The Thrilling World of Dick Francis

Wartime bomber pilot, champion jockey, racing journalist, bestselling novelist, Dick Francis truly was a legend. The Slightly Foxed team join Dick’s son Felix and renowned racing commentator Derek Thompson (‘Tommo’ to his fans) to talk about the modest man who left school at 15 but went on to write thrillers set in the world of racing that have sold more than 60 million copies in 35 languages.

Dick grew up with horses and riding was in his blood, though he didn’t become a professional jockey until he was 26, an age when many jockeys are retiring. But he quickly became one of the most successful National Hunt jockeys (and Champion Jockey in 1953–4), riding winners for top owners including the Queen and Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. And it was the spectacular collapse of the Queen Mother’s horse Devon Loch beneath him on the point of winning the Grand National in 1956 that finally persuaded Dick to retire from racing and begin a new career, first as a journalist and then as a writer of endlessly inventive crime fiction.

So how did he do it? The novels, with their evocative titles – Dead Cert, Decider, Bolt, Hot Money – take you straight into the world of old-fashioned racing with its toffs and touts and inevitable shady characters. According to Felix, the writing of them was always a partnership, with Dick, a born storyteller, producing the plots and the atmosphere and his wife Mary as brilliant researcher and editor. Felix, too, helped with writing and research, and after Dick’s death in 2010 he was persuaded by Dick’s literary agent to keep the Francis ‘brand’ alive. He is now the author of 19 bestselling ‘Dick Francis’ novels, bringing the racing scene up to date with a female jockey as the heroine of his latest, Dark Horse.

Along with Dick Francis’s story of talent, courage and sheer determination – one he told himself in his autobiography The Sport of Queens – the team enjoyed added anecdotes and insights into the world of racing from ‘Tommo’, and an ending that had us on the edge of our seats.

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Show Notes

Books Mentioned

Please find links to books, articles, and further reading listed below. We may be able to get hold of second-hand copies of the out-of-print titles mentioned on the podcast and listed below. Please get in touch with the Slightly Foxed office for more information. The digits in brackets following each listing refer to the minute and second they are mentioned. (Episode duration: minutes; seconds)

Subscribe to Slightly Foxed magazine

Robert Westall, The Making of Me (4:00)

Penelope Fitzgerald, Offshore (4:35)

Bruce Chatwin, On the Black Hill (4:39)

André Maurois, Fattypuffs and Thinnifers (5:02)

Dick Francis, The Sport of Queens (18:22)

Dick Francis, Dead Cert (24:01)

Felix Francis, Dark Horse (24:28)

Derek Thompson, Too Busy to Die (26:04)

Dick Francis, Shattered (31:27)

Dick Francis, Under Orders (35:38)

Felix Francis, Crossfire (39:31)

Dick Francis, Bone Crack (48:18)

Dick Francis, Whip Hand (48:37)

John Le Carré, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (49:00)

Dick Francis, High Stakes (50:02)

Felix Francis, Gamble (51:55)

Photos kindly supplied by Felix Francis

Dick on M’as-tu-vu, another of the Queen Mother’s horses
Dick on ‘Joanna’ and Felix on ‘Smokey’ Circa 1958
Dick, The Queen, The Queen Mother and Princess Margaret in the Aintree parade ring just before the 1956 Grand National. The man in the bowler hat looking at the
camera is Peter Cazalet, who trained Devon Loch. The other jockey, in the white cap, is Arthur Freeman who rode M’as Tu Vu in the same race.
Dick, Merrick and Felix on ‘Smokey’ circa 1956
Dick on Devon Loch, Sandown Park, 1956, just three days after the infamous Grand National.
Dick and Felix circa 1995

Opening music: Preludio from Violin Partita No. 3 in E Major by Bach

Hosted by Rosie Goldsmith
Produced by Philippa Goodrich


Comments & Reviews

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  1. Moira says:

    What a fantastic episode. The commentary by ‘Tommo’ on the Dick Francis best novel race was pure genius – how on earth does he do that? I’ve always been in awe of the best sports commentators but this topped the lot. Such fun! Great to be reminded of Dick Francis too – books I used to read when on holiday as they always graced the shelves of every holiday home back in the 70s and 80s. Do they still, I wonder?

  2. Gill Judf says:

    Great!

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