He was an English jockey. He was the British flat racing Champion Jockey 26 times and is often considered the world's greatest ever jockey. He remains the only jockey to have been knighted. He was raised in the Shropshire village of Donnington Wood (now part of Telford), the son of a Shropshire coal miner. His father reared several pit ponies at their home, and it was in this environment that fostered his love of the equestrian. He rode the ponies bareback from an early age, then from the age of seven, drove the pony and trap passenger service his family ran between Wrockwardine Wood and Oakengates station. It was at that age no doubt that he developed his unique riding style, using a long rein and an upright stance. After leaving school he took the first step towards becoming a jockey, becoming a stable boy aged 15 at Fox Hollies Stable in Wiltshire, owned by Jimmy White. Not long after his debut he won his first race at Leicester in March 1921. With the determination and single-mindedness that was his trademark, he achieved his dream of becoming a full-fledged jockey in 1925, and went on to become Champion Jockey in his first year, notching up 118 wins. Early in 1926, five years after Richards' racing debut, disaster struck the Shropshire jockey. He contracted tuberculosis and had to take time out from racing. But it was while he recuperated from the debilitating disease in a Norfolk sanatorium he met Bill Rowell, a fellow patient who was to have a major influence on his life. In 1932 he became stable jockey to Fred Darling, and that season, with 259 victories under his belt, he broke the record for the greatest number of wins in a year, a record which had stood for nearly 50 years. Achievement followed achievement, with Richards winning the 1947 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket Racecourse aboard Tudor Minstrel by 8 lengths, the largest winning margin in the race since 1900. Sir Gordon rode Pinza, a huge horse for a flat-thoroughbred at 16 hands high, and he rode a terrific race. Pinza was in second position through much of the one and half mile (2414 m) course, competing against the Queen's own horse Aureole, and sweeping past the Aga Khan III's horse, Shikampur, into first place with just two furlongs (402 m) remaining. The long-awaited win was accompanied by thunderous cheers from the frenzied crowd. Winning The Derby was undoubtedly Sir Gordon's crowning victory, and he was promptly summoned from the winners' enclosure to be congratulated by the Queen.