How a bottle of rum and a canoe trip down the Zambezi inspired one man to a lifetime in equine art

Like many of the best schemes, it started life over a bottle of rum in the late evening. Zimbabwean rum in this case, on a canoeing adventure down the Zambezi that wasn't supposed to spawn anything more than memories, but which for Geoffrey Hughes was the catalyst for a lifelong career in the art world.

It was at the tail-end of a stint living and working in South Africa, and although the canoeing involved "taking our life in our hands every day", the conversation at the end of the day proved life-changing.

"On the last day, one of the girls and I had a long chat beside the river as the sun went down," recalls Hughes, "and we decided that when we got home we'd make our fortune by starting an art-dealing business.

"A month later, we rented a wall on the second floor of Chelsea town hall and started a business called Mainstay Enterprises, named after the rum that fuelled the plan, and through that I met the sculptor James Osborne, who had a gallery in Floral Street, and we all got on like a house on fire for four years.

"The recession came along and I moved six times in six years, just to survive, but we did survive, things got better in the mid-1990s and I took the lease on a place over the road for ten years and then moved here, where we've been for 15."

Which brings us up to date with the story of Osborne Studio Gallery in Motcomb Street, in the swanky heart of London's Belgravia, which has become business base and spiritual home to the man in the dashing pink tie and pocket square (with matching socks).

At a show featuring paintings from 25 of his greatest allies, to celebrate his quarter-century in the street – during which time he has been a long-term sponsor of Thurloe Thoroughbreds, for many years under the gallery chairmanship of Sir Peter O'Sullevan – Hughes recalls the sometimes haphazard mission to round up a suitable band of sporting (mostly racing) artists upon which to found the OSG's lofty reputation. Frenchman Hubert de Watrigant has always been at the forefront, but the process of finding him was far from seamless.

Geoffrey Hughes is celebrating 25 years in Motcomb Street

"In about 1989, we were totally broke in Covent Garden and there was nothing going on, so somebody said to us there was a horse-related fair in Deauville and as we weren't doing anything else, we might as well go down there," recounts Hughes.

"So we shoved some pictures in the back of the car, broke down twice on the way, and when we got there it turned out to be all about horse feed and the stand cost us about 50 quid; but I remember seeing one other person showing pictures in the corner, and I said: 'My God, they're a thousand times better than all the rubbish we've got in the car.'

"We sold one picture for 70 francs, we stayed in the cheapest hotel in the area and virtually had to wash up to afford it, then the car broke down twice on the way back, but the girl who was showing the pictures was a friend of Hubert's, she gave us his telephone number, and since then we've turned over £2-3 million of his paintings. He's become a great friend and one of Europe's finest equine artists."

Now, with artists of the calibre of stalwarts Mao Wen Biao and Elie Lambert, Nichola 'daughter of Pat' Eddery and relative newcomer Jonathan Armigel Wade on his books, Hughes remains as engaging and enthusiastic as ever. 

He claims to have been turned grey by the brinkmanship of his old friend Katie 'wife of Jamie Osborne' O'Sullivan – "I give all our artists about two years to prepare for a show, but she never seems to start painting until the week before" – but with former trainer Harry Dunlop now on board as a consultant, and with plans to exhibit at Tattersalls September Sale and perhaps even Royal Ascot, as well as a charitable venture in the pipeline and tie-ins with several ownership syndicates, his optimism still abounds.

It just goes to show the good that can come from a bottle of rum and a willingness to go the extra mile.

25 Years on Motcomb Street runs until May 13 at the Osborne Studio Gallery, London, SW1
Peter Thomas

The best way to get in Flat mode

Still stuck in jumps mode? Well, the Racing Post's 2023 Guide To The Flat is the perfect way to leave Cheltenham, Aintree and Punchestown behind and set you up for the Classics, Royal Ascot and a summer of high-class Flat action.

There is no time wasted getting into the thick of the action in this quick-moving publication, which marries key insight from some of the leading trainers in Britain with the opinions of the Racing Post's experienced team of reporters and tipsters.

The result is a wealth of information to get you in the mood for what promises to be a rollercoaster season on the Flat, at the end of which Frankie Dettori will ride off into the sunset. Before that there are countless big races to be contested and ten of Britain's top trainers talk you through their leading hopes for the campaign.

While a peek inside the proven yards of Karl Burke, Clive Cox, John Quinn and Kevin Ryan is not to be sniffed at, the guide targets some of the most precocious training talent too, with plenty of insight from George Boughey, Harry Eustace, Dave Loughnane and Kevin Philippart de Foy among 190 pages. Boughey reveals that sprinting could be the way forward for his Classic winner Cachet this season, while Eustace has his own designs on a maiden Classic win with Couplet.

The Racing Post's stable of experts is led by Paul Kealy, who shines a light on the 12 horses he hopes will make the Flat season pay. Alan Sweetman has all things Ireland covered, while Scott Burton marks your card from France. There's also ante-post advice from Nick Watts and an extensive list of the season's key horses from Dylan Hill.

While the 2023 Guide To The Flat should get you ready for the changing of seasons, the Racing Post's Horses In Training for 2023 will keep your finger on racing's pulse.

The details for 557 trainers and 18,483 horses, Flat and jumps, are captured in this invaluable reference tool, which not only lists the majority of horses in training in Britain but also contains 150 pages of facts, figures and contacts among more than 700 in all.

Professionals wouldn't be without it, so why should you?

Racing Post Guide To The Flat, edited by David Dew, £14.99. Click here to buy.
Horses In Training 2023, edited by Graham Dench, £29.99. Click here to buy.
Lewis Porteous

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'It doesn't feel to me that people know who I am' - meet the weighing-room heart-throb determined to lose his anonymity  

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