Talking To... “Libertarian’s sale to Godolphin could not have come at a better time” ›› properties over there; we had done quite
a bit of racing in France and really enjoyed it. But it was the time of the property crash and, fortunately or unfortunately, we couldn’t sell Spigot Lodge. We stuck on here and Elaine, my wife, was adamant she should keep going with the support of our daughters Kelly and Lucy, as well as a couple of very loyal owners. How supportive were your family when you were without a licence? They wouldn’t give Elaine the licence while I was still banned. I couldn’t live at Spigot Lodge while it was a licensed property, so I disappeared and Elaine’s dad, Alan Jarvis, took over for an interim period with Elaine as assistant. We eventually closed the yard and a couple of very loyal owners, John Hughes and Ray Bailey, stayed with us and Elaine was assistant to John and Kirsty Weymes, who were licensed in our adjacent property, Little Spigot. We were down from 90 to about 20 horses at the time. They had 18 winners that year under John Weymes, so we were able to pay the mortgage. There weren’t
many staff around at the time and Kelly and Lucy were a fantastic help. Libertarian came along afterwards when I was listed as assistant to Elaine and he was most welcome, finishing second in the 2013 Derby. His sale to Godolphin was a huge financial boost and could hardly have come at a better time. Did the experience change your outlook on training and life in general? It made me realise that having a trainer’s licence is a privilege, not a right. Almost like stepping off the treadmill; a break from getting up and permanently thinking about what’s happening in an hour’s time, later in the day, next week, whenever. You never stop. In hindsight, to be knocked off that perpetual wheel was a good thing. It made me relax, rather than rushing here, there, everywhere and even in the car cursing slow drivers! Suddenly there was no rush. Once I got over the initial shock of being banned it was probably the best year I’d had. I did a fair bit of travelling, to Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore, as well as a 2,500 mile charity bike ride, zig-zagging to every racecourse, from Perth to Newton Abbot in 40 days. The son of a publican, you grew up in two pubs in Rugby. What was the attraction of racing in those early days? I was interested in ponies when I was about ten and my dad had a big Irish-based pub, the Red Lion in Hillmorton. Dad loved his racing and it was always on in the bar on Saturdays and he used to take me to Leicester and Warwick. I would read the racing in the paper before going to school and listen to the results on the radio in the evening, marking them down in the paper. After taking my O Levels in 1979 I
Laurens and PJ McDonald win their second Group 1 in France with a gutsy success in the Prix de Diane
had a holiday job at Hugh O’Neill’s stables in Dorking and never went home because Hugh offered me an apprenticeship. I came back closer to home from O’Neill’s to work for Elaine’s dad, Alan Jarvis, near Coventry and my first ride for him, The Britisher, was a winner at Hamilton. But I was always going to be too big for the Flat. At that stage Elaine and I were good friends, but we didn’t start going out together for two or three years. What made you want to train and what route did you take before arriving at Spigot Lodge in Middleham? I didn’t really want to train because I could see the hassles and financial problems of the business. It never really interested me until we bought a property with a few acres at Newark. We took in a few horses at livery from the people I was riding for. I enjoyed getting the horses ready, learnt a lot about feeding and progressed into training, which
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