Off To The Races

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The King George VI Chase  will be run over three miles at Kempton Park later today. At least one reader here will be watching and I’d like to congratulate her on being elected to the Jockey Club this year.

The Jockey Club currently has 161 members, picked for their knowledge and experience of horse racing, and owns and operates fifteen racecourses including Kempton. The picture above was taken outside their clubhouse in Newmarket, the Jockey Club Rooms, as it is called.  It holds a similar position in racing as the MCC holds in cricket and the Royal Yacht Squadron in sailing, only it is more exclusive. Sadly it does not hold sway over Bellewstown racecourse, the Ascot of the Boyne Valley.

My grandfather hunted two packs of hounds and during World War I  found time to win the Conyngham Cup on his horse, Minden Rose, at Punchestown. He passed on his racing colours to my sister and they make occasional appearances on racecourses in the British Isles. Here he is, on the right, crossing the Big Double at Punchestown.

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My brother-in-law  hunted the Tara Harriers, played polo and has been a leading light in the Irish racing world for many years as an amateur jockey, owner, trainer, breeder and National Hunt Steward. In case you are unfamiliar with this terminology, on no account ask the Steward on a racecourse for a gin and tonic. Simon is a horseman from fingers to fetlocks. He tried to call one of his horses Chitty-Chitty-BangBang but was refused. He wouldn’t get it approved today either. Horses are allowed to have ridiculous names but they must not exceed eighteen characters, including spaces and punctuation.

Transport for London (TfL) have announced that the tube stop at the end of the planned new Northern Line extension will be called Battersea Power Station. That would be a fine name for a steeplechaser with stamina but is also too long to be allowed. If you pick a name that is allowed and your horse becomes famous, your name goes on a protected list – like Derby winner, Sir Percy. His name is protected until fifteen years after his death.

This leads me, as it so often does, to P G Wodehouse who avoids giving precise dates in his novels. For instance, Bertie Wooster says that his Aunt Dahlia married Tom Travers “the year Bluebottle won the Cambridgeshire“. Perhaps this will be the year that Don Cossack wins the George VI?

With my best wishes for a happy Christmas and New Year,

Christopher

One comment

  1. I’m sorry to see that you’ve lost a follower. Tracts? I don’t think so. I always admire the manner in which you manage to make a connection and dole out some interesting information as with today’s post and the origin of the Brontë name (btw it isn’t an umlaut on the e – it’s a diaresis. Umlauts are only ever used with broad vowels!). I really liked the BBC’s adaptation of the G-B last year and always remember the sense of heat and suspense from the book.

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