Birth of a legend: the low-budget origins of jump racing's biggest star

One of jump racing’s greatest stories started the day Jimmy Burridge spent £175 on a headstrong ten-year-old mare. For years only small sums were added to the pot – £20 here, a couple of grand there – but Burridge, and later his son Richard, continued to make huge emotional investment in a romantic dream. Even when their hopes hung by a shoestring, they kept the faith. It was on these foundations that the legend of Desert Orchid was built.

The famous grey’s incredible journey from the humblest of beginnings to the unforgettable glory days of Kempton, Cheltenham and Sandown was underpinned by two families – the Burridges and the equine line that eventually led to Desert Orchid – with little racing pedigree behind them.

Nor was there ever much money at hand. Jimmy Burridge was a London lawyer but, as his son describes now, “my dad was always sort of broke, he never really got ahead of the curve financially speaking”. Richard, too, although he went on to be a successful screenwriter, had barely begun to make any money when Desert Orchid came along.