*Soprano storming to victory in the G3 Prix de Lieurey at Deauville (Aug 24)*

By Harry Herbert

What an exciting time we have had over the last month with plenty of Group action!

Approval gave us another Festival winner when getting up close home to win the valuable £100,000 handicap there. A fabulous ride from Tom Marquand and so good to see him bounce back after that disappointing run at Royal Ascot. Soprano’s success at Group level in France was simply amazing. It is extraordinary how wrong we can all get horses re their trip and riding tactics. With Soprano the key was allowing her to be more prominent in her race and not being afraid to kick on for glory sooner! William Buick got the tactics spot on in the Prix de Lieurey and she won like a very good filly. She now heads to the Matron Stakes (Gr 1) at Leopardstown on Irish Champions weekend.

Spycatcher added another Group win to his amazing CV in the Prix de Meautry (Gr 3) at Deauville a race that Lake Coniston won for us many moons ago! Spycatcher now heads to the Haydock Sprint Cup (Gr 1) on Saturday where currently ground conditions are in his favour.

Believing continues to be one of the most amazing fillies we have ever owned. Her 3/4 second in the Nunthorpe (Gr1) at York was sensational especially as she was so disadvantaged by the draw. She now heads back to the Curragh on Irish Champions weekend to run in the Flying Five (Gr 1) where she is likely to renew rivalry with Bradsell.

Meanwhile more of our two year olds have made their debuts with Orchid impressing on her debut at Kempton where she finished second having looked the likely winner until collared by the highly touted Elwateen close home. Centigrade trained by Ralph Beckett also impressed on his debut at Sandown when beaten a short head to another hot pot of Juddmonte’s trained by Sir Michael Stoute called Jonquill. He infuriatingly chinned Centigrade on the line but our boy looks to be a seriously exciting prospect for the future. He has size and scope and as a three year old looks sure to be racing at the highest level.

Hopefully you will have received our new syndicate brochure so do get in touch to put your name down for one or more of these new ventures. You can always change your mind at the Parades, but some syndicates are proving very popular so book early to avoid disappointment!!

A thrilling Autumn lies ahead!

On the track

by Emily Scott

This month saw a spectacular Group 3 double in Deauville thanks to superb performances from Soprano and Spycatcher. For Soprano’s owners this was an emotional first stakes victory and a second win this season following her triumph in the Sandringham at Royal Ascot. She had been placed in six stakes races up to this point, showing what a consistent high-level performer she is, without quite doing the business. William Buick, who rode her to success on debut last May, was in the plate and it was amazingly straightforward as she cruised up around the outside from her wide draw and burst clear in the straight to record a 3-length victory over Rose Bloom, who had finished second to Opera Singer in the Prix Marcel Boussac (Gr 1) last season. That was Soprano’s sixth start of the season and physically she still seems to be on the upgrade. She will contest the Matron Stakes (Gr 1) at Leopardstown on Saturday 14th September.

Soprano winning the Prix de Lieurey in Deauville

Winning smiles for Soprano owners in Deauville

Spycatcher was back to somewhere near his best with a cosy victory in the Prix de Meautry (Gr 3) 10 days later, which saw him put back up to a career high mark of 111. He’s a horse who does appreciate plenty of give in the ground, which is not something he had encountered so far this season. He has a great repour with jockey Clifford Lee and the pair were always positioned prominently in this 6f contest. Once into top gear the win never looked in doubt and Spycatcher nonchalantly pricked his ears over the line, indicating he had plenty more in the tank! This marked Spycatcher’s sixth career win and second in Group company. He was placed twice in Group 1s last season and ground allowing he will contest the Sprint Cup (Gr 1) at Haydock on Saturday 7th September before finishing his season in the Champions Sprint (Gr 1) at Ascot in October.

Spycatcher winning the G3 Prix de Meautry in Deauville

There were big celebrations in order when Delicacy got her head in front at the twelfth attempt at Chepstow on Monday. She had been placed on five occasions this season, including when beaten a neck at Nottingham and a diminishing head at Lingfield last time out, so this victory was very well deserved. It comes at the ideal moment as she is due to be offered at the Tattersalls September HIT Sale next week.

Delicacy gets her head in front at Chepstow on Monday

As we approach the autumn, we will inevitably have more promising two-year-olds come out of the woodwork and this month did see exciting performances from several juveniles. Nightbird (Simon & Ed Crisford) was placed for the second time in four starts in a warm little race at Southwell where the more experienced Mademoiselle got the better of her by a neck. She will stick at 5f for the time being but should stretch to 6f in time and is a very likeable filly.

For a furlong or so it looked as though Orchid (George Boughey) might make a winning debut at Kempton earlier this month and get the better of the odds-on favourite Elwateen, but a bit of greenness towards the end of the race saw her go down by a length to the incredibly well-bred Dubawi filly. I always think winning on debut can be a curse as it can force you to step up in class before the horse is ready, so in some ways finishing second may prove a blessing. George Boughey has given this filly a couple of fancy entries, but he would like to see her win her maiden first before we dream of bigger and better things. She could go to Leicester for a 7f fillies’ novice next week.

The latest two-year-old to burst on the scene for Highclere was Centigrade (Ralph Beckett) at Sandown. He was debuting in a 7f maiden for which he was sent off a 7/2 chance. As you would expect at Sandown, there were some well-bred types in the race and none more so than the eventual winner Jonquil whose grand dam is a half-sister to Frankel. When you see Centigrade you will understand why it’s taken until now for him to see a racecourse, he is a long, scopey horse who really fills the eye. He behaved immaculately throughout proceedings and produced a performance which provides plenty of excitement for the future. He travelled through the race with ease and loomed up in menacing style under Rossa Ryan to hit the front a furlong out. There’s no doubt Jonquil would have been an unlucky loser if he’d failed to get up because Ryan Moore was in quite a tight spot on the rail, but Centigrade went down fighting by a short head and certainly wasn’t stopping at the line. The pair galloped out halfway round the track, “always the sign of a good race” according to Ralph!

Billy The Kid

By Frances de Haan

After the success of Billy Loughnane on Soprano in the Sandringham Stakes at Royal Ascot, I thought it was about time we learnt a bit more about the young talent that is Billy ‘The Kid’. One thing that has become abundantly clear from both this interview and how articulately Billy speaks both pre and post race, is that he is much older than his years in terms of his horsemanship and professionalism. It comes as no surprise that his hard work and dedication has led to him achieving such prestigious achievements as the British All-Weather Champion Apprentice (2022-23, 2023-24) and British flat racing Champion Apprentice (2023) and he is only eighteen years old. I was interested to know a bit more about the young gun who is taking the racing industry by storm.

Royal Ascot montage winning The Sandringham Stakes on Soprano

Where did your interest in Racing stem from?

My dad is a racehorse trainer, so I have always been brought up around horses and racehorses. Something I have always wanted to do is be a jockey and I loved it every minute. When I was younger, I was always interested in the form and the horses, and it started from there. I have been riding since I was born, and Dad actually taught me how to ride when I was living in Ireland when I was younger. He taught me how to ride on ponies and then I started to ride racehorses from the age of twelve and have been on them ever since.

What would be your best achievement to date?

My Royal Ascot winners this year would have to be right up there with my best achievements. It was a good week at Royal Ascot, to start it off with Rashabar winning The Coventry and then Soprano winning as well was brilliant.

Billy with his father and mother after winning The Coventry at Royal Ascot. ©Pat Healy

What is it like riding for George Boughey?

Riding for George has been great, I love riding for him, and I am in his yard three or four mornings a week riding work and I have got to know him and the horses really well. I enjoy riding for George, and he is a great person to deal with and I know how he likes his horses ridden a little bit more now and hopefully it is a partnership we can keep going with for the future.

Who would be your racing hero?

My racing hero, I would probably say is AP McCoy, I grew up watching him and loved his attitude and everything he did, multiple time champion jockey and someone you definitely look up to.

Do you have a favourite racecourse?

My favourite racecourse would have to be Wolverhampton. I have had a lot of luck at Wolves, and I just enjoy round there. A lot of horses seem to run for me around there and a track I had my first winner there, but Ascot is gradually sneaking its way onto the list.

Any good luck pre-race rituals?

I don’t really have too many lucky rituals; I always kiss my colours just before I put them on. If I don’t do it, I seem to fall off or something goes wrong!

What would be your next goal on your bucket list?

My next goal on my bucket list. I am very close to riding 250 winners in my career so that is up there, and I will be looking to try and become champion jockey in the upcoming seasons.

Race you would like to win?

The biggest race I want to win, everyone wants to win, is the Derby. But having my name on any sort of classic would be great.

How do you stay relaxed before a big race?

I keep focused and try and treat it as any other race, try and keep relaxed on the day. I try to go out and ride it like any other race. Once you are on the horse, it all seems very natural. Sometimes there are a few nerves when you are in the paddock but once you are on the horses back it all just becomes like any other day, and you just try and do the best you can.

Do you receive any good advice from older more experience jockeys?

I get a lot of advice from the older jockeys, in particular Oisin Murphy he helps me out a lot. There is a lot of names in there that have been very good to me since I started.

Do you have any hobbies outside of racing?

I don’t have too many hobbies or interests outside racing. I do watch the football and keep an eye on that. I am learning to play a bit of golf in my spare time but I’m not very good so how long I will keep doing that for is limited I would imagine.

If you weren’t a jockey, what career would you have chosen?

If I didn’t become a jockey, I would love to be a footballer, but definitely wouldn’t be good enough. I would probably do something in racing, become a trainer or a bloodstock agent or something along those lines. I would imagine it would be something to do with horses.

Can you sum up how it felt riding Soprano at Royal Ascot?

Riding Soprano at Royal Ascot was brilliant, she obviously and a good standard of form coming into the race and the manner in which she did it was great.

She is a little bit tricky, as we know she can be a little bit slow away from the gates. I got a lot of satisfaction riding her at Ascot, coming through the field as she did. Especially after a not giving her a great ride at Musselburgh so to be able to repair everyone with her coming through the field at Ascot and showing how good she really was that day, and she got it all on the right day. As we know Charles Eddery does a great job with her at home, and she is definitely a filly on the up.

I really enjoyed riding her as well because she came from the back and took her time, and it was a great buzz crossing the line and great to give Highclere a winner. Obviously, they have been great to me, giving me my first stakes winner with Chic Colombine and its right up their early on in my career riding a winner at Royal Ascot as well is brilliant, a great day and it will live in my memory for a long time.

Billy crossing the finish line aboard Soprano at Royal Ascot

Introducing a new Highclere Trainer for next season

Sir Mark Prescott

by Frances de Haan

PART 1 ‘A first kiss and a lot of luck’

Legend, hero, a true gentleman, are just some of the words most people in the racing industry would use to describe Sir Mark Prescott. With over 54 years training under his belt, he is racing’s most renowned raconteur and one of the all-time greats. Marcel Proust states that ‘you should never meet your heroes, as they will only disappoint’, but I am certainly glad I did. Contrary to Proust’s beliefs, Sir Mark did not disappoint.

Excited, nervous, exhilarated, are just some of the words I would use to describe how I was feeling as I drove the usual route from Berkshire to Newmarket. Still not really believing my luck that I was going to spend the afternoon at the historic Heath House stables. Nipping into M&S on route to purchase some biscuits I thought; what does one bring to tea with a top class, erudite racing trainer? Percy Pigs (my usual M & S go to), a Victoria sponge? I settled for All Butter Viennese Milk Chocolate Dipped Fingers…hopefully a good choice.

On arrival I weaved my way passed the beautiful wall of plaques with past and present trainers names on, that flanked the entrance of Heath House. Emphasising just how many prestigious trainers (and their horses) had walked this exact route for over 185 years. I walked through the creaky wooden wicket gate and down the narrow hedged path, catching glimpses of statues of past winners (of which he has sent out over 2000). On reaching the green front door, I checked the time, ensuring I did not ring the doorbell more than a minute before my arrival time. Be early but not too early, but don’t be late. One minute early, I rang the bell. I had made the right decision… the door opened and the familiar figure of Sir Mark, immaculately dressed in a shirt and tie complete with collar bar, filled the doorway. ‘Top time keeping Frances, good afternoon come on in’…

I stepped into Heath House, the walls decked with black and white photographs of a long life filled with racing exploits. ‘How do you take your tea?’ following Sir Mark into the kitchen, which I do not think has changed since the 70’s. Here photographs were replaced floor to ceiling with cards from friends, admirers and fans of boxing hares, fighting cocks and coursing lurchers, a slight giveaway of Sir Mark’s other sporting passions.

Sir Mark picked up a tea tray, already prepared complete with traditional china teacups, tea pot, a bowl of fresh cherries and crucially a Victoria sponge! I was relieved with my earlier biscuit choice, which thankfully went down a storm. ‘Inside or outside’, it was a rare sunny late summers evening in Newmarket. An easy choice.

We settled at a wooden picnic table and chairs nestled in the corner of his garden by an immaculate croquet lawn bathed in dappled evening sunlight. Taking in that I was in the presence of a racing legend who has produced over 2000 winners from his fifty horse stable, golden hour had suddenly taken on another meaning. You would not have known you were by a training yard had it not been for the occasional sound drifting in on the wind of horse’s hooves and the stable lads getting their stables ready for the impending inspection at 5pm on the dot.

Where to start, Sir Mark has been residence at Heath House stables since 1970, but how did his passion for racing begin? So inevitably and rather predictably my first question was… ‘What drew you to racing first’?

‘I was eight or nine and it was the usual story… a pretty girl down the lane who rode. So therefore I of course wanted to learn how to ride. I found someone to teach me, called Frances Kelly. I loved it so much I used to go down and help out whenever I could. Because I helped out Frances refused to take any money off me. My marvellous stepfather therefore took her racing at Newton Abbott in return.

‘I didn’t actually want to go along, but I went anyway, we parked at the last fence. In racing you can park so close to the action, whereas you can’t in other sports like football or motor racing, you are miles away from the action.’

A fair observation and a unique selling point for our sport I had not ever considered.

‘We stood there at the last, I was so small I couldn’t see over it. The horses came thundering in, and the noise!…People always say it is the colours, but it is the noise I remember most. The thunder of hooves, the shouting of jockeys and the crack of whips. Suddenly this thing summersaulted in front of me, and it came crashing to the ground, right on top of the jockey and it brought two more down with it. They all scrambled, one horse got up and then the other, one jockey and then the other. But the first fella just lay there, and he was obviously dead. Then very, very slowly he got up, and chucked his stick into the ground. He said “f***ing hell” and walked up the track! His name was Tim Brookshaw and the horse he was riding was called April Stakes. I thought, what a man! And I never wanted to do anything else.’

Sir Mark’s eyes lit up as he spoke, I could see he had transported back to being that eight-year-old boy, he was reliving it as though it was yesterday. The majority of people would be put off going down a similar career path after witnessing such a scene, but not Sir Mark. Perhaps this was already an indication of his strength of character, his will and determination, traits that he has applied to his work ethic ever since.

The early years

‘The old girl, Frances [Kelly] who taught me to ride, sent me to the local trainer to ride out. Hence I had the enormous good luck, to start with a wonderful fella in Devon called Sid Kernick when I was 14 or 15. Who was the most fantastic man, little, tough, gingery. He could break any horse. Afraid of nothing. I learnt more about horses from him than anybody else. He was Monty Roberts forty years before and seven thousand miles apart. He could break them and never ever pulled them around either. Extraordinary man.

‘I had a wonderful time with him. I owe him everything really. I can never repay what I owe him. The fun I had there. I went more or less and lived with them. I couldn’t be there enough, I didn’t want to be at home, I wanted to be there.

‘I learned about breaking in different horses, and how horses thought. I’ve still not seen anyone better – and that includes Monty (Roberts). He had 12 boxes, 6 racehorses and 6 maniacs, and he advertised for difficult horses to break. He would only have them if someone had failed to break them, because then he’d charge double – it was a jolly good business model.

‘We had one who’d come from Ayr in Scotland, they couldn’t break him in. His party trick was to throw himself on the ground and refuse to get up. As soon as you put anything on him, down he’d go. And he had no skin on one side, because the fellow in Melton Mowbray had set fire to the straw under him to get him up!

‘Mr Kernick broke him and without any battle. So he was a genius really, a little genius’.

I am not sure that those methods would be particularly accepted today, perhaps there would be a few questions if a half bare yearling was brought into the parades. It was crystal clear the impact these early years had on Sir Mark, emphasised by the fondness in his voice as he spoke about this Devonshire family. Little did they know that teenage boy was going to become one of the most influential and most well respected gentleman in racing.

You never forget your first kiss

I asked Sir Mark what the best moments in his lifetime with horses have been (a rather big question I admit!). Speaking with the knowledge gleaned from a lifetime among working horses, without faltering he said…

‘The first winner I rode. I think that is like your first kiss, no one ever forgets. He was called Moneret, I was fifteen.

‘In those days you weren’t allowed to ride steeplechase until you were seventeen. They had this old horse in the yard you see, and Mr Kernick doing the entries one day, he said “Now then boy, you can ride that f***ing thing next week!”. I said, “Well first of all I haven’t got a licence and secondly I am fifteen and you need to be seventeen”. Well, he said “When was you born?”, I said “3.3.48”. So, he put 3.3.46 and got me the licence. Weatherby’s still think I am 78, as I have had to lie every year since. So, I got the licence.

‘It was a three horse race at Wincanton and Moneret won, fifty to one, it had never won in its life. I had got a girlfriend there, she was just a couple of years older than me. I remember thinking there is no doubt you have arrived, you are the messiah that national hunt racing has been waiting for. So I took her off down the track, it was the first race so even better, and there was an old fella banging in divots down by the last fence. He said, “What won the first?”, I said “I did”. Fantastic. I can’t tell you the feeling.

An early image of 16 year old Mark Prescott

I then went to Frank Cundall, which was the only job I had where I never got on with it. I never made any progress there. I was really unlucky, from the day I went there, nothing went right.

‘He had a horse called Crudwell, he won 50 races with him. 50 races. Now, how can you possibly win 50? But he did! I mean, it was a privilege to be there, he was a master of placing.’

Luck plays its part

Having spent two short years there, Sir Mark met with a rather gruesome twist of fate. Although Sir Mark was still adamant that what happened next was the luckiest thing to happen to him. The scene with Tim Brookshaw which captivated Sir Mark all those years ago was about to become a reality.

‘I broke my back aged 17. I spent six months in Ashford Cottage hospital, I was totally paralysed for eight weeks, you had to learn to walk and talk, so your tongue stops working your eyelids don’t work, everything stops.

‘I was then sent to Oswestry Orthopaedic, and you had this awful rehabilitation. When I arrived there and a person that arrived to see me was Tim Brookshaw in a wheelchair. I said to him “It is because of you I am here; you are my hero”.’

The irony was palpable, although I am not sure whether a hero who, whilst still partially paralysed, pulls himself onto horses is an inspiration or just slightly mad? Sir Mark quickly added that he wasn’t a nice man. However, there is no denying Brookshaw’s grit and determination, which perhaps were the more admirable traits.

‘When I got back home (to Devon) they said I couldn’t ride. I hadn’t been there three weeks and luck as always played its part.’

This luck Sir Mark refers to comes in the shape of Mary Alderman or ‘Midnight Mary’ as she was apparently known, who was a friend of Sir Mark’s stepfather. She was ‘seeing’ Jack Leach, (a very good jockey in his time) who wrote for the Observer. Through a happy set of coincidences, they went to stay with Sir Mark’s stepfather.

‘My Stepfather wouldn’t have a clue who a jockey was, but I was hugely impressed to have a jockey down to stay.’

Very soon after Jack Leach recommended Sir Mark as an assistant to Mr Waugh (the trainer at Heath House at the time), whilst stood on Warren Hill. I am certain it was not luck on this occasion, Sir Mark had clearly already made a good impression. Nevertheless, Sir Mark found himself driving to Newbury the next day to meet Mr Waugh, the journey to Heath House had begun.

‘I arrived [in Newbury] at two o’clock. The horse ran badly in the 2.30pm, I crept up to him (Mr Waugh) and said [nervously]:

“My name’s Mark Prescott from Devon”

“Well done!” he said

“Mr Leach said there might be a job for me”

“Well, I have been thinking about it and I don’t think I need an assistant”

I said, “oh well thank you very much for seeing me”,

“Well, I tell you what, come up and have a month’s trial and we will see how you go”,

I said, “Oh thank you very much, when would you like me to start?”

He said, “I will see you at 11 o’clock tomorrow morning, good luck.” And off he went.

‘So, I drove back to Devon, five hours, packed up everything I owned, left at 3am, got to Newmarket at 7am and started work. I never went home again. I was 19.’

As poignant a day as standing by the last at Newton Abbot, Sir Mark regaled his first ever day at Heath House 57 years ago.

‘I arrived here at 7/8am, in plenty of time. And in those days there were touts leaning on the wall watching all the horses, getting their names. I asked, “Can you please tell me where Heath House is?”, he said “I am leaning on the f***ing wall!”. So I said “Thank you, that is most helpful”, I thought these are nice people up here!

‘Mr Waugh saw me walking down, he was on his hack, he said “Ah well done, you are early. You’ll do. Come in”. So I came into the front of the house, when the front door and back door are open you can see into the yard, it is funny how you can remember everything. We walked through the front of the house, Mrs Waugh was on the stairs, and she had got a red biro and she was on her knees on the stairs. And she was inking in all the bare patches on the carpet a red carpet, and he said “that’s the best missus in the world, if you can’t get on with her then you can’t stay”. We came out the house, and I could see a fella lunging a yearling, and he (Mr Waugh) said “that’s Jack Button, he is the best head lad in Britain, if you can’t get on with him you can’t get on with anyone. By now you will have worked out the worst part about this job is me”. And it was, he was difficult.

‘He was a great man, but he was ferociously tough. He was very difficult, but I got very fond of him. That first time we looked round evening stables, everything was immaculate. I had never seen proper evening stables. We came back in and he said, “come back in the house boy”. I thought how nice he is going to give me a cup of tea and a nice meal, because I had got nowhere to stay. But instead he said, “have you ever done entries”, and I said, “a little bit with Mr Cundall”. “Well, that is this week’s entry form, these are my hieroglyphics on foolscap paper in pencil. You will soon work out my hieroglyphics. That’s next week’s entry form, put it on my desk four o’clock tomorrow morning. Goodnight.”

‘I stayed at the pub at the foot of the road, The Horseshoe. It took me until about 11pm to work out the codes. I can do one for you now, 3MNS3AST2x, three year old colts and geldings maidens at starting not run more than twice at closing. By 11pm I had got it. I then cracked on with next weeks, and by about 2am I had done it. I slept in the chair, by 4am I was in here [the office], Mr Waugh was in already at 4am. “Well done boy” he said.

‘I rode out first lot, he was charming, I came in after second lot, the office is still unchanged, “That’s your desk, that’s my desk” he said and went straight behind his paper. So I sat at my desk, there was nothing on it, accept a little pile of shredded paper…. I had done it [the entries] all in pencil, I had then highlighted in red biro, the horses and then the race meetings, it looked marvellous. I said to him “was there something wrong with the entries?”, “I said do them in pencil, put them on my desk at four o’clock tomorrow morning” Mr Waugh responded.

‘I rang home and I said “things are a bit tricky at the moment, but I am sure it will be alright”. So what he meant was, ‘You do just as I say and we will get on fine’.

Sir Mark riding out at Heath House under Jack Waugh

‘I had two and a half fantastic years with him. Then he became ill. One day he said to me; “I am fed up with this, you had better train them next year. I have had a word with all the owners”, there were only eight owners for 50 horses, Lord Howard had ten, Lady MB (Macdonald Buchanan) fourteen. He said “All of them will stay except for one, and they have bought the yard for you on an interest free loan”.

‘So I rang my stepfather, and I said this is the news, and he said, “what have we got in writing”, I said “I haven’t got anything, I think they are the kind of people you just say thank you very much and that is all you do”. He said, “Well that is what we will do”. So there was never anything in writing and I paid them back in ten years. They all stayed until they died, except for one. So I got lucky twice. You need to be lucky.’

Sir Mark is very good at shrugging off compliments and accolades, but taking over the reins of Heath House at the foot of Warren Hill at the age of 22 (the youngest person to become a trainer and now is one of the oldest), and maintaining your owners until their last days on this planet, is surely something that can be put down to more than luck.

I wanted to know how he dealt with the pressure in those early days. A magic recipe, perhaps something we could learn and apply to our own lives…

‘I think I’ve been so lucky to have those chances. I think having had a really bad injury, it makes you appreciate everything more. I think it changes you, I think you come out with a different view. I came out with a view that it’s very very important to do every day as well as I could, but that it didn’t matter. It actually doesn’t matter.’

I was slightly disheartened that perhaps the only way to be as resilient and successful as Sir Mark would be to live through a life-threatening injury. I realised perhaps I had been too sharp to judge why Tim Brookshaw was a hero for Sir Mark, if he wasn’t a ‘nice person’. I could see that both their perspectives on life had been readjusted, and there was certainly something that ran deeper as a result. A stiffer ‘back bone’, greater determination, a gratefulness for every day. Who knows whether Sir Mark would have been as successful or ‘lucky’ if he had not had to endure eight weeks of total paralysis, but I am pretty certain he would have been.

Next month I delve into Sir Mark’s training journey spanning 54 years at the historic Heath House stables. Including the outstanding Classic and Group successes, his past assistants and how William Butler (his long standing assistant trainer of 18 years and now business partner) came into the fold. You will have to wait for September’s newsletter, but I promise it is worth the wait!

Rolf’s Ramblings

by Rolf Johnson

LONDON 52’s OLYMPIC GOLDEN GLORY

Dare I suggest my wife played a small part in the UK’s equestrian gold medal success in Paris? We tried to sell Keith and Louise Scott and their trainer-rider Laura Collett a horse that Mrs Johnson bred. Had they ‘bitten’ they would not have had, with him, a second Team Gold at the Palace of Versailles to add to the one London52 landed them in Tokyo in 2020…my wife, part of Highclere’s Darling syndicate, may even have pipped them. Unfortunately, the eventer in which she has an interest didn’t quite make it to the Games: that’s horses for you.

Laura, Keith and Louise decided ‘Andy’ didn’t move well enough. No argument there. He was muscled enough to lug the Master of Hunt round Dorset but the ultimate disciplines of the high octane world of eventing would have scared the living daylights out of him. Not that everything is ever straightforward with horses: here’s the Scott’s, Highclere owners, Gold medal story.

Shortly before last month’s Paris Olympics Britain’s horse world imploded when dressage gold medal ‘cert’ Charlotte Dujardin with her mount Imotech worth incalculable millions according to the horseman’s catechism the Horse and Hound) were thrown out of the event. A grainy four-year-old video showed shamed Dujardin using a lunge whip with excessive force. She held up her hands. The uproar obliged her to withdraw from the Olympics. Sponsors withdrew from her.

A couple of weeks later and the outstanding team of British eventers ruled the world with their gold medal victory over three days of competition at the magnificent Palace of Versailles course and arena. Keith, Louise and their friend Karen Bartlett were the sole owners from the Tokyo Games horse and rider combination triumph in 2020. Unlike that victory in silent stadia, competitors masked against the raging Covid epidemic, Paris was a throbbing sell-out.

In Paris, London52 produced a world record dressage score, tore round the 5000 metre cross country course (a whole minute longer than the one in Tokyo), and show jumped to glory. Britain became the first country to win five Olympic team eventing golds.

Already festooned with victory in five-star events – Badminton, Pau in France, Luhmulen in Germany - 15-year-old London 52’s reward is two months of pasture on Cotswold limestone brash soil near Cheltenham. Keith said, “We’d expect to have two or three years more competition with him which would rule out the Olympics in Los Angeles.”

The team bought London52 as an eight-year-old in Germany. How much was he worth after his first gold medal in Tokyo?

Effusive, the word was coined for Keith. It’s not a case of him coming down to earth after Olympic stardom – cloud nine is his spaceship. Oh how I wish I had been eavesdropping on his conversations in Paris on horse matters with Mark and Deirdre Johnston whose thirteen-year-old horse JL Dublin, ridden by Tom McEwen was part of the gold medal winning team. Keith let Laura have the line “The stars were aligned for us as they did in Tokyo. If you’re disciplined and stick to your system that discipline turns to fun.” He himself contributes: “This game isn’t about fixations, you’re never in total control. As Laura says if you’re disciplined that disciplined turns into fun and that’s what we had in Paris.”

He continued: “You need to create a virtuous circle, to know just what you’re trying to achieve, I sold my business in 2000, played rugby til I was thirty-seven and from then on its been golf and horses. We just want to enjoy racing with like-minded people. We’re Goodwood members and I haven’t missed a Dewhurst meeting in twenty years.”

All plain sailing then? Hardly. London 52 has had his setbacks and Keith’s previous top class performer Mr Bass had to be retired through injury as his career was approaching its height. Laura Collet herself lost the partial sight of one eye in a riding accident after which she was in an induced coma for almost a week. And when Keith was on the verge of the British team the horse he was riding turned over on him – twice.

Keith ended up with two platinum pins holding a jigsaw of a body together, thirteen weeks in hospital with injuries as gruesome as Freddie Flintoff. “I went straight from a wheelchair to the back of a horse,” says Keith without blinking.

“As a kid, six or seven I’d spend holidays on my uncle’s farm in Essex,” remembers Keith. “He used to sell showjumpers but when he put me up I was windy and he had to chase me round the field to get me motoring. Maybe that made me a bit too brave.”

Which is where Laura steps in. “London 52 is not naturally brave cross-country and I know how much he’s had to trust me, so he now goes around a course like he’s on railway tracks. I have utmost faith in him.”

Sir Mark Prescott’s oft-quoted “My job as a trainer is to stop horses killing themselves” doesn’t just apply to racehorses. And this brings in the topic of animal welfare on which Keith, predictably and understandably, has resounding views.

“You see people who have no understanding or relationship with animals laying down the law as to what’s best for them. They have total disregard, ignorance of nature and I’m speaking as someone who once worked in an abattoir.”

His resolution is unswerving. “The question is not whether we should bow to the anti-racing campaigners but how to manage horses whose very nature is to compete.”

Of course along with the triumphs have come the disasters. As arguably one of Highclere’s most successful owners Keith exulted: “I have pictures of all our twenty winners framed round my walls and a set of silks too.”

There have been just a couple of failures one of which was the Scott’s sole National Hunt horse, The Last Euro. Here again is synergy with their rider/trainer Laura.

“We took him as a prospective eventer; he was a beautiful animal who deserved a chance at another discipline. But he broke his neck out in the field. It’s taken us a little time to get back into the racing frame of mind,”

Laura had an awesomely similar experience. She took dual Cheltenham Gold Cup hero Kauto Star for retraining for dressage at her Lambourn Hq. One of the few jumpers of our time to be mentioned in the same breath as Arkle, Desert Orchid and Red Rum, Kauto Star had been retired at fifteen in 2012. He too had to be euthanized when he was injured out in the paddocks.

The tragedies of The Last Euro and Kauto Star should be salutary lessons for those who regard thoroughbreds (all horses) as born for ‘display’: what next will they advocate for them, zoos?

You don’t get back on a horse, even if you’re as redoubtable as Keith and Laura, as if you were getting back on a bike. And it wasn’t business as usual as the firestorm over Dujardin’s suspension abated. Horse sports the world over are fighting to justify their existence, the Olympics where horses have already been excluded from the pentathlon, is under particular threat. Did none of the arbiters (and naysayers) see the massive crowds, sixteen thousand so engagé at the equestrian events at Versailles? The Olympic charter is quoted by Keith: “Sports, disciplines and events in which performance depends on mechanical propulsion are not acceptable. How has that got anything to do with an animal whose propulsion involves a mane, tail and hooves?

“Yes, the testing regimes among horses is virtually fool proof - at least as strong as that among human athletes.”

At least unresolved sexual matters don’t enter into it – the contestants are, for the most part, but not exclusively, geldings. There is the usual jealousy of those who regard anything to do with the horse as the province of the wealthy, - high net worth individuals and blue chip brands – ignoring the bond, the umbilical cord between rider and mount: they repay in spades; Valegro is said to have originally cost £4000.

There is nobody more trenchant than Keith in the defence of horse welfare. You have to step up a gear to keep pace with his thinking. He has sought out the answers to success with horses and worked many out – hence the gold medals and those racehorse trophies.

“Before Dan (London 52’s stable name) we had high class performers with Lesley Law – Coup de Coeur and Jackson d’Allez. And of course there was Mr Bass, a world seven-year-old champion named for a decadent amoral obstreperous American sitcom character. Appropriate? Certainly. Like Dan we found ‘Chuck’ in Germany. They were both Holsteiners. Mr Bass failed the vet but I saw things differently. The vet said, “Have fun with him, till something goes wrong.” Well he had eight aggressive campaigning years, winning the world championship for seven-year-olds at Lion d’Angers in France. He then had a tendon injury and we retired him because we didn’t want anything more catastrophic to happen. “

This never ending manifestation of association between man and horse of human and horse – names - it’s a wonder one London 52, or more likely Mr Bass, wasn’t called Daley, one all-conquering Olympian named for another – whatever the differences in character.

Equestrian sport is indivisible – when one discipline ‘hurts’ so do others. When one triumphs the whole horse world rejoices and stands together, with a special place on the podium reserved for the mavericks.

If you want to join a successful syndicate find out what Keith and Louise Scott have their eyes on – the likelihood is that it will turn to gold.

Where Are They Now?

by Frances de Haan

I had a request from an owner to hear how Proverb was getting on since he went to his new home earlier this year. I have a lovely update from Karen who has given him a wonderful new home:

‘Proverb has settled well in his new home in Pembrokeshire, he is currently working well under saddle and I'm hoping to do some dressage and cross country with him, he's a quiet little soul and I absolutely adore him, can't wait for our future together.’

Clodagh’s recipe

by Clodagh McKenna Herbert

Delicious RED LENTIL CURRY WITH SWEET POTATOES AND SPINACH

METHOD:

Place a casserole dish over a medium-high heat. Add the sweet potatoes and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned all over, 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer the browned sweet potatoes to a plate and set aside
Add the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil to the pot and set the heat to medium-low. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent, 4 to 6 minutes. Add the curry paste, garlic, ginger, chili and turmeric, and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
Add the lentils, stock, salt and browned sweet potatoes to the pot and bring to a boil over high. Lower the heat and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the lentils are just tender, 20 to 25 minutes.
Add the coconut milk and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the liquid has reduced and the lentils are creamy and falling apart, 15 to 20 minutes.
Add the spinach and stir until just wilted, 2 to 3 minutes. Off the heat, stir in the lime juice and season with salt to taste.
Divide among shallow bowls and top with cilantro and coconut flakes, if using.

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS:

3 tbsp olive oil

2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into ¾-inch cubes

1 onion, diced

3 tbsp Thai red curry paste

3 garlic cloves, crushed

2 inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated

1 red chili, finely chopped

1 teaspoon ground turmeric

200g red lentils, rinsed

500ml vegetable stock