Richard Stanley Francis was born in Lawrenny, near Tenby, Wales in 1920 and became an accomplished junior horseman. His late teenage years saw the outbreak of World War 2, as a result of which he joined the Royal Air Force, where he became a fighter pilot.

Following the war, at 26, Dick Francis became an amateur steeplechase jockey, turning professional a couple of years later. He went on to win more than 350 races, and achieved the champion jockey title in 1953 and 1954, being retained as the stable rider for The Queen Mother for four years from 1953 to 1957. He rode in arguably the world’s toughest horseracing event, The Grand National Steeplechase at Aintree, eight times, but is best remembered as a jockey for the occasion when he went from certain victor to gone in a stride. In 1956 he was riding Devon Loch for Her Majesty, The Queen Mother. Horse and jockey had four and a half miles (more than 7000 metres) behind them, the last of 30 challenging jumps safely negotiated, the rest of the field trailing badly and the race was in safe keeping when, about 50 yards from the finish, Devon Loch inexplicably stumbled and fell.

After suffering a serious fall in 1957, Dick Francis retired from race riding, expecting to be remembered as “the man who didn’t win the National”. The same year he was approached to become a racing writer and he also published his autobiography, “The Sport of Queens”.

It was 1962 when he began the career for which he was to become most famous. He published the crime thriller “Dead Cert”. It was the first of what was to become an annual event spanning 40 years. It’s said that he never had a formal contract with his publisher, simply a word of mouth agreement that he would provide one novel a year, and in return the publisher would keep his entire catalogue in print. From “Dead Cert” in 1962 to “Shattered” in 2000, he published 39 crime novels, all of which have a racing theme, while not so steeped in racing as to prevent non-racing readers enjoying them. He also wrote the authorized biography of Lester Piggott and a collection of short stories entitled “Field of Thirteen”

Dick Francis married his wife Margaret in 1947 and until her death in September 2000 she was a supportive and influential member of their writing partnership, undertaking most of the detailed research which went into each of his books.

His novels, in order of publication are:

1962 - Dead Cert
1964 - Nerve
1965 - For Kicks
1965 - Odds Against
1966 - Flying Finish
1967 - Blood Sport
1968 - Forfeit
1969 - Enquiry
1970 - Rat Race
1971 - Bonecrack
1972 - Smokescreen
1973 - Slay Ride
1974 - Knockdown
1975 - High Stakes
1976 - In the Frame
1977 - Risk
1978 - Trial Run
1979 - Whip Hand
1980 - Reflex
1981 - Twice Shy
1982 - Banker
1983 - The Danger
1984 - Proof
1985 - Break In
1986 - Bolt
1987 - Hot Money
1988 - The Edge
1989 - Straight
1990 - Longshot
1991 - Comeback
1992 - Driving Force
1993 - Decider
1994 - Wild Horses
1995 - Come To Grief
1996 - To The Hilt
1997 - 10 Lb. Penalty
1999 - Second Wind
2000 - Shattered

Information provided by Tulloch of Ireland