Who is George Duffield?

by ⋅ Leave a Comment

Nowadays, George Duffield, who turned 76 on November 30, 2022, is assistant trainer to his second wife, Ann, at Sun Hill Farm, near Leyburn, North Yorkshire, but is best remembered for his prolific 40 plus year riding career, which yielded 2,547 winners, including two Classic winners. Born in Stanley, near Wakefield, Duffield became apprenticed to Jack Waugh at Heath House Stables in Newmarket in 1962, aged 15, and rode his first winner, Syllable, trained by Waugh at Yarmouth on June 15, 1967.

After a brief, unsatisfactory spell as stable jockey to John Oxley at Hurworth House Stables, also in Newmarket, in the early seventies, Duffield returned to Heath House Stables in 1974 to become stable jockey to Sir Mark Prescott Bt, who had taken over the licence following the retirement of Jack Waugh four years earlier. Indeed, he would remain with Prescott for the next 30 years, until he formally announced his retirement in March, 2005, aged 58, having failed to recover from a shoulder injury. All told, Duffield rode a total of 506 winners for Prescott on British soil alone, including back-to-back victories in the Group 1 Champion Stakes at Ascot on Alborada in 1998 amd 1999. Reflecting on their time together, Prescott said, ‘I still would not have any other jockey from the past 150 years ahead of him.’

Probably the best horse Duffield rode, though, was the filly User Friendly, bred and owned by Bill Gredley and trained by Clive Brittain, on whom he won six races in 1992. Those victories included the Oaks, Irish Oaks, Yorkshire Oaks and St. Leger and the daughter of Slip Anchor came within a whisker of justifying favouritism the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe when beaten a neck by Subotica. Duffield later confessed, ‘I’m not into bold statements, I never have been, but I made one then and told Bill Gredley she’d win the Leger.’

Nick Mordin On Time

by ⋅ Leave a Comment

I’m pretty sure Nick Mordin has always been a punctual kind of man.

When he phoned my brother he was both punctual and courteous. That was a long time ago back in 1994 when he called about using some data my brother had gathered about two-year-old horse racing, specifically group-entered juveniles. Mordin was fascinated by the five year study which was the largest in the world. They chatted about the research which concluded with him asking for permission to write an article or two. I think Mordin was excited but surprised that my brother allowed him to use the information as most people would keep it close to their chest.

A month later, an article appeared in the Sporting Life’s Weekender, which came out every Wednesday, a double-page spread titled: In A Class of their Own: How to Spot Top-Notch Two-year-olds. I am sure the article was well received, and Mordin followed up a week later with another article how to improve the use of this groundbreaking data. People still remember the article and I like to think it was one of the best articles he ever produced.

Nick Mordin was always a consummate professional. He wrote four publication full of wisdom.

My brother and I purchased three of the four.

The only one I haven’t purchased (which I intend to) is Winning Without Thinking: A Guide to Horse Racing Betting Systems, published by Aesculus Press Limited 2003.

At this time, I’m reading Mordin On Time was published by Aesculus Press Limited 1996.

The blurb says: ‘I have made thousands of pounds from betting on horses. And most of that money has come from using the speed ratings you’ll find explained in this book.’

The book has 18 chapters and 128 pages.

The basis of the book follows the maxim: ‘Why time is the best measure of a horse, and how to use it.’

I will be reading this book in the next few days and looking forward to it.

I noticed the book is something of a rarity for horse racing fans and I have seen it on sale for £80.

My brother had been writing notes all over the pages so I think any value has disappeared. But, thankfully, the words are still as insightful as ever.

Always a good read.

When Bets Go Right & Wrong

by ⋅ Leave a Comment

I guess we all have a story to tell when it comes to betting.

Over the years, I’ve had personal experiences of winning and losing big bets. Many of these stories come from betting online, at the track in bookmaker’s shops. However, the following bets were placed online. Moments of great joy and conflicting disappointment.

My Learned Friend

Considering most of my betting is done online I could pick umpteen moments featuring both highs and lows. I’ve had a few decent wins. One that sticks in the mind is a while back, a horse called My Learned Friend, trained by Andrew Balding. The horse won in a photo-finish beating a previous winner who had to carry a win penalty. John Gosden mentioned that his, second, was unlucky and thought the win penalties were unfair. Speaking from my pocket I was very happy the burden of the penalty hindered the runner-up as it won me £1,600. I bought an Omega watch (1970s style) as a memento.

One Lay Bet Too Many

The worst lay bet of my life could have won me £20. The loss much greater. To be fair, I had been flying along and laid so many horses to lose I £4,000 in profit from an initial betting bank of £20. It was truly incredible. I laid well over 100 losers on the trot. However, most of the horses were priced 10/1+. Some were priced 200/1 on the betting exchanges. I generally laid horses at odds of 100/1 and less.

There is something very unnerving about laying a horse to lose £2,000. Obviously, there is good reason to lay the horse.

However, anything can happen when betting.

Horses can defy the odds. If the favourite disappoints, then I’m one step closer to losing. If the second and third favourite under perform I’m looking at the horse I laid to lose like a hawk. I’m hoping and preying the horse is struggling. When it is not, I start to worry. I’ve had horses at giant odds run well and finish fourth or fifth. I’ve had others finish second, pressing hard. When two horses are astride you fear the lay bet will take advantage. If it does you desperately hope the chasing horse responds.

It’s not all bad.

When you’re four grand in front you can suffer a loss. You don’t want it but you can afford. You definitely don’t need it. But it happens. If you bet long enough you realise anything can happen.

And one day it did happen.

I’d been to my aunts funeral. I should have taken that as a bad sign. However, I thought I could win an easy £20 laying a horse at 36/1 for a potential loss of £720. I was confident I had the odds in my favour. However, this debutante travelled ominously well. When I see the favourite struggling I had a bad feeling. The horse I’d laid cruised up and shot clear of the field. I never felt I had a hope of fighting back. It was over. I watched the horse win easily costing £720. To be fair, losing that amount of money wasn’t good news. But you win some you lose some. You should always expect a bad day even though you don’t want it because you have to brace yourself for disappointment. I was still winning £4,000 so the profits were astounding. But I didn’t enjoy the feeling and stress levels of laying a horse to lose hundreds if not thousands. It felt more natural to bet on horses to win. I’ve often wondered where I would be if I had continued laying big priced horses. When I see one or two win I am pretty sure that would have cost me. But what about all the wins too. We will simply never know. Although I can guarantee I’d have never laid more than my betting bank so it wouldn’t have cost me a penny.

A Terrible Day

One of the best and worst days of my betting life. It should have been so different. How many times have you heard that before? However, I do feel aggrieved. I’m not sure what is the opposite of Lady Luck but she must be some vicious old witch who spits in your tea when you’re not looking. Cinderella and the two ugly S@*gs. This evil beast pulled my pants down and stole my money. Yes, you can tell I’m still suffering from that day as it really was a life-changing moment. I had a bet to win £10,000. Worse still, my bet looked like a certainty. I know you are saying: ‘Yes, of course it did. Keep telling yourself that!’ However, if you watched the race you would feel pretty much the same. I had little to nothing to lose. My bet to win £10,000 cost £45. The price on Betfair – 300/1.

Entering the final furlong my horse ran on well and got to the lead. I was ready to see it go clear but noticed the jockey sitting very still. For the life of me I couldn’t understand what he was doing. It was like he daren’t move. It made no sense. But then it did make sense. I see him lean slightly to one side and the next thing he was on the floor. The saddle had slipped with less than 100 metres to go. Honestly, I felt sick. I couldn’t believe how such a thing had happened. Not on the Flat. It can happen but usually on the National Hunt. It happened. That was the final result. What a kick in the stomach. What could have been. I had laid £400 in running at even money. A small consolation prize but something. That’s how close I come to winning a five-figure sum for pennies. A stride or two more I would have won £10,000.

My brother had a fiver to win a couple of grand.

What can you say?

That’s racing.