Robin Oakley

The Turf | 29 August 2009

Star gazing

issue 29 August 2009

Variety Club day at Sandown, a splendid tradition which raises many thousands for disadvantaged children, is always a bit of a test. That chap over there in the tailored jeans and the shark’s tooth necklace — is he the star of something I should have watched last night or just a jack-the-lad from the local out to impress his girlfriend? Generally the rule seemed to be that the deeper the suntan was the more likely it was that you were looking at a star still in work. Certainly some of them do fade. Too many of Saturday’s showbiz contingent reminded me of Gypsy Rose Lee’s comment, ‘I’ve still got everything I used to have…but it’s all just a little bit lower.’

One racehorse owner I encountered revealed he had had the temerity on a previous Variety Club day to ask a well-endowed female actress to move as he couldn’t see the racing action — and got his face slapped for his pains.

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