Slip Anchor’s Lingfield Derby Trial

[IanDavies]

On this corresponding Saturday in 1985 Slip Anchor burst onto The Derby scene with a brilliant victory in the Lingfield Derby Trial under Steve Cauthen, the best Flat jockey I have ever seen.

Peter O’Sullevan commentating, Julian Wilson’s authoritative review, those really were the days.

Enjoy: https://youtu.be/ybSF_x8Mzns

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It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"

[Cork All Star]

Thanks for the link. I enjoyed watching that clip.

Wasn’t it good to see the old Lingfield before the all weather track was built? There was even a glimpse of the old jumps track.

And it was good to hear the old BBC team as well (including Len Martin with the betting). Maybe they were not perfect but they were better than the ITV crowd of today.

I have always liked the De Walden colours, not seen so much nowadays. Slip Anchor really was a beauty. When Steve Cauthen (my favourite Flat jockey too) pulled him up to a trot, he could almost have won a prize in the dressage ring.

[IanDavies]

I used to work with Len Martin on Grandstand and had lunch with him at the infamous (actually far better than Terry Wogan used to claim) BBC canteen a few times.

Absolutely lovely man.

Len wasn’t a believer in working too hard, though.

Those racing and football plus other results voiceovers on Grandstand and occasionally midweek BBC racing broadcasts were literally the only work Len ever did.

He turned down countless offers to do voiceovers for TV commercials and instead preferred the sedantry life inbetween broadcasts living in the leafy London suburbs.

Golden days.

I am "The Horse Racing Punter" on Facebook
https://mobile.twitter.com/Ian_Davies_
https://www.facebook.com/ThePointtoPointNHandFlatracingpunter/
It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"

[Cork All Star]

Wasn’t he also the voice who announced “It’s Siiiimon Dee!” at the start of “Dee Time”?

[IanDavies]

I don’t know tbh.

I just remember sitting with him at the canteen, asking him about himself and his life and Len just saying the BBC work was enough for him and he had never been interested in other work.

And when he wasn’t in – Tim Gudgin used to cover for him – others in the studio saying Len could earn a fortune with his famous iconic voice doing TV advert voiceovers if he wanted to, but Len couldn’t be bothered.

Very gentle uncomplicated man, Len was – he belonged to a long-gone era in some ways.

I am "The Horse Racing Punter" on Facebook
https://mobile.twitter.com/Ian_Davies_
https://www.facebook.com/ThePointtoPointNHandFlatracingpunter/
It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"

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