added a second St Leger on Bahram (substituting for the injured Freddie Fox) for the Aga Khan who retained him as his first jockey for the following year. Despite a difficult working relationship with the Aga Khan's trainer, Frank Butters, Smirke enjoyed further success when winning the 1936 Derby on Mahmoud. At the outbreak of war in 1939, the Aga Khan moved his horses from Newmarket, but Smirke continued to ride important winners including the St Leger on Turkhan in 1940. In 1941, Smirke was called up for military service and spent the next four years in the Army, serving as an anti-aircraft gunner and a driver. When the war ended, he resumed his riding career at the age of thirty-eight. Post-war career: 1945–1959 Smirke had no regular stable after the war but had immediate success as a freelance. In 1946, he re-established himself as a leading jockey with a series of wins on the outstanding sprinter The Bug. He rode for the Maharaja of Baroda for two seasons, winning the 2000 Guineas on My Babu before resuming his association with the Aga Khan in 1949. He appeared in the 1951 comedy film The Galloping Major as himself. Among his most significant winners in this phase of his career were Palestine (2000 Guineas) and Tulyar (Derby, St Leger) before his contract ended at the end of 1952. Riding as a freelance, he won the Washington, D.C. International Stakes on Worden and the 1954 St.Leger on Never Say Die (replacing the suspended Lester Piggott). In 1957, Smirke was riding for the Aga Khan yet again and moved to France where most of the owner's horses were based, but, although he won the 1000 Guineas on Rose Royale, he was unable to establish a working relationship with Alec Head, and the arrangement was soon ended. By then over fifty, and without a regular contract, Smirke had fewer rides in his last three years, but retained much of his ability. He rode only three winners in 1958, but they included his fourth Derby on Hard Ridden. Smirke retired at the end of the 1959 season. He had little contact with the racing world after his retirement, devoting much of his time to golf. In 1999, the Racing Post ranked Smirke as fifth in their list of the Top 50 jockeys of the 20th century and the greatest never to have been Champion Jockey.