'We'd put all our savings together, had four horses and we were out of money - it's a miracle that we made it'
David Menuisier talks to Lewis Porteous about finding home in a foreign land and always being the underdog
Whoever said training racehorses was simply a numbers game these days forgot to send the memo to David Menuisier. He is regularly playing at the top table despite having only 55 horses in training, with quality everywhere you look at his historic yard in Pulborough.
Menuisier has had Classic runners in Britain, Ireland, France and Germany this season, winning the German 2,000 Guineas and finishing runner-up in the Irish Derby and third in the Epsom and French Oaks, and has been involved in the Gold Cup and King George at Ascot.
It has been a remarkable run by anyone's standards, let alone someone who can't help but feel a bit of an outsider in a world where privilege can often get you just as far as raw talent.
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Published on inThe Big Read
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Copy- 'The lads often give out to me for saying what I say - but if I didn't say what I thought I wouldn't be being true to myself'
- 'I'm not retiring just yet. It'll come to me, I'm sure, but I hate idleness - I haven't had an idle moment in 60 years'
- 'The next target has to be number one spot. It's a massive dream and it's going to be hard, but you have to keep aiming high'
- 'I know how lucky I am. I'm in a very privileged position and not many get the chance I've been given'
- 'You're unfashionable all of a sudden. I was struggling to pay my mortgage, wondering what I was going to do'
- 'The lads often give out to me for saying what I say - but if I didn't say what I thought I wouldn't be being true to myself'
- 'I'm not retiring just yet. It'll come to me, I'm sure, but I hate idleness - I haven't had an idle moment in 60 years'
- 'The next target has to be number one spot. It's a massive dream and it's going to be hard, but you have to keep aiming high'
- 'I know how lucky I am. I'm in a very privileged position and not many get the chance I've been given'
- 'You're unfashionable all of a sudden. I was struggling to pay my mortgage, wondering what I was going to do'