Racehorse trainer Andrew Balding’s stables resonate with Derby history. He explains to Kate Green why the race is still the ultimate prize and reveals his tips for the meeting.
THAT every trainer of Flat racehorses in the land wants to win the Epsom Derby is a statement of the obvious, but, for Andrew Balding, whose Kingsclere yard on the north Hampshire Downs sent out eight winners between 1868 and 1971, the quest is perhaps more personal. The last of the octet, Mill Reef, was trained by his father, Ian, in the year before he was born.
‘My father was a hugely successful sportsman and trainer, for whom the Derby was the pinnacle of his career and the major chapter of his life. I grew up very aware of that,’ says Mr Balding. ‘I’ve always been fascinated by history and I love the fact that the Derby has been the ultimate test of a racehorse for 239 years. Once your name’s etched on that board, no one can rub it off.
‘The atmosphere is like no other. It’s the clash of cultures: top hats and tails on one side of the course and lucky-heather sellers and bare-knuckle fighters on the other. And from a personal point of view, my yard, my house and my gallops [on Watership Down] were built by a man who trained six Derby winners.’
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Tales as old as time
By appointing writers-in-residence to landscape locations, the National Trust is hoping to spark in us a new engagement with our ancient surroundings, finds Richard Smyth
Do the active farmer test
Farming is a profession, not a lifestyle choice’ and, therefore, the Budget is unfair
Night Thoughts by Howard Hodgkin
Charlotte Mullins comments on Moght Thoughts
SOS: save our wild salmon
Jane Wheatley examines the dire situation facing the king of fish
Into the deep
Beneath the crystal-clear, alien world of water lie the great piscean survivors of the Ice Age. The Lake District is a fish-spotter's paradise, reports John Lewis-Stempel
It's alive!
Living, burping and bubbling fermented masses of flour, yeast and water that spawn countless loaves—Emma Hughes charts the rise and rise) of sourdough starters
There's orange gold in them thar fields
A kitchen staple that is easily taken for granted, the carrot is actually an incredibly tricky customer to cultivate that could reduce a grown man to tears, says Sarah Todd
True blues
I HAVE been planting English bluebells. They grow in their millions in the beechwoods that surround us—but not in our own garden. They are, however, a protected species. The law is clear and uncompromising: ‘It is illegal to dig up bluebells or their bulbs from the wild, or to trade or sell wild bluebell bulbs and seeds.’ I have, therefore, had to buy them from a respectable bulb-merchant.
Oh so hip
Stay the hand that itches to deadhead spent roses and you can enjoy their glittering fruits instead, writes John Hoyland
A best kept secret
Oft-forgotten Rutland, England's smallest county, is a 'Notswold' haven deserving of more attention, finds Nicola Venning
