David Thomas was a man of small stature. When he reached adulthood, he stood just 5’3” tall. When he was 14 years old and several inches shorter, David began training to become a racehorse jockey under the tutelage of Basil Foster in Middleham, Yorkshire, England. Basil started David out riding hack ponies, which had good dispositions and were calm. They were perfectly suitable for inexperienced riders. David quickly got the hang of riding hacks. When not riding, David groomed the horses, one of which was a horse named Stonecrackers. Of all the racehorses in Basil’s stable, Stonecrackers was one of the slowest. Finally, Basil decided it was time for David to graduate from hacks to racehorses, and he selected Stonecrackers to break him in. David was thrilled.
David had been looking forward to this moment for some time. He put his saddle on Stonecrackers and carefully mounted the horse. Stonecrackers knew she had a green rider on her because she could feel David’s legs trembling ever so slightly. With a nudge, David and Stonecrackers started off. Other apprentice jockeys joined David and Stonecrackers and started to gain on them. As if to dissuade the inexperienced jockey from continuing his training, Stonecrackers ran faster and faster inside their circular pen. The other apprentice jockeys realized what was happening and stopped to watch. David had no choice but to hold on. They tore around the pen as fast as Stonecrackers could go. David became dizzy. His head began to spin, but he knew could not let go or he would be injured by the fall. David’s dizziness turned to weakness. He was struggling and his grip was loosening. Finally, Stonecrackers began to weaken as well. David was relieved when Stonecrackers finally stopped running. His whole body seemed to be spinning. The other apprentice jockeys roared with laughter and teased David. Basil was not amused. “Don’t let that happen again,” he snarled. “Keep riding the hack until you learn how to ride a horse better.”
One day, David’s father sent Basil a letter. You see, David had acted in some radio plays and stage plays. A producer was interested in David acting in a radio play, and David’s father wrote to see if Basil would give David some time off to do it. Basil agreed and called David into his office to give him the good news. Basil assumed David would be thrilled, but David seemed completely uninterested. David said later, “I was quite happy at the stables and acting wasn’t as important to me as becoming a jockey.” Basil suggested that David do the part as the pay David would earn would pay for his jockey uniform. David agreed, performed in the play, and returned to the stables as quickly as he could.
A short time later, another letter arrived with an offer for David to play part in an episode of Coronation Street, a British television show which has aired continuously since December 1960. As before, David seemed uninterested. This time Basil suggested David accept the part because it would give him time to spend with his family. At the time, apprentice jockeys only saw their families about once or twice a year. David took the time off, did his part, and rushed back to the stables. Basil said later, “When I saw the episode in which [David] appeared, I was really amazed and I thought to myself, this boy has real talent—he wasn’t the same [David] that I knew at all, and I began to think that perhaps he was wasting his time at the stables.”
Shortly thereafter, another letter came inviting David to audition for the part of Peter Pan in a play. “I didn’t want to leave the stables at all,” David said, “even for a few weeks. Of course, there were times when I got a bit fed-up, but I really liked the [jockey] life and the other lads. Becoming a jockey was my big ambition at that time, not acting. But Basil persuaded me to try it for a time, so I travelled up to London to audition for the part.”
David began to think Basil was trying to get rid of him. Basil explained that the acting parts were marvelous opportunities that he should not pass up. Basil reassured David that if acting failed to work out for him, he was always welcome to come back to the stables to continue his training. At Basil’s insistence, David went to London, said a few lines, did a bit of acting with another person, and sang a song. Despite his desire to be at the stables training as a jockey, David always did his best. To his chagrin, he got the part which would require him to discontinue his jockey training temporarily. While performing in Peter Pan, David was cast as the Artful Dodger in the production of “Oliver,” first in London’s West End and then on Broadway.
While performing in “Oliver” on Broadway, David was a guest on the February 9, 1964, episode of The Ed Sullivan Show. This was the same episode in which the Beatles first appeared on American television. David watched the Beatles perform from the side of the stage and was amazed. “I saw the girls going crazy, and I said to myself, this is it. I want a piece of that.” In the following year, David signed a contract with a record company and released a single which peaked at 93 on the Billboard Hot 100. Later that same year, David was asked to audition for a new television series about a musical group modeled after the Beatles. David got the part and was never able to fulfill his dream of becoming a racehorse jockey. Instead, he became a Monkee. You know David Thomas as David Thomas “Davy” Jones of The Monkees.
Sources:
1. “Davy: The Secrets behind His Jockey Days,” 1968, Monkees.coolcherrycream.com, April 1, 1968. https://monkees.coolcherrycream.com/articles/1968/04/monkees-monthly/davy-the-secrets-behind-his-jockey-days.
2. “Davy Jones – Monkees, Songs & Death,” 2021, Biography, April 22, 2021, https://www.biography.com/musicians/davy-jones.