When I got my MBE for services to horseracing in the New Year honours list, I initially thought it was just another circular. I’d had a few from the Conservative party and the envelope said “Cabinet Office”. It was a great surprise and I’m very honoured to receive it.
I was bitten by the racing bug as a teen. A local trainer took me to Aintree and I led up Sir Mark Prescott as a jockey, then went to work for Toby Balding that summer; I considered him and his wife as my second parents.
Whatever you do in racing, you need a bit of luck to get you going. When I turned professional, I won the Irish Sweeps Handicap Hurdle on Decent Fellow, beating the Irish on their own patch, which was quite an event. The horses that stick in your mind are the ones that are exceptionally kind to you. Bybrook was a little mare, tough as old boots, and in my first professional season I won seven races with her.
I had a cruncher of a fall at Sandown and was semi-concussed, lying on the ground. A huge shadow came across, I thought, “Crikey! This is it, St Peter’s waiting for me”. It was John McCririck in a great big cape! He said, “You alright sonny?” and walked off.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة March 28, 2024 من Horse & Hound.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة March 28, 2024 من Horse & Hound.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
Rider Denies Doping After Team Loses Olympic Placing - Tine Magnus and the Belgian team said they do not know the source of the drug that caused the positive test
Olympic eventer Tine Magnus has denied ever doping after her Paris ride Dia Van Het Lichterveld Z gave a positive test at the Games. This means the Belgian team, which came fourth, has been disqualified. On 4 September, the FEI said the 10-year-old mare, owned by Kris van Vaerenbergh, tested positive for trazodone, which is listed as an antidepressant on the FEI's prohibited substances list.
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Derby winner returns for further Hickstead glory
After watching wife Pippa compete at Burghley, William Funnell returns to the scene of his Derby triumph to win the All England grand prix
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