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On the 47th anniversary of Mrs McArdy's classic win here's an extract from the draft of my book telling how I bought the future winner of the 1977 1000 Guineas. I had been looking for a place to keep some horses that were out of training and following a conversation with Lord Grimthorpe the possibility of using one of his paddocks at Westow Hall was suggested. Lord Grimthorpe was a fascinating man, educated at Eton he had had a distinguished military career and was also a director at Thirsk racecourse and a member of the Jockey Club. An enthusiastic breeder he was following in the footsteps of his father who had bred winners of both the Cheltenham Gold Cup and the Scottish Grand National at the nearby Easthorpe Stud. Westow Hall Stud is only eight miles from New House Farm and I arrived in good time to be received by Lady Grimthorpe. She promptly insisted that I be shown round the Stud. It was a beautiful morning as we headed down a long path between two fields and I could see about eight or so horses grazing and frolicking. They had unkempt straggly manes and most of them appeared to be old broodmares. As I surveyed the inhabitants one immediately caught my attention. She was clearly a much younger filly and quite unlike the rest of the motley collection with whom she shared the ample accommodation. The horse in question wasn't overly big but she was the most perfectly put together filly I had ever seen. A bay with a big white star I guessed she was around 18 months old. I looked at her and I knew from that moment that she was a very classy animal, although it would be a while until I would find out quite how special she would be. It was like love at first sight and I got a tingling feeling. There she was, the most stunning filly I have ever seen hiding behind a raggedy mane and generous covering of mud from rolling around in the dirt. To the untrained eye as a group these horses were nothing out of the ordinary. You could have driven past the paddock and not given them a second look. I can't explain what it was about her, it's one of those things I just instinctively knew having been amongst horses since I was a small child. I wanted to go and have a good look at her up close but I knew that I couldn't. I didn't want to give the game away. If I asked anything about her she'd have cost me more than the price of all eight together. That's how it works, once you show you're keen then the price goes up. "Don't look Michael, don't look, don't give it away" I kept telling myself under my breath. "Just pretend she's like any other horses and you've seen plenty of them". I didn't ask her breeding, I didn't ask any questions at all. I just made Lady Grimthorpe an offer for all eight and she said she'd go and talk to her husband and see if we could do a deal. Lady Grimthorpe and I walked to the Hall and she put the offer to her husband. "Get them sold", replied Lord Grimthorpe. "They're costing me money. Get rid of them." I agreed to collect the horses later that day and bade the Grimthorpe's farewell. As I headed for my car I could hear Lord Grimthorpe behind me calling the instruction to wait. He approached me and he was looking quite stern. "I want to keep one of those horses", he stated emphatically. It was clearly a deal breaker and whatever the terms I knew that I'd have to agree. The morning's business had all seemed too good to be true and I expected him to pick the young filly. My heart was in my mouth as I prepared to lose her before she'd even set foot in my horsebox. "Which one do you want?" I asked and awaited obvious answer. "The gelding," he replied. "I'm going to race him and you can train him." I breathed a huge sigh of relief. It was my lucky day. I'd got the filly and on top of that another owner for whom to train. |
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I returned to home to collect the cash balance and a horsebox with which to remove the horses, but there was one thing I needed to do first. I had to tell Alice. I'd rehearsed what I was going to say and went into the house, put the kettle on and casually broke the news. "Alice I've just bought some more horses", I began, explaining the deal I'd made with Lord Grimthorpe. "How many?" enquired Alice. "A couple,” I replied. "How many, I know what your 'few' usually means", Alice retorted. "Eight”, I replied. "Eight!!!" echoed Alice with displeasure. "What the devil are you going to do with them Michael? We're full, we haven’t got the room, there's nowhere to put them. You’ll have to build some more boxes." "I'll give them away", I replied. "I've no choice, and if I can't give them away then they'll be put down, but I gave Lady Grimthorpe my word that I wouldn't do that." "Can't you sell them?” enquired Alice. "They're old broodmares", I replied. "Barren. Nobody will buy them." "Don't worry, one of these horses is very special. You wait 'til you see her, I've never seen anything like her." "So what do you know about it?" asked Alice. The tone at the end of her question made it apparent that she already knew the answer. "No idea," I replied. "I just saw her in the field and I didn't ask questions, wasn't time, I did a deal. Trusted my eye". Alice must have thought I'd gone off my head, buying a horse, or in this case eight horses, about which I knew nothing and all but two of them being more or less unsellable. I was tingling with excitement. I was sure that I was on to a good thing here and I was not going to waste any time in bringing the filly and her less appealing field mates back to the Farm. Later that afternoon I returned to Lord Grimthorpe's estate with the horsebox and a pocketful of cash to collect the horses. It would need two trips, but I would make sure that my filly would be in the first consignment and I'd send one of the lads back later to collect the mares that I didn't really want. I also had the task of finding out the identity of this filly, because I had no idea of her breeding. It turned out that ther sire was Tribal Chief. He'd won the Norfolk Stakes as a two-year-old but was otherwise of little account. The dam was Hanina, who could only be described as a desperately poor racehorse. Anyone who had looked at the pedigrees would have passed her over in a matter of seconds, but as I have done throughout my career I made by judgement by simply looking at the horse. The horses arrived at New House Farm and I put the filly in a box and turned the others out in a field. I sold six of the of the horses straight away for just a few pounds. Once the filly was tidied up and her mane pulled you'd never have thought that she was the same horse that I'd first seen rolling about in the field. I could tell what she was behind all that mud and hair coat but that's what I do, it's my trade and I've done it for years. Most folk wouldn't have given her a second look. The day after her arrival I started breaking in the filly. Lord Grimthorpe's chosen horse was also broken in preparation for training. He would later be given the racing name 'Tin Miner', after his dam 'Myna Tyna', and he went on to win two races. I now needed to find an owner for the filly in order to pay the bills and it was Alice who came up with the idea of the Kettlewells. Bill Kettlewell and his wife Edith ran a hotel at Aysgarth in the Yorkshire Dales and I'd known them a long time. Alice was always on the ball. She knew who had asked for horses and she reminded me that Bill Kettlewell was on the lookout for a filly. It had slipped my mind, but here I had a filly without an owner and an owner without a horse. I telephoned Bill and I told him that I'd finally found a horse for him and would he like to come and take a look. Bill and Edith arrived at New House Farm the following morning and it was time to show them the horse they were going to buy. I'd put the filly in a box by the Farmhouse where I could keep a close eye on her and Derek Shaw was given the task of looking after her. He would eventually lead her up in the big races two years later. I welcomed the Kettlewells and after exchanging pleasantaries took them across to where she was stabled and unbolted the door. "Bill, this filly, she'll win the 1000 Guineas", I said to him confidently. He looked at me his brow furrowed, as if I'd lost my mind. "Just look at her", I enthused. "Isn't she something?" "Where did you find her?" asked Bill. It was a natural question. There were many ways of answering. I could have told him exactly what happened, that I saw a horse in a field and I thought she'd win the Guineas, but that would sound ridiculous. So instead I told him that I'd bought her from her breeder, Lord Grimthorpe of Westow Hall Stud and she was by Tribal Chief who was a very quick two-year-old. "She'll be one for the back end. And she'll be quick", I advised. After a little negotiation and haggling we agreed on a price of £1,200 and I spat on my hand and we shook. And I was true to my word. The rest, as they say, is history. |
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