Jack Purtell, Australian jockey, Died at 95

Jack Purtell was born in 1921 and died on March 8, 2017.

He was an Australian jockey who rode three Melbourne Cup winners.

He was also called ‘Gentleman Jack’, rode his first race in 1936 at the age of 15.

Purtell was an apprentice jockey to Ted Temby at his Mordialloc, Victoria stables.

Jack Purtell won his first race on Bonus at Mentone, Victoria in April 1937.

He rode more than 1700 winners including three Melbourne Cups.

He rode Fighting Force when it triple dead-heated with both Pandie Sun and Ark Royal in the 1956 Hotham Handicap, a rare event in racing.

Jack Purtell retired in 1966 at the age of 45 and he became a Stipendiary Steward at the Victorian Racing Club until March 1981.

He married in 1949 to Norma Giles and seven thousand people turned up to the church in Clifton Hill, Victoria.

Jack died on the Gold Coast, Queensland on 8 January 2017, aged 95.

Purtell was inducted into the Australian Racing Hall of Fame in 2004.

Jack Purtell was a sculpture of Purtell by John Frith is held by the National Portrait Gallery in Canberra.

Jack Purtell passed away at 95 years old.