Manny Mercer

Emmanuel Lionel Mercer (15 November 1928 – 26 September 1959) was an English thoroughbred horse racing jockey. A brother of jockey Joe Mercer, he was married to Susan, the daughter of trainer Harry Wragg. Their daughters were Joanna and Carolyn, who married jockey Pat Eddery.

Mercer was a leading jockey throughout most of the 1950s, winning two British Classic Races. In 1952, he gained much media attention in the United States for his masterful ride on Wilwyn in winning the inaugural running of the Washington, D.C. International at Laurel Park Racecourse in Laurel, Maryland.

He captured the 1953 1,000 Guineas Stakes aboard Happy Laughter, trained by Jack Jarvis. Although he was second jockey to Bill Rickaby at Jarvis's yard, and Rickaby got to ride the stable's main hope, Tessa Gillian, Mercer had worked out how good Happy Laughter was, even though she had been beaten in the Free Handicap. He told fellow jockey Jimmy Lindley that she was the best he had ridden. In an article marking the fiftieth anniversary of his death, the Racing Post called him "one of its [racing's] brightest stars".