Racing stands alone from other sports in the varied, in depth facets it has to offer that together make up the whole model. Some are so wide apart from one another - you could spend a lifetime engrossed in the intricities and theories of the breeding side without having the slightest interest in the betting and bookmaking side, with the reverse also applying.
It also blows the other sports out of the water for its multitude of characters, many long passed, others more recently passed, and some still on this earth. Put it this way, stable staff who have worked for a lifetime in the sport, even in basic ranking positions, would be such a fruitful source of page after page of anecdotes and if inclined, could write a book purely reminiscing in warts and all manner, one which would probably prove to be a more enjoyable read than a tow the line publication penned by a champion trainer or jockey.
The same cannot be said for football. A boot polisher would no doubt be able to recite some amusing tales but the chances are they would have been done to death and have been in the public arena, either through one of the red top newspapers, or from player autobiographies.
But racing owns such a deep, congested well of secrets, gossip, along with a large basket of dirty linen that could probably fill a large book cabinet with memoirs that contain a substantial amount of truth, with many being fully accurate.
Sadly, those who would have most to tell are now into extra time on the life clock and will pass on taking their experiences to the grave with nothing left behind in recorded format - they may have have recited bits and pieces to a young relative likely to have no interest in the sport, meaning the names and incidents would mean nothing and fade to oblivion
The problem arising with racing's grapevine is that many of these recitals could be libelous unless the character who is the subject of the nostalgic scribblings has passed on in which case care would still have to be careful not to implicate a living, touchy relative. Or even a dangerous, powerful one.
This means that anyone seeking to find an old hand long born of experience within the game would have to keep fingers crossed that your discovered living source remains in reasonable good mental health, while most of the subjects of the tales have passed on.
The legal ramifications in this area leave some interestingly poised situations in all walks of life. An acquaintance who is employed in the fields of attempted rehabilitation of offenders told me that it is common knowledge within some sections of the Police force that the media outlets are sharpening their knives ready to go to war on an ageing, long established household name once he passes away.
The stories that could be drawn out of some old racing folk would not be of the deeply disturbing nature as those, which if true, are to be revealed about this household name. In fact by comparison many would in the main be damn funny but still, the person on the other end may not be so tickled on finding they are in the public domain.
For us enthusiastic racing fans on the outside looking in, we can pick up some fascinating titbits when having the opportunity to talk to those within the bubble, off record as opposed to chatting to a trainer from being part of a syndicate, or having a conversation with a guest speaker at a racing club function. Such private encounters make us realise just how many untold factual tales must be held by the many, mature silent beholders within the sport.
I can recall being in the company of an ex jockey in a northern racecourse bar over forty years ago. I have no idea if he is still alive - I cannot find any record of him passing, though he had such a profound drinking problem that he would be a symbol of hope for all incurable guzzlers as he would now be in his mid seventies if he is still on this earth.
He was in the Tattersalls bar as he would not have welcomed being recognised in the members areas. As a rider he finished in the frame in an English classic, rode Royal Ascot winners, and in his pomp was sought after in the big handicaps. He also rode often for an emerging owner who would go on to be one of the most successful in the sport.
Anyway, at the time he revealed that he had just left a position working in a well known Newmarket yard - " I wouldn't advise my worst enemy to work there. Christ, it was a nightmare. At evening stables you have to stand to attention outside the box with your stable cloth, body and dandy brushes, and curry comb all laid out neatly while the boss walks around carrying out inspections."
After each race he was back in the bar, drinking double scotches. He gave three tips ridden by a well known successful jockey he had driven to the course. The horses lost. I could not not be sure of the volume of alcohol he had consumed, but enough at least to blow a breathalyzer reading off the scale and he was driving the jockey all the way back down to Newmarket after his last ride!
I was also once priveliged to have several conversations with a person who I belive is still alive and has held both a jockeys and trainers licence in his time. He would reminisce back through his racing life, recalling all the trainers he has worked for, some legends who themselves trained equine legends.
He recalled that when he worked for Atty Persse, the lads would be taking a risk if the lights were switched back on after lights out time in the dorm. Apparently, if this rule breaking act was spotted from the main yard the guvnor and senior staff would burst into the dorm carrying long toms and the lads had to duck and dive to avoid a thrashing.
Then there was a stable lad who I was chatting to in the late 1970's. He had worked for two big, very successful set ups. He revealed to me that in one these former yards they carry out x rays on their animals - this at a time when the practice was not routine in most establishments. He spoke of a progressive young horse housed in one of these yards. " There is early arthritis setting in", he divulged. " They'll sell him soon....... while he is still able to get past most vets."
In the following years I watched on with interest as this animal developed into one of the biggest stars in the jumping game, the best in his division. I'd convinced myself that I was told a load of nonsense until reading one day that the said horse was indeed developing arthritis, so it seems the tale had some substance to it after all.
The point of these recitals is that they have been picked up from being outside the bubble. God only knows the amount that are kept in the mental lockers of those within. Compelling accounts that must live lucidly in the mind of souls who have spent a lifetime in racing yards, irrespective of rank or standing.
Of course, stories that have bits added on need to be spotted and either discarded, or downsized. I can recall a few decades back being told that during the funeral of a stable lad who had committed suicide while working for one of the most successful southern yards of the 1970's, the deceased's colleagues were physically spitting on the trainer's back. It just didn't have a convincing ring to it, even allowing for the fact that the narrator worked for this famous yard, though admittedly not at the time the alleged episode took place.
We know the sport is littered with non triers, that many jockeys bet, some far more successfully so than others, or have their punters paying them to the odds, that one or two mix or have mixed with some very unsavory characters, that something may or may not be 'going on' when a yard suddenly begins to extract improvement from a succession of newly arrived inmates, that big name horses have been doped to lose.
One has visions of a partly retired seventy odd year old stable lad, wearing a cap and sporting a ruddy complexion. All his marbles are still in place. He's worked for many successful trainers. He has a wealth of knowledge and holds on to many secrets that he will alas take to the grave. And that is a real shame.
graveyard image taken by author
This is the title track from an album released a few weeks before Burrough Hill Lad put up that wonderful weight carrying performance in the Hennessey. Vinyl remained supreme so the album would have found it's way to many households by the time of the race. The album marked Deep Purple's reunion and while not in the same grade of those released in the early 1970's, is surprisingly strong throughout for a comeback production.The video has the reuniting theme. It could easily be jump jockeys from the 1970's and 1980's. Sadly, a portrayal of a similar version for flat jockeys would be missing the passed on legends of Pat Eddery, Walter Swinburn and Greville Starkey.
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