John Lawrence, 2nd Baron Oaksey

John Geoffrey Tristram Lawrence, 4th Baron Trevethin and 2nd Baron Oaksey (born 21 March 1929) is a British aristocrat, horse racing journalist and television commentator/presenter, and former amateur jockey. He is the son of the noted jurist Geoffrey Lawrence. He prefers to be called Oaksey although Trevethin is the longer-established title. In his broadcasting career, he was initially known as John Lawrence before adopting the name John Oaksey once he had succeeded to the title.

He was educated at Eton College, New College, Oxford and Yale University. His riding career saw him come second in the 1963 Grand National at Aintree Racecourse in Liverpool on the horse Carrickbeg, beaten only by three quarters of a length [ [http://www.sportingchronicle.com/grandnational/1963.html 1963 GRAND NATIONAL RESULT ] ] . He joined ITV in 1969, and was regularly seen and heard on The ITV Seven and later Channel 4 Racing, where he was invariably referred to by John McCririck as "My Noble Lord".

In the 1980s he also appeared on BBC Radio alongside Peter Bromley. Together they covered Bob Champion's famous win in the 1981 Grand National. Oaksey remarked afterwards: "If an imaginative novelist had dreamt up that result everybody would have called him a very silly imaginative novelist."

He retired from regular broadcasting at the end of 1999, though he still appeared occasionally for a while after that. He also wrote for The Daily Telegraph for many years. He and his wife Chickey are heavily involved in the Injured Jockeys Fund for whom he is the President.

References

*rayment
*Burke's Peerage, 105th Ed