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'Some pubs in Lambourn thought they didn't need the racing trade. Huge error. They will not survive'
The first in a week-long series looking at five of the main training centres in Britain and Ireland
The history of jump racing is part of every brick and every acre of turf that has ever seen a plough in Lambourn. This is where Fred Winter (Pendil, Bula, Lanzarote) trained on one side of a wall while on the other was Fulke Walwyn (Mill House, Mandarin, The Dikler). It's where Jenny Pitman achieved fame and Nicky Henderson became a dominant force.
But according to the current collection of trainers – there are dozens, a precise count depending on where you reckon the village's outer edge to be – you can train any kind of racehorse in Lambourn. They're right, of course. Archie Watson and Clive Cox put a cutting edge on their speedsters here. Battaash lived just the other side of a hill from Many Clouds.
It's also a great place for champion jockeys. This is where Lester Piggott grew up and where he returned to mow his parents' lawn after riding his first Derby winner as a teenager.
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Published on inRacing Heartlands
Last updated
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- It was once the headquarters of British racing - why now are horses conspicuously absent and signs of racing barely detectable?
- 'It's the best training centre in the world but it's quiet these days - you could fire a cannon and you wouldn't hit a horse'
- Racing history everywhere you look and a giant Tesco for John Gosden to get his beer - but really Newmarket is all about the Heath
- A world-famous racing town, an inspiring place to train - but where are all the horses?
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