A DAY AT THE RACES “ Whilst there is evidence of racing being staged among Racing Jargon nomadic tribespeople and in Ancient Greece, Britain takes the credit for inventing a modern form.” Colt – Ungelded male horse of less than five years of age. Gelding – Castrated male horse. Filly was bitten by the bug many years ago and – Female horse of less than always count myself lucky to have been five years of age. Mare BeYoNdRacing is Britain’s AsCoT second-largest spectator able to make it my living by becoming a – Female horse five years sport, behind only football in terms of racehorse trainer. old and up. people going through the gates, with al- Furlong – Measuring distance of most six million people counted at meet- races. One furlong is 220 yards (or ings in 2017. 1/8 of a mile) marked out by posts Not only is it an incredibly enjoyable HoW Do YoU on the racecourse. day out, it is a sport full of colour and rich Goe sport’s RaCiNg? ruling body, the British Hurdle in history. Whilst there is evidence of rac- Horseracing Authority, lists the meetings – Smaller obstacles made ing being staged among nomadic tribes- in full on its website (www.britishhorserac- of brush panels and around 3 ½ people and back in Ancient Greece, Britain ing.com) and it is really just a matter of ft. high. Jump horses usually start can take the credit for inventing a modern picking the most suitable day. It will usu- off in hurdles races for a year or form which has now been translated to ally cost between £15 and £20 to go to a two before graduating to chase countries all around the globe. ere has smaller midweek meeting and a little more races. been organised racing since the times of to attend a bigger event on a Saturday, de- Chase – Larger fences are used in Charles II in the 17th century and the pending upon whether you go into the Steeple chase races, made from Derby traces all the way back to 1780. Grandstand enclosure or the slightly birch packed into a wooden frame, Most people will have heard of the smarter Members area. For the big festival and at least 4ft 6in high. Chase and maybe placed a bet on meetings it can be upwards of £50 and fences can have a ditch on the it, or perhaps have been lucky enough to nearly every racecourse offers private boxes take-off side. have attended Royal Ascot, but one of rac- and corporate hospitality. You can usually Handicap – Many day-to-day ing’s greatest attractions in this country is get discounts by booking early with the that there are at least a couple of meetings racecourse, whereas if you’re the owner of races are handicaps. Every horse is somewhere every day of the week, bar one of the horses running, your entrance assigned an individual rating (or Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. We ticket and the opportunity to go into the mark) by the authorities according have 60 racecourses around Britain, which owners and trainers bar are some of the to its previous performances. The come in all shapes and sizes, and many of perks. higher the rating, the more weight the best and most famous tracks in the Bespoke company Racing Breaks the horse must carry in its saddle, world. (www.racingbreaks.com) is something of a as the idea is that all of the horses It can sometimes appear to be a tricky one-stop shop. It organises tickets and hos- should finish in a row. sport to understand for beginners, with the pitality to most British meetings and to Group/Graded race – Events strange language and procedures, but ab- those further afield such as the Dubai for the best horses, starting off at solutely everyone should be able to appre- World Cup, Breeders’ Cup in America and three and going down to one, ciate the speed and beauty of the horses. I the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in Paris. which include races such as the Derby and the . James Pollard, Epsom Races – the Race Over 1834–35 Stalls – The metal starting gates which horses jump from in Flat races. The individual starting stalls are allotted at random to each horse, and the position can have a distinct advantage depending on the race. Jumps races do not use stalls, instead horses line up behind a tape and the starter sets them on their way. Length – The margin in which distances between horses are measured at the finish. It is around eight feet, going from the nose to the tail of an average horse.

www.focus-info.org FOCUS The Magazine 5 Flat Racing – the Derby

days to end the summer at York’s Ebor fix- ture. ere is just nothing better than tak- Racing in Britain is divided between Flat FlAt RaCiNg ing a couple of days off work, finding a NaTiOnAl HuNt and National Hunt (Jumps) racing. I am lovely country pub to stay in Sussex or ere are summer Jumping meetings at a primarily a Flat trainer, although I do have RaCiNg handful of smaller British tracks but the the occasional Jumps horse, and it keeps Yorkshire and tying in some racing. main period runs from the end of October the stable busy as both codes are in opera- It is not, of course, only about these big to the end of April. Although very much a tion all year round. days. Small midweek meetings have their professional and modern sport, Jumping’s Flat racing’s main season is between the charm and a personal favourite has always roots are from point-to-point racing, the end of March and the beginning of been the Monday night meetings at amateur version which still takes place November, when the action is held on Windsor. Before I became a trainer, I used today through the winter on farmland and grass. It traditionally starts at Doncaster to love taking the train to Windsor after more informal racecourses. ey derive for the Lincoln meeting, through the main work and then having a pint whilst taking from hunting, with the first recorded race events of the summer and has a modern fi- the short boat journey up the ames to being traced back to Ireland in 1752 when nale on British Champions Day at Ascot in two men raced their horses cross-country October. Its attraction is that there are the track. You can watch a bit of racing between two church steeples a few miles weekday and weekend festivals and long- and then easily wend your way back into apart. It is why races run over larger fences established prizes at various intervals London. roughout the year, there is also today are still known as “steeplechases.” throughout the season, all of which offer Flat racing on a handful of all-weather Some horses can transfer from Flat racing something different. e Guineas meeting, tracks around Britain. ey not only pro- to the Jumps, but most Jumpers are larger with the 1000 Guineas for the fillies and vide opportunities to win races for some of and specifically bred to have more stamina. the 2000 Guineas for the colts, is held on the lesser horses but there is a valuable se- Whilst Flat races can be as short as five fur- the wide-open Rowley Mile course in ries leading up to Lingfield on Good longs and as far as two and a half miles, Newmarket in May and is the first big test Friday, a fairly new idea which has proved Jump races are staged over more extreme for three-year-old horses in the most im- a big hit. distances. portant stage of their careers. From there we head on to Chester, a three-day society jamboree for the whole of the north-west, and to York where there are some valuable prizes and trials for the Derby at Epsom, which comes up at the start of June. As soon as the Derby is over, there are the spectacular five days of Royal Ascot, the re- laxed garden party affairs of the Newmarket July meeting and Glorious Goodwood, and four more top-quality – Cheltenham “As soon as the Derby is over, there is the spectacular five days of Royal Ascot, the relaxed garden party affairs of the Newmarket July meeting and Glorious Goodwood.”

6 FOCUS The Magazine May/June 2018 www.focus-info.org e Jump season is dominated by the four-day Cheltenham Festival meeting each March, where the best British and Irish horses take each other on in front of passionate crowds of more than 60,000. After Cheltenham is the Grand National meeting at Aintree and then the season fi- nale at Sandown in April. During the bulk of the winter, the main events take place on Saturdays, with the highlights being the likes of the November Meeting at Cheltenham, the Hennessy (now Ladbrokes Trophy) at Newbury, the Tingle Ed de Giles Racing Creek Chase at Sundown and the King George VI Chase at Kempton on Boxing for tops, as well as a hat or headpiece with Day, won by such equine heroes as , a solid base of at least four inches. Desert Orchid and . Gentlemen, meanwhile, must wear morn- TrAiNiNgTraining a racehorse HoRsEs is a time-consuming ing dress with a waistcoat and tie, black and very testing job with so many things shoes and a black or grey top hat which to factor in along the way. You have to buy the right ones in the first place, find people can only be removed in certain areas. It is It depends upon the day. For winter who are prepared to own them with you WhAt To WeAr? not quite as simple as just buying a ticket Jumping, dressing for the weather is by far and then build them up with exercise and to get into the Royal Enclosure, you have the most important factor. ere is rarely a tuition from green unraced yearlings into to be sponsored by two existing members, dress code employed but tweed, trilbies or athletes ready to hit the track a few months and that is something we have done before fedoras never seem to go out of fashion in later. oroughbreds are fragile and unpre- for clients. racing. A decent coat and practical shoes dictable creatures who need to be in the are the best idea, unless you have been in- It helps to be prepared at the races. You right hands and you must consider the best vited somewhere smarter. do not need a pair of binoculars to follow ways to ensure they have a successful rac- For Flat racing in the spring and sum- the action at nearly any of the tracks, as ing career. mer, it is more desirable to make more of there is a big television screen by the win- Being a trainer is something I always an effort with a suit or dress, particularly in ning post, although they would be helpful wanted to do. I loved being around horses the more upmarket enclosures. Goodwood at a point-to-point. A copy of the trade and I rode in point-to-point races in the provides the perfect opportunity for a paper, the Racing Post, can prove handy for early days. I learned the ropes for two years linen suit and a Panama hat, whilst Royal studying the form and picking winners, in Lambourn as an assistant to the cele- Ascot has strict rules all of its own. If at- and some money for a flutter, as there brated trainer Nick Gaselee, during which tending the most exclusive Royal aren’t always cash points. Plenty of race- time we won the 1992 Grand National Enclosure, ladies must wear dresses or courses offer the chance of a good lunch with Party Politics. skirts falling just above the knee or longer, but it’s still important to get out and about It was never going to be practical to start with straps of least an inch in size or more and see some horses in the flesh. at such a young age, so I changed tack and went on to spend 15 years in the world of investment banking, with a long period in the City. During that time, I owned several “ Goodwood provides the perfect opportunity horses with friends in town and had many for a linen suit and a Panama hat, whilst Royal Ascot fun and successful trips to the racecourse. has strict dress rules all of its own. One of the final horses that I owned was ” Markab, who I bought from the Doncaster

www.focus-info.org FOCUS The Magazine 7 Ed de Giles Racing sales. He had previously been trained in to France to run in the Group One Prix de and ensuring that all of my owners get as France and went on to do brilliantly in l’Abbaye at Longchamp on Arc day. much access, information and enjoyment Britain, winning seven races including the Lucy e Painter and Frosty Berry are out of it is my priority. Owning a horse is Group 1 Betfred Sprint Cup at Haydock - two horses that were sent to us and im- obviously about dreaming of picking up one of the biggest races of the year. proved beyond their owners’ wildest trophies and being in the paddock before However, my only reason for going into dreams, both gaining the all valuable ‘black the race talking to the jockey, but it is also the City was to accumulate enough money type’ for their CVs in big races, making about seeing how it develops at the yard to set up training. Well, I had been in the them and their future offspring worth a and being part of a community. City far too long and definitely hadn't small fortune. Being an owner is not just about the ac- earned enough money, but it was the time tion on the racecourse but also the week- to take the plunge. So in 2010 I took the ends away visiting the yard and your horse family out of London to Herefordshire, OwNiNgIt is certainly not A cheap HoRsE to own a horse in and all the trappings that go along with it where we had bought our yard from which your own right. We have picked up some to start from. nice horses relatively cheaply in our time, It is obviously my business as well as my but the market is long established and the passion, and everything takes time. Lilly most likely champions with the best breed- Ed de Giles Racing Hall Farm has private gallops, made from ing will cost a small fortune. You can an artificial surface so that the horses can spend as much as you want on a horse continue exercising whatever the weather, from £1,000 to £10m upwards but gener- and we installed a new circular gallop for ally between £30,000 to £100,000 will buy different drills. We even have a swimming you a pretty good horse. en there are the pool and a high-speed treadmill! ese fa- training fees and vet bills to account for. I cilities are key to getting and keeping the always tell owners to budget for £25,000 horses sound and fit for racing. per annum and expect to get some change e operation started its first full year in from that. en of course your horse starts 2011 with a dozen horses for both Flat and winning and you start to make money! National Hunt (Jump) racing and we man- is does not mean that ownership is aged 12 winners. rough gradual progress beyond the means of all but a few. It is and good results, we now have 35 horses possible to own shares in horses through and have trained over 150 winners, collect- syndicates, or club together with friends to ing more than £1million in prize-money in cut the cost in a partnership, and that is Ed de Giles is a racehorse trainer. After the process. something we can help out with too. With working in the City, he moved into We buy most of the horses that are here my background in finance, I am only too ownership and obtained his dual- at the yard, although we have been sent a aware of the importance of investment and purpose license to train Flat and fair few from people along the way. A real balancing immediate success with realising National Hunt racehorses. Ed has success story for us was the sprinter potential in the future. already won over £1m in prize money and his yard comprises over 150 Kingsgate Choice, who made amazing e most important thing about being winners to date. progress during the time he was with us. an owner though, is to feel a part of the ac- He started off running in a very small race tion. I remember how much fun I had Web: www.eddegilesracing.com at Lingfield and ended up taking us to from Markab and my other horses when I email: [email protected] Ascot, York, Glorious Goodwood and even was involved on the other side of the fence,

8 FOCUS The Magazine May/June 2018 www.focus-info.org