10 December 2010 Roy Edwards Passes Away
by Carolyn Tanner
Roy Edwards, who died earlier this week, was a member of the Shropshire family whose name is synonymous with Point-to-Pointing.
His brother Gordy and sister, Sheila Crow, enjoyed many victories as riders between the flags and both are now highly-regarded trainers, but Roy was better known for his exploits under Rules.
An enthusiastic hunting man with both the Tanatside and North Shropshire, he started his racing career in Points, making his debut in the 50s for owner Gordon Humphries, who had asked him some time earlier if he would ride for him. Unfortunately Roy forgot about it until the night before the race, so it came as quite a shock when Gordon phoned to remind him!
After winning a few Points he quickly made his mark as an amateur under Rules, and his considerable success meant that he was forced to turn professional, as was the stipulation in that era.
He rode over 500 winners, many for trainers Roy Whiston and George Owen, and in 1967 he won the Champion Hurdle on Saucy Kit, a horse which he was later to purchase to stand as a stallion. Over the years his Blakeley Stud stallions, including Scallywag, Seymour Hicks and Weld, have been responsible for siring countless Point-to-Point winners.
After retiring from the saddle Roy took up training, and he also had Pointers for his children Nicky and Simon to ride. In later years he was a regular attendee at local Point-to-Point meetings and always had one or two runners of his own, among them Kong King, who was ridden to victory by his grandson Charlie Huxley, now a conditional based with Alan King.
