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My favourite silks were those worn by Jock Whitney’s European horses; Pink, Black and White Striped Sleeves.
For some reason, Jeremy Tree seemed to attract owners with superb colours. As well as Whitney, he had K Abdullah, J Morrison (Green, Pink sash) and M Ritzenberger (Green, Black Squares on body) among his few owners.
As well as those already mentioned I also liked Nelson Bunker Hunt’s (Dahlia etc) and Cpt Richard Head of Border Incident fame (Scarlet, Silver Sleeves).
Does anybody know if there is a directory of racing silks in existance, either online or in print?
Also, who holds "All White"?
I’ll take a stab and say the Jockey Club.
If an owner’s colours are for some reason unavailable, on late notice they’ll throw the all-white on. Superstition says a horse wearing the all-white is bound to lose, too!
Keep a look out for the Benson & Hedges Book of Racing Colours on ebay etc ~ it was published first in the early ’70s to benefit the IJF. It’s a fantastic tome if you don’t mind paying £50-60 for it.
Frankie Dettori won the Hunt Cup a few years ago in all white ~ at that time the colours were owned by one of the Buhaleeba brothers; unfortunately, they disgraced themselves by losing millions in the casinos and all their racing interests were subsumed by Gainsborough since Sheikh Maktoum was their patron of sorts.
All white were registered to one of the Darley entourage until recently – used to have horse with Ed Dunlop if i recall correctly.
Rory, must remember to read your posts first! It’s the drink!
I don’t have a particular favourite set of silks. However I love to see a race (either Flat or National Hunt) which contains the colours of all the main owners. Gives the race a real “look” of quality, even it is a lowly maiden. In my eyes, they would be (apologies for any glaring omissions!):
Flat
Sue Magnier
Magnier & Tabor
Godolphin
Chevley Park
Khalid Abdullah
Aga Khan
Ballymacoll Stud
Hamdan Al MaktoumJumps
JP McManus
David Johnson
Trevor Hemmings
Graham Wylie
John Hales
Clive SmithAll white were registered to one of the Darley entourage until recently – used to have horse with Ed Dunlop if i recall correctly.
That would be Surprise Encounter, merely hinted at above, ‘owned’ by Ahmed Buhaleeba. His brother Abdulla raced his horses in all orange silks which were sported by the top class 2yo’s Lucky Story and Shamardal. Lucky Story was taken over by Godolphin as a 3yo and Shamardal suddenly changed connections before he ran in the Dewhurst. Until 2001 the brothers had runners in different silks and under different names, being known as Ahmed and Abdulla Ali. I believe there are several other family members who were involved in ownership. An interesting episode in racing history.
I think the last time I saw plain black colours they belonged to an American gentleman called Rory Sweet who had horses with Hughie Morrison.
As he seems to have made his money from the computer industry I assume that he had purchased the silks at auction.
Does anyone know who the previous owners were? I assume it was an "old" family who have died out or lost interest in racing.
I think Ogden’s colours are some of the best.
Clive Smith’s are awful…apparently they are based on one of his golf courses?Most of the "Plain" heritage silks didn’t have previous owners, at least in recent memory. In 1762 Colours were first published by the Jockey Club, as follows:
Purple ~ Duke of Cumberland
Sky Blue ~ Duke of Grafton
Straw ~ Duke of Devonshire
Buff ~ Duke of Ancaster
Garter Blue ~ Duke of Bridgwater
Green ~ Marquis of Rockingham
Deep Red ~ Earl of Waldegrave
Purple & White ~ Earl of Orford (sic)
White ~ Earl of March (and Mr Vernon)
Deep Yellow ~ Earl of Northumberland
Blue ~ Earl of Gower
Black ~ Viscount Bolingbroke
Darkest Green ~ Sir J Moore
Brown, Trimmed Yellow ~ Mr Greville
Pink ~ Mr Shafto
Orange ~ Lord GrosvenorYou can design your own silks here
Pink ~ Mr Shafto
Did he also have silver buckles on his knee?
gc
Adoptive father of two. The patron saint of lower-grade fare. A gently critical friend of point-to-pointing. Kindness is a political act.
Did he also have silver buckles on his knee?
gc
I did allow myself a chuckle as I typed that
I’m deeply embarrassed, firstly the colours aren’t sir Robert ogdens, and secondly they aren’t even black and white, they are gold and white! My eyesight!! ha
I’m deeply embarrassed, firstly the colours aren’t sir Robert ogdens, and secondly they aren’t even black and white, they are gold and white! My eyesight!! ha
Definitely Guy Reed’s then; was reminded of some very similar colours last night in the selling race at Windsor ~ those of Clifton Hunt; Lime Green and Black Check with Pink Sleeves and Cap. Eyecatching!
Other favourites of mine are the colours of Johnny Horn (Brig. “Roscoe” Harvey’s son in law ~ the colours were originally registered to Mrs Harvey) of Black, White Braid, Black Cap, White Button; I’d guess the most prominent horse to wear them was Bigsun.
I must also put in a slightly biased mention for the colours of Johnny Bradburne (that’s an awful lot of Johnnys ~ Ed), originally registered to his mother, Mrs Hutchison Bradburne (who held a permit to train in the 70’s) which are Pink, Gordon Tartan Sleeves.
Finally, I do like Clare Balding’s colours, originally listed under the name of her uncle William Hastings-Bass (unless it’s her maternal great grandfather), which are Green, Gold Braid, Collar and Cap.
I like Braid, I do.
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