Ranvir Singh, political editor of ITV's Good . The loyalty and effort of our members make the Racing Forum the friendliest and most informative horse racing community. "The five holes in her tummy are from the keyhole surgery as they tried time and again to mend her kidney. He also explains his love of Cheltenham includin. Of how many can that be said? All in his own inimitable style. What would you say was your best fairytale? You look at the world and think this lot are murderously incompetent. It's all about experience. He gets right to the heart of it. She says: "I'm very family orientated and was taught from an early age to respect money. He won the Pertemps three times aged 11, 12, 13 (i think) and he was an absolute legend - partly because of his silly name and partly because he was locally trained and wanted ground like Passchendaele. The only problem is that it was a hands-and-heels race. Mac, deep into the 90th minute, told her where to go. In the spirit of the 3am Girls, heres a Wicked Whisper. Plus the early days of press rooms on racecourses and the colourful characters that worked therein then getting into broadcasting with Channel Four Racing. It won at top weight and I remember running into Jim a day later and he grunted at me to say hello as he always does; and I said to Jim, Just to say, Ive been driving a Ford Fiesta but next week Ill be driving a Saab Turbo thanks to you!. 'He's slowing the whole bloody thing down!' Down was a member of the Bath Club, York Club, Toronto Club, Mount Royal Club, and Ranchmen's Club. Was there ever a word of complaint? She was a glacial, beautiful presence in plays from Shaw to Pinter and she illuminated Upstairs, Downstairs on television in the early 1970s. "'I don't know, it just came into my head,' was what I said.". How their casework gets done? I sat next to Alistair Down in the press box at Doncaster a few years back. Humour and humanity sums it up very well. After another business posting of her father to Hong Kong, she was sent, aged 12, to the Beehive boarding school in Bexhill-on-Sea, where her godmother, Anne Maxwell, served in loco parentis. Not a bit of it. She was nothing if not resilient. "After one op I came round being wheeled on a trolley with a wonky wheel. Yes, probably. I will leave you to speculate on how the past encounters of either party determine their interpretation of the word virgin; suffice to say the riders found it dead and sticky. Some days were better than others. Alastair Campbell has struggled with depression since his 20s. Her book suggested a recovery of sorts. It isnt like that, you are in competition with every other so-and-so out there and you are looking for all the camaraderie of the weighing room (which is genuine and intense) and then they are out there to assassinate each other on course. I reacted very badly to tramadol and other drugs intended to wean me away from it. That it seemingly didnt and wont is no surprise, sadly, as the large majority of drying alcoholics relapse sooner or later, The distinctive verbose, wistful, moist-eyed, metaphor-laden prose peddled by Down was an enjoyable well-wrought diversion but is of the type likely to succumb to repetitive parody after too many reams, particularly if, as seems probable, hes now just going through the motions and producing no more than whats expected from him. In she rushes to the weighing room, whips off her clothes, leaps into her jockey's kit, then the helmet goes on and, having picked up her whip, she bounds outside. Bryony Frost's father Jimmy and brother Hadden cheer home Pacha Du Polder in the Foxhunter at Cheltenham, Bryony Frost: 'It's awesome to have a life where you can be so proud of your horses and the people you work with', Clifford Baker oversees work in the yard at Ditcheat. And years earlier setting off on the countryside march in London, where after about five minutes it became clear this most high-profile of footsloggers would be the focus of vitriolic abuse from those heckling from the pavement. They were very good about it.". Scotland has been a haven to Campbell and his family in many ways, not least of which the location of the pretty impressive rehab centre his second son, Calum, settled on as he recovered from alcoholism. "Now Fat Al, I am two glasses ahead of you but I am sure you will catch up.". He used to do what we call 'Jimmy wriggles' going into a fence. For Jenny most of all. The Booby was always Mac's lioness while the male of the pride sits around trying to look magnificent it is the woman who goes out to hunt, kill and provide. And beating hell out of the breakers had an unusual legacy. What support do they get? I spent a few weeks in Stow-on-the-Wold last year, quite close to Alastair Downs home. But you can tell it is true because there is about Frost an achingly admirable honesty. It's awesome to have a life where you can be so proud of your horses and the people you work with. ", "Yes, indeed Miss Frost and thanks for that. At 22 she fizzes with enthusiasm and energy. Its mind-blowing that these people are way ahead in the polls. I can think of potato farmers who have had a double there and have won an Arkle and a County Hurdle, who nobody had heard of before or even since - and a retired steelworker from the north-east won a handicap and he only had five horses; now that to me, is part of the romance of jump racing and that is the bit that which we seem to have slightly lost. He often sounded the worse for wear when he worked for Channel 4. Nothing in the form book gave Boyneside a ghost of a chance but he made his ground steadily and jumped into the lead at the last and set off up the hill, hard ridden, head down and battling. UNEXPECTED WINNER 2009 FLAT 10 TO FOLLOW COMPETITION! The fact is that his replacements on Channel 4 are now so poor that they cannot really be described as journalists. It got into her lungs and she couldn't breathe. Meeting Alastair Down. Well hello and welcome to a flood tide. In 1969 and 1970 he served as the president of the BP Oil Corporation, the company's American subsidiary, and negotiated its merger with Standard Oil of Ohio. One is a marginal decision, the other a post-pub rite of passage for over-thirsty youngsters. Well, I think theres a good reason why people go to be honest, because you know that at some stage during the week, there will be pieces of magic woven that are beyond imagination and the stories will be compelling and unlike any other week, they will be genuinely moving and people go there in order to be spiritually uplifted. I also knew his father Paddy Mullins who trained Dawn Run - Dawn Run having been responsible for running the greatest race Ive ever seen when she won the Gold Cup and rallying from beatenpointless at the last, to win. The distance from the top of the hill to the winning post.everyone just thinks its down the hill and round the corner - but if you stand at the bottom turn and look up to the winning postthey talk about the Cheltenham Hill; you dont see the winning post until youre on ground level with it and it does rise away from you into that tunnel funnel of noise and people. Then at 15 she fell off and the sky fell in. But it was only partial. As he had five years of service, he became the regiment's senior subaltern. Alastair, that really was a truly fascinating and enjoyable interview. "There was a fish tank on a ward that I used to sit and watch and I loved one of the fish because he looked like Nemo. Describe all the feelings the Festival bound jockeys, trainers and owners experience as this week approaches? Interesting comments but I still rate Alastairs journalistic skills and thought he was excellent on the RP chat the other night.Nobody uses War analogies to describe Horses racing round a field quite like Mr Down himself. ]The great Lester PigottThe incomparable ArkleI think its your round (cont page 94). Yeah he was. When that happens we can assume weve got to the right place, but I think were a long, long way from there now. It was agony when I was surfing because my body couldn't process the saltwater I was swallowing. Ive grown to trust him, so Ill probably take them. Frost and Nicholls with Black Corton after their Grade 1 Kauto Star Novices' Chase victory at Kempton on Boxing Day. Alastair Frederick Down, businessman, born July 23 1914; died October 22 2004, After a career with BP, he rescued Burmah Oil in the 1970s, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning. I'd like to live in a place where they cordon off swans Cheltenham Festival 2023: British trainers eager to end Irish dominance, The Most Successful Jockeys at the Cheltenham Festival, 6 Ways Free Horse Betting Tools Can Help You Win, Grand National contenders await weights announcement. That takes backbone and bottle. On 4 October 1947, Down married Maysie Hilda "Bunny" Mellon (19? She is simply uplifting and everything a 22-year-old should be with the world at her feet. Greene's guest appearances include those with Eric Burdon, Walter Trout, Coco Montoya, Savoy Brown, John Nmeth and Debbie Davies. She hates not being in control of her own body and had worked so hard to make herself a physical athlete. With a slightly sheepish smile, she reveals that she sold him on for 8,000. He would return in his bowler hat on a Friday night and I would go and get the racing paper on my bike on Saturday morning. He knew that the bookmakers regarded you and I as cannon-fodder but nobody else stood up to the red resentment of the guns like John McCririck. And she starred with Peter Davison as Sonia Drysdale in Aint Misbehavin (1994), a comedy series of marital mishaps and alleged adultery written by Roy Clarke. She was a glacial, beautiful . Throughout the period Campbell still juggled the political with the personal, regularly speaking to Labour leader Ed Miliband, who tried and failed to persuade Campbell to run the partys 2015 election campaign. "The other day I said to him 'my family gave me the tools and you've taught me about the work to use them on'. But honestly, if Id have said then and and been the first person to tell Jeremy I think you should go for the leadership and I think youll get it, I mean nobody thought that was possible. His writing may not be as consistent as it was 30 years ago but his humour and humanity remain. The old fire burns again when the discussion returns to Boris Johnson and the Government. Think Alice Plunkett and Tanya Stevenson yes they wanted to throttle him some days, but they knew he was some man to have at your shoulder in the trench when the foe were closing on you across no man's land. Many a time I had to sell ponies before they had reached their full potential. V sad to hear of Alastair Down's battle with Alcoholism after spending 28 days in US booze clinic, but what a true man to write such an open piece about this his illness in his columnin the RP, i personally would like to wish this truly gifted racing journalist and presenter the very best of luck in the battle ahead and to say that takes a real The one and only time he ever made me smile was donkeys years ago when he wrote: every year you go to Ireland pre Festival to find out whats fancied, and every year you get put away as some steamer called Fill Yer Boots romps home apparently backed by every Irishman present. , Sir Cherryade of Hampshire Fat Al Down is a pretentious dullard who never uses one word where a whole essay (and one where banging on about Arkle is obligatory) would do. Award-winning racing writer and broadcaster Alastair Down talks about the early days of his life falling in the love with the game. From 1922 to 1927 he attended Edinburgh Academy, and from 1927 to 1932 attended Marlborough College. Dad wasn't great at running things with Mum away and managed to flood the kitchen with water and bubbles. When he thought you had done well he would ring and tell you, and if he believed you had erred the inevitable 'Fat Al' would be followed by a tirade of corrective advice. They had four children: Melinda, Richard, Diana, and Nigel. So across the moor I went. So I went back to hospital and they said I must have pulled a muscle and I told them that the pain had to be more than that. You have to be careful and everything has to be properly tested of course, but given how prevalent depression is and just how much more the debate has advanced, it could work. "My father, who's no longer with us, insisted on seeing if she was a match for his kidney so he could donate one to her but it wasn't possible. In this final part Alastair talks about his writing, advice from John McCririck, improving your vocabulary, his friends in the game, his love of the foot soldiers in the industry. He has tales to tell on owning legs in horses and opinions on several aspects of horse racing. Or, as the person in question would put it, Which great equine wordsmith, scribe if you will, was noticed at the start of those four glorious days in March at the epicentre, in the place of refreshment named for Willie Mullins great mare, imbibing one of many and certainly not the first of the great continental drinks. Whether you live in Las Cruces or Atlanta, there are a few steps you can take to ensure your tomato plants survive the heat and continue producing. History and Politics (BA Hons)1st. Pinter directed her at the National in 1983 as Helen, a stunning and slyly provocative enchantress in The Trojan War Will Not Take Place, translated from Jean Giraudoux by Christopher Fry (his text is better known as Tiger at the Gates), so it was no surprise that she occupied the Vivien Leigh role of a not-so-kittenish Lady Teazle in John Bartons production of The School for Scandal at the Duke of Yorks later that year. We would like to show you a description here but the site won't allow us. Victory in Saturdays Classic Chase at Warwick on Milansbar, following on from the Badger Ales Handicap Chase on Present Man and the Grade 1 Kauto Star Novices Chase with Black Corton on whom she has scored six times has maintained the surge. It makes you think.. Alastair Clarkson has defended his temper after a clash with a reporter earlier this month, saying he cannot guarantee it will not flare up again. There would be no me if there wasn't a we," she adds. More Joe Maplin than racing`s finest wordsmith IMHO. When I came round Dad was leaning over me but I thought I was still in bed and was asking him not to send me off to school. Although admitting he is someone with a traditional view of drugs, Campbell told her he is open to trying the treatment himself. Of course he died one day and that set me off again. Occasionally we had a disagreement, not least because I could be an ill-tempered little thing. The man is incredibly boring, but sadly the Fryite-Pollingiste tendency get tumescent over every word the old **** says. You only realize how good both he and Mac were when you see the viewing figs go down faster than a Thai brass! AboutPressCopyrightContact. Nicola Mary Pagett (Scott), actor, born 15 June 1945; died 3 March 2021. He had already declared sometime previously that he had a problem and needed to stop. There is no atmosphere like it, you are there in this great democracy of people. At the moment we have a mental illness service. And how wrong people invariably were about him. This is interesting, because he hasn't appeared for awhile, and I do seem to remember him not looking at the top of his game before and the likes of McGrath and Francome taking the 'mick' live on CH4 telly - . V sad to hear of Alastair Down's battle with Alcoholism after spending 28 days in US booze clinic, but what a true man to write such an open piece abo Alastair Down, beating the drink and the mark of a man - forum.sports-pro.co.uk The period leading up to that forms one of the most personal and painful sections of his latest diaries, Rise and Fall of the Olympic Spirit, his eighth volume covering 2010-15, with Campbell breaking down while talking to his sons friends or waking up crying after barely sleeping due to the huge stress. "There were always loads of ponies about but I bought my first one for 800 when I was eight." Eventually after ma-in-law's 80th entreaty he said he would be there in a minute. UPDATED 7:59PM, JUL 7 2019 Alastair Down pays tribute to his former colleague and friend John McCririck Over the last couple of years I have watched an oh-so-steadfast friend corrode and erode from the inside, a man dying before one's very eyes. Nicola Pagett in Harold Pinters Party Time at the Almeida theatre in 1991. "Eventually the doctors said there was just one more antibiotic they could try and that I should get Jimmy to come down to be with her as well. He invented it. Later on at school I would get that rare disease Hunteritis every Tuesday. But its hard, really hard.. I spoke to him often on the phone as the sand ran through the timer. 2021 Associated Newspapers Limited. However, her career was overshadowed by a long period of mental illness, which she wrote about in a book, Diamonds Behind My Eyes, published in 1997. But it is the impression she has made after winning a race that has marked her out as something more than a young athlete on the up. Cheltenham Festivals always seem to create fairytales dont they? Im still very busy, very active. When she won her first 10,000 race she bought Mum a new Aga. He endured mixed relations with his mother in law, who he habitually referred to as the Reptile. Colonel Sir Alastair Frederick Down OBE MC TD was a Scottish army officer, accountant, and oilman. Ive also seen the rise of Willie Mullins, who I have known for donkeys years and when I met him first, he was just an amateur with the idea that he might train a bit and look where he is now! 2014 - 2017. This thread reminds me of the time I posted on the Betfair forum a spoof report a week before the 2010 Supreme. I have spanned golden years and I have lived through the matchless age of Champion Hurdles with Sea Pigeon, Night Nurse, Monks Field doing battle over the years and Ive seen the Kauto Star and Denman years; and the Best Mate years - Ive been very lucky. He talks about how an ante-post gamble at Cheltenham on Nortons Coin went astray, even though it won at 100/1. Seed saving is a great way to ensure the survival of your plants, and it's also an economical choice. My depression scale, he called it. And with depression were talking about drugs that havent really advanced since Prozac [which entered medical use in 1986].. Tony Blair has argued Labour needs total change and greater co-operation with other progressive parties or will die. Its not necessarily a very nice experience in that its meant to try and take you very, very deep into yourself, Campbell tells i from the Isle of Skye where he is on holiday with his partner Fiona Millar as they complete the North Coast 500, a 516-mile scenic route around the north coast of Scotland, starting and ending at Inverness Castle. After seeing how Naomi Osaka was treated, is it any wonder that we dont take mental health sick days? He will soon tell you if you f*** up but if you listen to him you'll learn and he wants to teach. Warwick has a strong reputation in the UK for research and excellent links with industry. Furthermore, if you're growing heirloom varieties or rare species that may not, Tips for Successful Tomato Farming in Hot and Humid Climates, Tomato farming in hot and humid climates can be a challenge, but with the right preparation and care, you can still have a successful harvest. Any wonder that we dont take mental health sick days ago but his and... 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