Te 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 Creek Chase at Sundown and the King George VI Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day, won by such equine heroes as Arkle, Desert Orchid and Kauto Star.


IWhAt To WeAr? t depends upon the day. For winter


Jumping, dressing for the weather is by far the most important factor. Tere is rarely a dress code employed but tweed, trilbies or fedoras never seem to go out of fashion in racing. A decent coat and practical shoes are the best idea, unless you have been in- vited somewhere smarter. For Flat racing in the spring and sum-


mer, it is more desirable to make more of an effort with a suit or dress, particularly in the more upmarket enclosures. Goodwood provides the perfect opportunity for a linen suit and a Panama hat, whilst Royal Ascot has strict rules all of its own. If at- tending the most exclusive Royal Enclosure, ladies must wear dresses or skirts falling just above the knee or longer, with straps of least an inch in size or more


Ed de Giles Racing


for tops, as well as a hat or headpiece with a solid base of at least four inches. Gentlemen, meanwhile, must wear morn- ing dress with a waistcoat and tie, black shoes and a black or grey top hat which can only be removed in certain areas. It is not quite as simple as just buying a ticket to get into the Royal Enclosure, you have to be sponsored by two existing members, and that is something we have done before for clients. It helps to be prepared at the races. You


do not need a pair of binoculars to follow the action at nearly any of the tracks, as there is a big television screen by the win- ning post, although they would be helpful at a point-to-point. A copy of the trade paper, the Racing Post, can prove handy for studying the form and picking winners, and some money for a flutter, as there aren’t always cash points. Plenty of race- courses offer the chance of a good lunch but it’s still important to get out and about and see some horses in the flesh.


“Goodwood provides the perfect opportunity


for a linen suit and a Panama hat, whilst Royal Ascot has strict dress rules all of its own.”


Training a racehorse is a time-consuming and very testing job with so many things to factor in along the way. You have to buy the right ones in the first place, find people who are prepared to own them with you and then build them up with exercise and tuition from green unraced yearlings into athletes ready to hit the track a few months later. Toroughbreds are fragile and unpre- dictable creatures who need to be in the right hands and you must consider the best ways to ensure they have a successful rac- ing career. Being a trainer is something I always


TrAiNiNg HoRsEs


wanted to do. I loved being around horses and I rode in point-to-point races in the early days. I learned the ropes for two years in Lambourn as an assistant to the cele- brated trainer Nick Gaselee, during which time we won the 1992 Grand National with Party Politics. It was never going to be practical to start


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 horses with friends in town and had many fun and successful trips to the racecourse. One of the final horses that I owned was Markab, who I bought from the Doncaster


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FOCUS The Magazine 7


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