As a freelance writer, Alan Yuill Walker has spent The Scots & The Turf tells the story of the his life writing about racing and bloodstock. For amazing contribution made to the world of over forty years he was a regular contributor to Thoroughbred horseracing by the Scots and Horse & Hound and has had a long involvement those of Scottish ancestry, past and present. with the Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association. Throughout the years, this contribution has Other magazines/journals to which he has been across the board, from jockeys to trainers contributed on a regular basis include The and owners as well as some superb horses. British/European Racehorse, Stud & Stable, Currently, Scotland has a great ambassador in Pacemaker, The Thoroughbred Breeder and Mark Johnston, who has resurrected Middleham Thoroughbred Owner & Breeder. He was also in North Yorkshire as one of the country’s a leading contributor to The Bloodstock foremost training centres, while his jumping Breeders’ Annual Review. His previous books counterpart Alan King, the son of a Lanarkshire are Thoroughbred Studs of Great Britain, The farmer, is now based outside Marlborough. The History of Darley Stud Farms, Months of Misery greatest lady owner of jumpers in recent years Moments of Bliss, and Grey Magic. was Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, while Stirling-born Willie Carson was five-times champion jockey on the Flat. These are, of course, familiar names to any racing enthusiast but they represent just a small part of the Scottish connection that has influenced the Sport of Kings down the years. Recognition of the part played by those from north of the Border is long overdue and The Scots & The Turf now sets the record straight with a fascinating account of those who have helped make horseracing into the fabulous spectacle it is today. Minster Son at home at Minster Stud ‘As the breeder and rider of Minster Son, he was a very special horse for me and I am delighted that he features in this fascinating book which reveals the prominent role that Scots have played in the history of the Turf.’ WILLIE CARSON BLACK & WHITE PUBLISHING Designed by stuartpolsondesign.com Front jacket photographs: People © Mark Cranham; Racehorse © PA Images; £18.99 Back picture courtesy of Willie Carson www.blackandwhitepublishing.com £18.99 scots-and-the-turf-cover.indd 1 08/09/2010 15:29 Spine = 34mm HB Royal, Flaps 95mm - 3mm Bleed all round THE SCOTS & THE TURF BW066 – Scots and the Turf text.indd 1 08/09/2010 08:48 THE SCOTS & THE TURF RACING AND BREEDING – THE SCOTTISH INFLUENCE ALAN YUILL WALKER BLACK & WHITE PUBLISHING BW066 – Scots and the Turf text.indd 3 08/09/2010 08:48 First published 2010 by Black & White Publishing Ltd 29 Ocean Drive, Edinburgh EH6 6JL 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2 10 11 12 13 ISBN: 978 1 84502 310 2 Copyright © Alan Yuill Walker 2010 The right of Alan Yuill Walker to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without permission in writing from the publisher. The publisher has made every reasonable effort to contact copyright holders of images in the picture section. Any errors are inadvertent and anyone who, for any reason, has not been contacted is invited to write to the publisher so that a full acknowledgement can be made in subsequent editions of this work. A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Typeset by Ellipsis Books Limited, Glasgow Printed and bound by MPG Books Ltd, Bodmin BW066 – Scots and the Turf text.indd 4 08/09/2010 08:48 To Sarah, William and Freddie BW066 – Scots and the Turf text.indd 5 08/09/2010 08:48 CONTENTS AUTHOR’S ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ix FOREWORD BY THE DUKE OF ROXBURGHE xi PREFACE xiii 1 THE BACKGROUND TO RACING IN SCOTLAND 1 2 ‘TO BE BORN IN CHINA DOES NOT NECESSARILY MAKE ONE CHINESE’ 12 3 HISTORY HAS EXERTED A SINGULAR INFLUENCE 23 4 THE OUTSTANDING TRAINER OF THE VICTORIAN ERA 36 5 WAUGHS AND RUMOURS OF WAUGHS 43 6 WHISKY GALORE 57 7 POLITICS AND THE TURF 69 8 A 100–1 JACKPOT AT EPSOM AND AINTREE 81 9 TURF IMMORTALITY AND A SHARED BIRTHDAY 88 10 SCOTLAND’S MOST HISTORIC RACING STABLE 96 11 AN ICONIC TRAINER OF JUMPERS 104 12 A COOL CUSTOMER WITH A ROYAL TAG 111 13 THIS CLASSIC WINNER HAD TO WAIT FOR THE TIDE TO TURN 117 14 ALL THOSE SOLDIER RIDERS OWED HIM A DEBT OF GRATITUDE 128 15 A JAPANESE PRISONER OF WAR WHO NEVER LOOKED BACK 136 16 THE FAIRY GODMOTHER OF NATIONAL HUNT RACING 144 BW066 – Scots and the Turf text.indd 7 08/09/2010 08:48 17 THE MOST CHARISMATIC BOOKMAKER OF THEM ALL 156 18 A ‘STIRLING’ CHARACTER IN AND OUT OF THE SADDLE 164 19 UNCLE KEN – THE BENIGN BISHOP 175 20 BONNIE AND CLYDE 185 21 A GRAND NATIONAL VICTORY AT LAST 191 22 WHAT NEWMARKET OWES TO AN INDIAN CAVALRY OFFICER 202 23 THE FAMILY THAT CHANGED THE FACE OF BRITAIN 209 24 THE MASTERMIND BEHIND A GREAT CHAMPION 220 25 DIFFICULT STALLIONS WERE HIS BREAD AND BUTTER 227 26 NOT SUCH A GAY FUTURE 234 27 THE LOTHIAN CONNECTION 240 28 THEY BREED GOOD FLAT HORSES NORTH OF THE BORDER TOO 247 29 THIS STATELY HOME HAS A UNIQUE ATTRACTION 255 30 THE MAN WHO RESURRECTED MIDDLEHAM 264 31 A SCOTTISH KING PRESIDING OVER AN ENGLISH CASTLE 279 APPENDIX 288 CURRENT TRAINERS AND PERMIT HOLDERS IN SCOTLAND 365 INDEX OF PEOPLE 367 INDEX OF HORSES 377 BW066 – Scots and the Turf text.indd 8 08/09/2010 09:49 AUTHOR’S ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS When it comes to the recording of both racing and breeding in the British Isles down the years the twin towers have been Weatherbys’ two publications, The Racing Calendar and The General Stud Book. While the GSB remains the standard work of reference, the annual Form Book (Flat and National Hunt) published by Raceform now represents the official returns for all racing results. Raceform comes under the umbrella of the Racing Post, which superceded The Sporting Life as the sport’s daily newspaper. These titles, together with the Biographical Encyclopedia of British Flat Racing and Timeform’s Annual Racehorses, have been the principal sources of reference in the writing of The Scots & the Turf. Additional information has been gleaned from many and varied sources, both published and unpublished, much of it gleaned from personal encounters down the years. So far as individual books are concerned special mention should be made of The Tartan Turf (by the late Tom McConnell: Mainstream Publishing, 1988), while obituaries from The Bloodstock Breeders’ Annual Review (1912-81) have, as always, proved invaluable. Many people featured in The Scots & the Turf helped as did an assortment of friends and colleagues. While they are too numerous to mention individually a very special word of thanks is due to Jonathan Garratt, formerly of Scottish Racing, without whom I would probably have never found a publisher! I am also much indebted to Sandy Kilpatrick, who was a tremendous help regarding photographs, my brother-in-law, Sandy Taylor, who kept me well-briefed about the Borders, together with ix BW066 – Scots and the Turf text.indd 9 08/09/2010 08:48 John Richardson, Rachel Kuck and Janne Moller at Black & White Publishing, and Susan Cameron for her proofreading expertise. It should also be emphasised that the raison d’etre of the book was to highlight the contribution made by Scots and people of Scots’ descent to racing and breeding within the British Isles – it does not include those who have done so overseas. That would be to open a whole new can of worms! Just for the record the cut-off point for The Scots & the Turf was Royal Ascot in June (2010) so any eventualities after that stage of the season missed the proverbial boat. To everyone who helped and lent encouragement I am extremely grateful. I just hope there are not too many people who think they should have been included, but have been omitted for whatever reason – to them I can only apologise. x BW066 – Scots and the Turf text.indd 10 08/09/2010 08:48 FOREWORD by The Duke of Roxburghe When Alan Yuill Walker asked me to write the foreword to The Scots & the Turf, my first reaction was to feel very flattered to have been asked, something which has never happened to me before! My second thought was that the book would be fairly short, what could there be to justify writing a whole book on this subject? How wrong I was, as this fascinating book travels through time from the 1800s to the present day with an intriguing insight into the many ways the Scots have played a major role in British racing. No aspect of racing has been untouched by Scottish influence; there have been owners such as the Earls of Rosebery and the Queen Mother, trainers led by that wonderful character Kenneth Oliver, and the indomitable Mark Johnston, a great jockey in Willie Carson with his seventeen classic victories, and successful breeders like Reg Tweedie and Sandy Struthers. The racehorses owned or trained by Scots play their part too with famous names from the world of National Hunt racing like The Benign Bishop, Wyndburgh, Merryman and Freddie.