Book review – British sporting history

I don’t want you getting the impression that I fritter away my life on a golf course, but when I was asked to join a Knights vs Commoners/Chairmen match at Sunningdale last week, I couldn’t resist, even though I’m injured. No better place to find out what’s going on in the racing world than shooting the breeze during 18 holes at ‘the dale’. The Knights were led by Sir A.P. McCoy, who looks a bit like Bryson DeChambeau when he lines up to hit the ball, but not so much afterwards. His partner was Sir Francis Brooke, the King’s man at Ascot. ‘So you’re not playing, so you’re not?’ A.P. asked. Or something like that. ‘Lateral epicondylitis,’ I replied, shaking my head gravely. I knew he’d pour scorn on me if I let slip this was no more than tennis elbow.

Yay! It’s Glorious Goodwood next week. Which reminds me that the Richmond family were breeding and racing horses when George I was still struggling with his English. They founded Goodwood races in the early 19th century. I, on the other hand, am directly descended from one of the many illegitimate sons of George II, so it’s quite fitting that I became a carefree stable lad immediately after leaving ‘school’, while Charles Gordon-Lennox, 11th Duke of Richmond and Gordon, had to take his responsibilities rather more seriously when he left eight years before me. Charles Richmond is now one of the most intriguing figures in British racing, the rarest of modern creatures, a man with enthusiasm and entrepreneurship coursing through his veins.