Graham Bradley, the Cheltenham Gold Cup and Champion Hurdle-winning jockey, has died at the age of 65. The Yorkshireman, one of the defining jump riders of the 1980s and 1990s, was remembered on Thursday as a stylish, brave and hugely gifted horseman after news of his death prompted tributes from across racing.
Bradley rode more than 700 winners during a 22-year career, with his most famous moment coming aboard Bregawn in the 1983 Cheltenham Gold Cup. That victory became part of Festival folklore as Michael Dickinson trained the first five home in the race, with Bradley leading the extraordinary stable sweep.
His major-race record also included the 1996 Champion Hurdle on Collier Bay and the 1985 Irish Grand National on Rhyme ‘n’ Reason, while his association with top-class chaser Wayward Lad helped cement his reputation among National Hunt followers.
Francome and Scudamore lead Bradley tributes
John Francome and Peter Scudamore were among those to pay tribute after Bradley’s death, with Racing Post reporting that Francome described him as a stylish rider and good company in the weighing room.
Bradley’s career was not without controversy, but his standing as a rider of rare natural talent has remained central to how racing remembers him. For many jump racing fans, the image of Bregawn and Bradley powering clear at Cheltenham remains the defining frame of a remarkable, complicated career.
