Willie Carson's Biography

Willie Carson was born William Fisher Hunter Carson on 16 November 1942 in Stirling, Scotland.

His father was a warehouseman.

Willie Carson, who is 5ft high, retired as a jockey aged 54, after riding 3838 winners including 17 UK classics.

He was champion jockey five times (1972, 1973, 1978, 1980 and 1983).

Carson started off, aged 15, as an apprentice jockey with Captain Gerald Armstrong in North Yorkshire.

His first winner was riding Pinker's Pond at Catterick on 19 July 1962.

He went on to win four Derbys (1979 with Troy; 1980 with Henbit; 1989 with Nashwan; and 1994 with Erhaab).

After retiring as a jockey, Willie Carson stayed in the public eye. He was a captain on A Question of Sport in the 1980s.

Additionally, he became a co-presenter with Clare Balding of the BBC's horse racing coverage.

In 1993, Willie Carson wrote his autobiography, Up Front.

He also became a horse breeder.

In 1982 he married his second wife, Elaine.