RACEHORSE MEMORIES

My father trained racehorses in Newmarket, England, for Miss Dorothy Paget, a rather huge woman and civil engineer, inventor of the gas-fired water boiler, who always visited our Savile House stables with a lovely smelling young blonde lady, her companion my father told me, and I followed them around because the blonde lady’s beautiful fragrance drowned out the stable smell of horse muck, which was all around. Miss Paget’s girlfriend liked me, and I liked her, because she looked and smelled so good. This was young George’s first introduction to a lovely woman, except, as my father later explained, she and Miss Paget were roaring lesbian lovers. Oh well. They certainly enjoyed the horses, as did I. And I was enticed by Miss Paget’s girlfriend. I wished she liked boys instead, although I was a young boy. But Miss Paget's girlfriend was flirty. If only I’d been older. Golden Miller, Miss Paget’s best thoroughbred racehorse, was foaled in 1927, probably the greatest National Hunt horse for several decades until retired to stud. Golden Miller was the only horse considered in the same class as legendary Arkle. Miss Paget saw Golden MJiller win 28 of 52 races when National Hunt racing in England was most competitive, with riders such as the queen’s jockey Arthur Freeman, who my father taught to ride, and Fred Winter, Bill Rickaby, Keith and Lester Piggott, and legendary Dick Francis who rode for the queen’s mother. Golden Miller was the only horse ever to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup and Grand National in the same 1934 season and went on to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup in five consecutive years from 1932 to 1936, breaking the course record in the Grand National in 1934. But the record was surpassed by Mill Reef, foaled in 1968, trained at Kingsclere by Ian Balding and made his first appearance at Salisbury in 1970. He overturned the 2/9 Lester Piggott favorite, Fireside Chat, and never looked back. That season Mill Reef won the Coventry Stakes at Royal Ascot by six lengths, the Gimcrack by 10 lengths and the Dewhurst by four lengths. For the first time, he lost to My Swallow in the Prix Robert Papin at Maisons-Laffitte. As a three-year-old, he lost again the Two Thousand Guineas when beaten by Brigadier Gerard with old rival My Swallow third. From there, he won the Epsom Derby, Eclipse Stakes, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes, and completed the year by winning the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. Mill Reef was kept in training as a four-year-old and it was hoped that the showdown of the century would take place against Brigadier Gerard at Ascot in the summer. But Mill Reef shattered a leg on the gallops and was retired, died in 1986. A statue of him stands at the national stud in Newmarket. Brigadier Gerard, foaled in 1961, died in 1989, and was rated one of the best and most popular horses in our lifetime. My father said his breeding was not special, but the horse proved to be exceptional with unbelievable stamina. As a two-year-old, Brigadier Gerard ran four times, winning all races, including the Middle Park Stakes at Newmarket. He started off by winning the Two Thousand Guineas, beating Mill Reef and My Swallow. He then won the St James’s Palace Stakes, Sussex Stakes, Goodwood Mile, Queen Elizabeth II Stakes, Champion Stakes, and King George VI and Queen Elizabeth II Stakes. What a great horse, and had a great trainer and terrific jockeys. He was crowned champion British miler in 1971 and British horse of the year in 1972. He lost only once in 18 races when beaten by 1972 Derby winner Roberto in the Benson and Hedges Gold Cup at York. He was not a success as a sire and eventually died in 1989, one of the greatest racers of all time. Then there was Nijinksy, fouled in 1967, the year I graduated college, ridden over and over by Lester Piggott, one of the greatest jockeys ever and son of my grandfathers biggest jockey rival, Keith Piggott. My father and Lester also mixed it up many times as jockeys in England. Nijinsky was the last horse to win the English Triple Crown – the Two Thousand Guineas at Newmarket and the Saint Leger, both in 1 (2000Gns, Derby and St Leger) in 1970.  Bought as a yearling by great trainer Vincent O’Brien in 1967 for eighty-four-thousand pounds, the son of Northern Dancer won 11 of his 13 races. As a two-year-old, he won Ireland’s top juvenile races such as the Railway and Beresford Stakes and then came over to England to win the Dewhurst Stakes easily at Newmarket. After winning his prep race in Ireland, he came over for the Two Thousand Guineas at Newmarket, won easily, then won the Derby at Epsom. Quite a horse. The time of the Derby win was quicker than Mahmood’s record in 1936, and from then on Nijinsky was the racing superstar for several years. He won the Irish Derby, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth II Stakes and the St Leger. This was the first time the Triple Crown had been successfully completed since Barham in 1935. No horse has done so since. Nijinsky would have won the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, except jockey Lester Piggott waited too long to make his move and the crowd apparently upset him. Later at Doncaster, Piggott also overdid the waiting tactics and was beaten by a head by Sassafras in an amazing finish. The racing world was in shock. Trainer Vincent O’Brien loved Nijinsky’s form and sent him to run in the Champion Stakes, but he was beaten again -- a sad end to a glorious racing career. Lester Piggott said he never sat on a horse with such natural ability, while O’Brien said he never saddled a horse with such brilliance, until Desert Orchid came along in 1979 and raced until 2006. The grey horse was loved by the racing public as Dessie. He was a pop star at racecourses for years, brought in millions of bets for bookmakers, and brought in crowds Never did the racing public take a racehorse to their hearts as they did Dessie. He achieved pop star status and the horse race-betting public came to racecourses in droves to see their star tgrey horse out in front, jumping fences with relish and finesse. Dessie’s triumphs included winning the King George VI Chase four times at Kempton on Boxing Day, the Whitbread Gold Cup, Tingle Creek Trophy, Martell Trophy and the Irish Grand National. His finest hour however, came in the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 1989. Neither the trip or ground conditions (rain and snow) were considered suitable for Desert Orchid, but he confounded everyone, by storming up the hill to catch Yahoo on the run-in. My father told me that Queen Elizabeth once told him at a race meeting at Kempton, when Arthur Freeman was riding one of her horses that dad was training in a race against Mill Reef, “George, whatever, I want a final furlong to remember.” She got it. Arthur Freeman won the race for the queen. She was delighted. She remembered when she and Prince Phillip visited the Middleburg Training Center as guests of philanthropist Paul Mellon, and saw my father there with his owner’s horses turned out in fine fettle. “Oh, we thought you were in Canada,” Prince Phillip and the queen said as they greeted my father. “I was,” he said, “but I’m here now.” They exchanged pleasantries. It was a beautiful moment. Horse lovers and dog lovers all enjoying a moment together in Middleburg. Desert Orchid won 34 of his 70 starts and amassed nearly 700,000 English pounds in prize money. He died in November 2006 and his ashes were buried at Kempton Park racecourse, where he raced most of his life. Both my father and mother were buried in Middleburg among many wonderful horse and dog people, including Bettina Belmont Ward, granddaughter of August Belmont, founder of Belmont Park racecourse in New Jersey, home of the Belmont Stakes, a leg of the American Triple Crown, and a dear friend of my parents for many years. I’ll join them one day, a close set of horse and dog lover friends over many years.