Boadicea Stands Guard
Standing guard opposite the Houses of Parliament is Boadicea, or as she is more normally spelled these days, Boudica.
Boadicea Stands Guard
She may or may not have defeated the Romans, as whatever happened they remained in Britain.
Her spirit lives on, especially in East Anglia. She probably came from that region, although no-one is sure quite where! I have heard several people say, including my father, that if the Germans had landed in Suffolk in the Second World War, they would have got similar treatment to that meted out by Boadicea and her ragbag army of upwards of 100,000 men. When questioned as to the legitimacy of this treatment under the Geneva Convention, a common reply was “What would Boadicea have done?” I don’t know the truth of all these reports, but I know Suffolk people well and they wouldn’t have taken an invasion lightly.
Some also say that her tribe, the Iceni, were the supreme horsemen, who when their horses were suffering from horse sickness, looked for a new and healthier place to raise them. They found this valley in the chalk downs and moved there, calling the place New Horse Market. In time this was corrupted to Newmarket. The town is the world centre of horse racing and breeding, known amongst racing people as Headquarters. Every thoroughbred can trace their ancestry back to this small town in Suffolk.
Stewed! For Lunch
For lunch today, I had a Chorizo, Chickpea and Pork Stew from a company called Stewed! in one of my old haunts, Wood Green. They don’t give an address, but it looks like it’s somewhere behind the old Haringey Town Hall and also the Barclays Bank, where my father used to have an account. He once told me that he was also involved in the training of a race horse somewhere in that area. Rumour has it, he was warned off for painting on the blaze of the horse with Meltonian. But then racing at Alexandra Palace was very dodgy between the wars.
The Stewed! was very good with some large pieces of sausage and meat and I’ll certainly buy some more. It was labelled gluten-free and now a couple of hours later, I’ve no reason to doubt their assertions on the packet.
I also liked the cooking method, which for someone with a slightly gammy left hand was easy, as the lid was simple to remove.
So good luck to them!
I bought mine from Waitrose, but I think Sainsburys stock them.
The Good Don’t Always Die Young!
Unless of course you consider 95 to be before your time.
Arthur Budgett was a racehorse trainer, who is one of only two people to have bred, owned and trained two Derby winners. In his case they were Blakeney and Morston. C and I actually used Blakeney to cover one of our mares and I had the pleasure of meeting the horse several times at the National Stud, where he was very much a favourite of everybody.
To get more of the flavour of someone who seems to have been a truly good man, read his obituary in the Telegraph. I particularly like this paragraph.
That he had only two head lads — Denis Rayson and Tow Dowdeswell — throughout the 30 years that he was training speaks elegantly of his consistency of character and the esteem in which he was held by his staff. Despite all the success he enjoyed, Arthur Budgett remained a modest and unfailingly courteous man, though he would fight his corner resolutely when he thought he was being unfairly treated — as happened when one of his horses was subjected to a dope test, and an official attempted to prevent him from having an independent vet carrying out another test. Budgett won his point; had he not done so, his career could have been brought to a very early end.
They don’t make people like that these days. More’s the pity.
Willie Carson and Katherine Jenkins
I had to laugh at the racing on BBC this afternoon.
Willie Carson was cuddling up to Katherine Jenkins, whilst they were commentating on the racing. He just about reached up to her bust.
I suspect the picture will make the papers.
Ryan Giggs Again!
According to the Daily Mail, Ryan Giggs is good at playing away.
I always remember meeting a First Division star in about 1990, at a lunch at Newmarket Races, where we were all guests of a company, who transported racehorses to races abroad. He was with an attractive lady, who was a few years younger than himself, but the name cards showed that they shared a surname. He explained to C, who was sitting next to him, that his wife was ill and that he’d brought his younger sister instead. But he also told her, that he hoped the photographers didn’t get a picture of him and his sister, that they used inappropriately. C jokingly said she was a divorce barrister and he joked that if he ever needed one, he’d give her a call. A few years ago, we met them again at Newmarket and they were good enough to recommend us to a friend, who needed a stud to board a mare.
This footballer played before the high salaries of today, but it does show how worried some are about getting ensnared by those who want to make a quick killing.
A Day At The Races
It was a good day, despite the fact that we didn’t win any bets, but we had a good place sitting in the sun, with a good view of the course and a big screen.
It was a pity too, that the Queen’s horse, Carlton House, didn’t win, but then she would have said something like. “That’s racing!”
The only problem we had was that the train had to stop at East Croydon, so we had to change there for Tattenham Corner. So the train was rather crowded and we were fifteen minutes later than we should have been.
If I go again, I’ll also plan the picnic better and probably take a rug.
Off to the Derby Today
I’m off to the Derby today to give my support to the Queen. Just as her judges have given Kieren Fallon a handicap. Is he riding? If not, this must help Carlton House.
I’m taking the 11:45 from London Bridge, which is free as Tattenham Corner station is in zone 6, so that’s Freedom Pass territory. It’ll be just £25 an adult to get into the cheap enclosure with atmmosphere. I will probably put my returns from William Hill on the Tote Placepot.
Murtagh Nicks The Oaks
I have just seen one of the great pieces of riding by Johnny Murtagh to win The Oaks on Dancing Rain.
It reminded me of Steve Cauthen in his pomp, who won so many great races in a similar fashion, by dictating the pace from the front. He even did it for C and myself on our horse Golden Panda at Nottingham in very much an inferior race.
The irony of Dancing Rain’s victory is that a couple of month’s ago, the filly broke her trainer’s wife Maureen Haggas’s leg in a freak accident. Maureen was at Epsom hobbling around on crutches.
How To Handle Enquiries
Horse racing often gets a certain amount of negative publicity.
On Saturday, I am thinking of going to the Epsom Derby, as if the Queen’s Horse, Carlton House, should win, it will be one of those truly I-was-there moments, that only happen once in a century.
So I phoned the enquiries number at the course, got straight through to a real person and the conversation went like this.
Q: Can you buy tickets for the Upper Tattersalls Enclosure on the day?
A: Yes! We hope to have lots on the gate.
Q: Will I be able to get into the centre of the course to the fun fair and the market from there?
A: Yes!
Q: How far is the enclosure from Tattenham Corner Station?
A: About half-a-mile.
I then decided I was going, especially as there is a direct train from London Bridge at 11:45.
So why sometimes do simple questions about events sometimes take hours?
A Superinjunction Everybody Can Disclose
Popbitch, which is best described as a gossip site, has bought a racehorse and called it Superinjunction.
It hasn’t been entered yet, so it is not in the various on-line racing databases.
You can inquire about a piece of the action by e-mailing superinjunctionthehorse@gmail.com.
The Anonymous Widower 