SANDY DUDGEON
“I get introduced as the guy who came last in the Grand National but I always say ‘What about the guy who came first in the Fox Hunters!’”
“That first year, when we went for the
Cheltenham Foxhunters Chase, dad thought it would be a good idea to ring Ron Barry, a dual champion jockey, for some advice and the family were all huddled around as I was on the phone. Aſter I hung up dad excitedly asked: ‘what did he say?’ He was speechless when I told him I couldn’t understand a single word Ron had said!” By the time Aintree came around again in 1984, punters had clearly latched on to the sturdy gelding trained by a West Lothian farmer called John Dudgeon His son, whose career in the saddle yielded 60 winners, split equally under Rules and point to points, added: “There was more pressure as he was sent off favourite. But I needn’t have worried as he never put a foot wrong and it was relatively straightforward. More so than my hotel stay the previous evening as a couple of my rivals had instructed the receptionist to ring my room several times during the night to try and interrupt my sleep! “The photograph of my lifetime was dad
leading Gayle Warning in at Aintree – I’ve never seen anybody look happier. Dad deserved Gayle Warning as he had a lot of difficult horses when he was young and whenever they were any good they got sold. He was such a good judge of a horse and it was all up to him as he was trained at home.” In the aſtermath of a memorable triumph, a plan
for the following year’s Grand National was hatched but unfortunately Gayle Warning sustained an injury while out hunting. “We made it the following year,” continues
Dudgeon. “Even though we ended up last of the 17 finishers, he ran on and was jumping fine and
34 RACING TV CLUBMAGAZINE
Sandy (white, red sleeves) en route to Fox Hunters’ glory
enjoying himself. By the time I got to all the fences on the second circuit, they weren’t the size they were when the leaders jumped them! “I remember asking Graham Macmillan for
advice and he told me not to walk the course beforehand so that I would not be so scared, whereas dad was analysing exactly where I should be jumping every fence. I said it might not be as easy as that with 39 other horses around us. “It’s an irony, now in my work career, I
sometimes get introduced as the guy who came last in the Grand National but I quickly chip in and say ‘what about the guy who came first in the Fox Hunters’! “That whole experience served me well in so many respects and when you meet people it is a talking point. I was secretary of the Amateur Riders’ Association and Horseracing Advisory Council and, I suspect, maybe it led to me being lucky enough to be elected to the Jockey Club.” Dudgeon has two brothers and two sisters,
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