Joe Mercer, English jockey and manager
Joseph Mercer, OBE (25 October 1934 – 17 May 2021) was an English thoroughbred race horse jockey. He was active as a jockey from 1947 to 1985 and rode a total of 2,810 winners in Britain. Mercer's nickname was "Smokin' Joe".
He was apprenticed to trainer Frederick Sneyd and won his first British Classic race while still an apprentice on Ambiguity in the 1953 Epsom Oaks. He was British flat racing Champion Apprentice twice, in 1952 and 1953.
He subsequently worked as stable jockey for Jack Colling, Dick Hern, Henry Cecil and Peter Walwyn. During his spell at Cecil's yard he won his only British flat racing Champion Jockey's title in 1979. The most successful horse Mercer rode during his career was Brigadier Gerard, winner of 17 of his 18 races between 1970 and 1972. He won every British Classic except the Derby, although he was runner-up twice.He retired as a jockey in November 1985. He then worked initially as a jockey's agent before accepting a job as racing manager for Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum in 1987. He retired from that in January 2006.