The turf: Useful lessons

The Newbury race day that finally for me switched the focus of racing from the jumpers to the sleek equine whippets racing on the Flat was appropriately devoted to the emergency services. Sadly, they are a vitally needed accompaniment to the training and riding of horses. Only in horse racing and motor racing are the participants followed by an ambulance, and accidents don’t just happen on the course. Many a Lambourn lad out on the gallops with a shattered leg or a lung-puncturing set of broken ribs has been only too grateful to see looming out of the sky the choppers and crew of the Thames Valley and Chiltern air ambulances which were on view last Saturday.

Their presence reminded me of John Oaksey’s memorable trip around the Aintree fences aboard a helicopter. Trying to impart to the TV audience a horse’s eye view of the obstacles, he kept urging the pilot to fly lower until finally the exasperated man at the controls restored some perspective by telling him, ‘If one of your bloody horses hits an obstacle you’ll be carried away in a nice comfortable ambulance.