Dick Francis

Richard Stanley Francis, known on his books as Dick Francis, was a British steeplechase jockey turned crime writer whose novels centre on English horse racing. He was champion National Hunt jockey and rode the Queen Mother's Devon Loch, which fell close to winning the 1956 Grand National. After retiring he became a journalist and novelist, and his books, including Dead Cert and 10-lb Penalty, follow a narrator facing crime in racing. More than forty of his novels became international best-sellers.