Walter Swinburn is the son of Wally Swinburn, himself a successful rider on the flat in Ireland.

Walter's first winner was on Paddy's Luck at Kempton on 12 July, 1978.

Walter was apprenticed to Frenchie Nicholson and Reg Hollinshead--both of whom had also minded Pat Eddery, Greville Starkey, Kevin Darley and Willie Ryan.

Walter's big break was with the incredible Shergar, on whom he won the 1981 Derby by a record 10 lengths.

From then on, Walter was for ever to be associated with Sir Michael Stoute and the pair had great success with fillies and colts.

For Walter, the first of these was with All Along (trained by Patrick Biancome) in the 1983 Arc de Triomphe.

The combination completed an amazing treble at the time, notably the Washington DC International and the Canadian International as well.

1986 saw Walter land the Derby again aboard Shahrastani in the race most people say Dancing Brave lost.

However, nothing can be taken away from Walter's attacking tactics on the day.

The pair also won the Irish Derby but were then beaten by Dancing Brave in the King George and Arc.

In the early 1990's, Walter, like other colleagues, changed his riding style from foot in the iron to a sort of kneeling on tip toes style with knees gripping the horse's withers in a rythmical swaying action.

As a consequence, his rhythm with a horse's stride and hold of its head improved too---gone were the days of very loose reins.

It is probably fair to say that Walter was probably the best example to young riders of a balance between the American and English styles of riding. His whip control & twirls were also a delight to watch.

In February, 1996, he suffered a serious fall from Liffey River at Sha Tin racecourse in Hong Kong. Many people were surprised at the mark the accident had left on Walter when he appeared on Channel 4 tv that summer.

He made a winning return on Talathath at Windsor on 12th August 1996 and then landed the Grosser Preis Von Baden in Germany three weeks later on the Stoute-trained Pilsudski.

It is no secret that Walter always had problems with weight.
Quite tall and thick set, he never had as many rides in a season as his colleagues and only once did he surpass the 100 winner mark.

Soon after, what looked like a "week's rest" turned out to be a 19 month sabatical to again, once and for all, conquer his weight problems.

It was great news to hear in the early months of 2000 that Walter was back on the Newmarket gallops in a comeback bid. His come-back ride was at Wolverhampton on March 16th, 2000, finishing 8th on Diamond Flame.

In March 2004, Walter announced that he would be taking over the reins from his father-in-law, top trainer Peter Harris, in 2005 at the successful Buckinghamshire base. It will be interesting to see what Walter will say if and when one of his fillies beats a Stoute filly in the 1,000 Guineas !

British Classic wins: (8)

Derby--1981 Shergar,1986 Shahrastani,1995 Lammtarra
Oaks--1987 Unite
2,000 Guineas--1988 Doyoun.
1,000 Guineas--1989 Musical Bliss, 1992 Hatoof, 1993 Sayyedati

Best horses ridden:Shergar, Sharahstani, Lammtarra, Shareef Dancer, Shadeed, Zilzal, Halling, All Along, Marling, Pilsudski, Green Desert, Ajdal

Information provided by Piglett