history for the first (and only) Aboriginal jockey to win the Melbourne Cup belongs to Frank Reys
Frank Reys
Frank Reys was the first, and to date, only Australian Aboriginal jockey to win the prestigious Melbourne Cup when, in 1973, he rode to victory on Gala Supreme....
on Gala Supreme in 1973.
Instead of having any Aboriginal blood, Johnny Cutts was born of English stock. He had been born John Dillon in Sydney in about 1829, the son of Thomas Dillon, a clerk, and his wife Ann Butler. A family photo of Johnny and his wife Mary has survived, published in Keith W. Paterson's book, that confirms that John does not have Aboriginal heritage.
Johnny is also remembered for winning the Queen's Plate at Flemington Racecourse
Flemington Racecourse
Flemington Racecourse is a major horse racing venue located in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is most notable for hosting the Melbourne Cup, which is Australia's richest horse race. The racecourse is situated on low alluvial flats, next to the Maribyrnong River...
in 1851 and 1852 on Cossack. John was then at the height of his fame, and won many other races for Cossack's trainer John Tait before he ever rode a horse for Etienne de Mestre.
After retiring from racing at the end of 1863 John continued to enjoy close contacts with the racing fraternity through the Half Way Hotel that he and his wife managed on Sydney Road, near Randwick Racecourse
Randwick Racecourse
Royal Randwick Racecourse is a racecourse for horseracing in the Eastern Suburbs in Sydney, New South Wales. Randwick Racecourse, is operated by the Australian Jockey Club and known to many Sydney racegoers as headquarters...
.
John 'Cutts' Dillon died, after an illness of more than 12 months, on 6 September 1872 at the age of 43. Coincidentally the horse with whom he will always be linked, Archer, died a few months later the same year in December 1872.
Johnny's family laid him to rest in Rookwood Cemetery
Rookwood Cemetery
Rookwood Cemetery is the largest multicultural necropolis in the Southern Hemisphere, located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia...
. His long illness had dwindled his savings leaving his widow and children destitute. A subscription was raised for the benefit of his family, and £130 was collected in just the first few days.
Archer's races
| Age | Date | Track | Race | Distance | Jockey | Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3yo | 29.05.1860 | Randwick | Tattersall’s Free Handicap | 1 ¾ miles | John Cutts | Unplaced |
| 31.05.1860 | Randwick | Randwick Plate | 1 ½ miles | John Cutts | Unplaced | |
| 4yo | 06.09.1860 | Randwick | Metropolitan Maiden Plate | 1 ¾ miles | John Cutts | 1st |
| 08.09.1860 | Randwick | Randwick Plate | 1 ½ miles | John Cutts | 1st | |
| 25.09.1860 | Windsor | Hawkesbury Maiden Plate | 1 ¾ miles | John Cutts | 1st | |
| 27.09.1860 | Windsor | The Stewards Purse | 1 ¼ miles | John Cutts | 1st | |
| 02.05.1861 | Randwick | Australian Plate | 2 ½ miles | John Cutts | 1st | |
| 04.05.1861 | Randwick | Randwick Plate | 1 ½ miles | John Cutts | 1st | |
| 04.06.1861 | Maitland | Maitland Town Plate | Etienne de Mestre | 1st | ||
| 5yo | 07.11.1861 | Flemington | Melbourne Cup | 2 miles | John Cutts | 1st |
| 08.11.1861 | Flemington | Melbourne Town Plate | 2 miles | John Cutts | 1st | |
| 26.04.1862 | Randwick | Randwick Grand Handicap | 2 ½ miles | John Cutts | 3rd | |
| 03.05.1862 | Randwick | AJC Queen’s Plate | 3 miles | John Cutts | 1st | |
| 6yo | 01.10.1862 | Geelong | Fifth Champion Sweepstakes | 3 miles | John Cutts | 3rd |
| 13.11.1862 | Flemington | Melbourne Cup | 2 miles | John Cutts | 1st | |
| 15.11.1862 | Flemington | All-Aged Stakes | 1 mile | John Cutts | 1st | |
| 7yo | 01.10.1863 | Ballarat | Seventh Champion Sweepstakes | 3 miles | John Cutts | 3rd |