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Racing Post Sunday, February 5, 2012 13

RPSUNDAYYour essential relaxing weekend read

‘I’ve been a collector all my life,but what had I collected of anyvalue worth passing on? Notmuch, it seemed’ Tony Morris, page 15

‘Ramsden surveys his string as they exercise behind a stable yardalso housing three sheep, a coupleof dogs and a few stray ducks’On Location, page 17

‘My father, an ex-prisoner of war, always said that the only time youshould start worrying is when they putyou up against a wall to shoot you’Questionnaire, page 16

Peter Walwyn, pictured at home in Lambourn, has lived in the village for 52 years and more than 90 people attended a party there last month to celebrate his latest achievement

EDWARD WHITAKER (RACINGPOST.COM/PHOTOS)

A REWARDING LIFEY OU wouldn’t buy him at the

sales because he doesn’ttrot up too well these days.And anyway his wife Bonkwouldn’t sell him, although

doubtless she has been tempted downthe years when he has donesomething particularly daffy.

But next month Peter Walwyn willmake the journey to Windsor Castle– in a borrowed car as his own jalopyis not guaranteed to get the trip – toreceive an MBE. The award, in the drypatois of such citations, is “forservices to racing” and is therefore

but there are two things to bear inmind about Walwyn. First, there is arugged kindness that underpins hisoutlook and, second, he is a very finecharacter actor and the role he hasbecome quite brilliant at is playinghimself.

And to talk to him is to take greatleaps back in British history. Hisfather fought in the Boer War and onthe Western Front and must havebeen a notably courageous officer, ashe was awarded the Military Crossand DSO and was mentioned indespatches on three occasions.

It is incredible to relate thatWalwyn’s grandfather was at theSecond Relief of Lucknow during theIndian Mutiny of 1857, anengagement of such unbridledferocity that on November 16 of thatyear more VCs were won – a total of24 – than on any other day in militaryhistory.

Walwyn says: “My father was a farbetter horseman and horsemasterthan I have ever been. He wasinvolved in the opening artillerybarrage of the war in 1914,” and by

partly in recognition of twice beingchampion trainer and for havingbrought us Grundy, prince of all hesurveyed in 1975. But what this MBEreally does is salute the fact thatWalwyn, benignly bonkers but nofool, has given more to the sport and

its people than he ever took.Now 78, Walwyn is a cult figure

among those who abhor the pettytyrannies of the politically correct.Some of his views might have themore liberal denizens of Hampsteadchoking on their muesli of a morning

Alastair Down talks to formerchampion trainer Peter Walwyn abouthis career in the sport as he prepares toreceive an MBE for services to racing

!!Continues page 14

THE BIG INTERVIEWRPSUNDAY14 Sunday, February 5, 2012 racingpost.com Racing Post S

‘At Epsom I watchedGrundy from Lord Derby’s box and I’m sure I deafenedthe lot of them’way of proof he pops into the nextroom and returns with the polishedbrass casing of a 13-pounder shell.

You might think Walwyn’s NationalService rank as corporal in theIntelligence Corps marked somethingof a disappointment in terms of amilitary career, but he says: “I hadback trouble which meant I wasrefused a commission, but thatactually rebounded to my advantage.

“I had undoubtedly led somethingof a sheltered life as a boy butsuddenly I was thrust into a differentworld with people from absolutelyevery walk of life. It gave me insightand understanding into ordinary,everyday people and the lives theylead. It was invaluable.”

His first job in racing was withGeoffrey Brooke in Newmarket.Brooke had been private trainer toMajor Lionel Holliday, a hugelysuccessful Yorkshire owner-breeder offiery temperament and a cholericdisposition. One day Holliday rang upand said: “Brooke, what happened tomy filly at Ripon last night? One ofmy friends said she didn’t run welland she didn’t look well either.”

Brooke replied: “I did not know youhad any friends” and put the phonedown. If that was brave, he showed itwas no flash in the pan by taking onWalwyn as his first pupil-assistantwhen he set up on his own in 1952.

Walwyn says: “I was in charge ofthe bottom yard, which was a sea ofmud and populated entirely bycompletely wild Irish lads. But we hada wonderful head man, Bob Ruttle,and I began to learn about feedingand dealing with problem horses.

“In those days a lot of horses stillwent to places like Doncaster andManchester by special train with acarriage for the travelling head lads,then the horses and a guard’s van onthe back.”

Out of the blue Walwyn wasapproached by his first cousin HelenJohnson Houghton, sister of FulkeWalwyn, to join her at Blewbury. Herhusband Gordon, an immenselypromising trainer, had been killed in ahunting accident back in 1951. As

women were not officially allowed totrain, others had held the licence forher, and now she wanted Peter to doso.

Mrs Johnson Houghton was ahorsewoman of towering reputationand Walwyn stayed for five successfulyears before the moment came tostrike out on his own.

Peter and Bonk were married inJanuary 1960 and later that year theybought Windsor House in Lambournand for £12,000 got a nice Georgianhouse and two cottages whichincluded a hostel, 30 boxes and 11acres.

H E RECALLS: “Our firstwinner was with oursecond ever runner, DonVerde ridden by JohnLawrence [now Oaksey] in

a novice hurdle at Worcester when,despite making a hash of the second-last, they won by eightlengths.”

In 1961 a yearling arrived whowould become one of Walwyn’sstalwarts. From 1963 Be Hopeful wonevery year for a decade and landedhis last triumph at Brighton in 1973at the age of 14. He trained manyfiner racehorses but none moredurable.

But it is Seven Barrows that becamethe yard indelibly associated withWalwyn and he bought it off HenryCandy’s father, Derrick, in late 1965.Walwyn says: “It was a fabulous placebut it needed a huge amount doing toit. The lads’ hostel had more rats thanthe Pied Piper led out of Hamelin andthe stables needed completerenovation with new floors.

“We had our first winner, Crozier,from Seven Barrows at Easter 1966and training is only about winnersbecause it is winners that keepowners and stop them looking overtheir shoulders to see if the grass isgreener elsewhere.”

In just a couple of years the yardtook off and by 1969 he wasapproaching the pinnacle of hisprofession. Lucyrowe won theCoronation Stakes at Royal Ascot– where Town Crier took the Queen

Anne – then the Nassau Stakes.Humble Duty, with stable jockeyDuncan Keith up, took the Lowtherand the Cheveley Park before sealingher greatness by taking the followingseason’s 1,000 Guineas, Coronationand Sussex Stakes.

Walwyn says: “Once a year I stillread George Lambton’s famous book‘Men and Horses I Have Known’ asyou always find something more in it.I never forgot his dictum to trainers,‘curb your curiosity’, by which hemeant don’t keep going and askingthem questions at home that shouldonly be answered on the racecourse.

It is very easy to do, particularly onthe hills round here.”

It was Grundy who providedWalwyn with the zenith of his career.He says: “We went to Overbury,the Holland-Martin stud inGloucestershire, and there was thisflashy looking bugger, but he hadgreat style about him and their veryknowledgeable stud groom PeterDiamond said, ‘This is a horse youshould buy’.

“Usually it took a month to break ahorse in but Grundy was boisterousand he took two. It is all about steadyperseverance, getting their mouth

right and their deportment and never,under any circumstance being cruel.

“He looked encouraging in his earlywork, so one morning I worked himwith a three-year-old who had won ahandicap on the heath day of RoyalAscot.

“You sit there all those mornings onyour hack and perhaps six or eighttimes in a lifetime one will go pastthat sends that cold shiver down yourspine. It is the fascination ofexcellence – seeing a horse you havebroken in from nothing suddenlychange into something else in front ofyour eyes. Grundy was the most

What they say about Peter Walwyn . . .!!John Dunlop (below)He is a curiously difficult man to assessand all that Basil Fawlty stuff belittleshim and his record. Back in the 1970s itwas Peter and Henry Cecil who werealways hammering on each other’sdoor in terms of big races andchampionships.

Henry had the advantage of being theyounger man and there was a fiercedegree of competition between them

and not muchlove lost,

although Idon’t know

exactly why. Peter achieved a hugeamount, particularly in the glory days ofHumble Duty and Grundy, and for someyears he seemed to win just about everyClassic trial going.

He was remarkably consistent andhugely successful, although as everyoneknows he lost a few owners along theway.

Towards the end of his career hesuffered, rather like me, from ownersgrowing old, falling off the perch ortaking to strong drink! But he has been asplendid turfiste of very long standingand, like many others, I am delighted forhim that he has got this MBE.

He has been blessed with the mostsplendid wife and I have greatadmiration for the pair of them.!!Richard PhillipsP Walwyn is lucky in that he doesn’treally care what the rest of the worldthinks. He has a huge heart that meanswell, but there is an element of “my wayis the right way” and everyone else isjust wrong. It is all black and whitewith him and that can come over asarrogance in remarks like “myhorses are too fast to catch avirus”, which was something of ahostage to fortune and wouldn’t

endear him to anyone struggling withsick horses.

Yet he couldn’t care less wheresomeone has come from, or that theyhave a humble background, because hehas always wanted to be a giver andseeing the good side of people is animportant part of him – just look at allthe work he has done providing housingin Lambourn. And his staff loved himand many stayed with him for donkey’syears.

And Bonk is a miracle – just like asecond heart pumping away next toPete’s. As in all great marriages shemakes a virtue of his faults as well asenjoying his gifts – she’s always jollyand makes everything fun. If Petelost a dog in the mincer she’d makea great story of it, which would alwaysbe accompanied by a decent gin andtonic.

He and Bonk adopted two childrenand that is all about having a big heartas well, isn’t it? I’ve said before that he issomeone to celebrate because he is acharacter who has the self-belief to stayone. And, most of all, his enthusiasm isenduring and undimmed – somethingthat is rarer and more admirable thanyou might think.

!!From page 13

Racing Post Sunday, February 5, 2012 15

marvellous mover and as tough as oldboots.”

If there is one place Walwyn lovesas deeply as he does Lambourn it isEpsom on Derby Day. A lifelong watercolourist who still goes to lessonsonce a week, he says: “William Frith’smagnificent painting Derby Daycaptures it all – toffs, touts and tarts,a complete microcosm of life.

“I had already trained the runner-uptwice before Grundy won. I watchedit from Lord Derby’s box and I amsure I deafened the lot of them andafter the race we all went up to becongratulated by the Queen, whichwas marvellous.

“It turned into a very long day. Onthe way home we stopped as a peewas needed and there was somegraffiti on the wall which read ‘thefuture of England is in your hands’and on that day I remember thinkingthat it probably was.

“We had a great party when we gothome and one of our oldest friends,who was quite mad, turned up atmidnight in a black cab still in his tophat with yet another case ofchampagne. He was still here threedays later and when we finally got ridof him he got on the wrong train andended up somewhere in Somersetrather than London.”

And, of course, Grundy’s defeat ofBustino in the King George was yet tocome. It is hard to define why manybelieved it to be the race of thecentury. After all there have beeneven closer finishes in the big raceand greater winners, though notmany.

But ask anyone who watched it andthey will tell you of the immediatecertainty they felt as they troopeddown from the stands that there hadbeen something primal and almostsavagely noble about the struggle theyhad witnessed. Everyone just knew in

their marrow that Grundy andBustino would be talked about as longas there were people left on the planetto whom hard battles between horseson high summer grass were matters ofimportance.

O F COURSE, Walwyn’s blackand white personainevitably led to theoccasional drama anddisagreement with owners,

none more so than with theWildensteins, whom he regards with acordial loathing to this day.

The horses came to Walwyn fromAngel Penna in France, and masteringhis distaste Walwyn says: “One daythere should be a party for the formertrainers of the Wildensteins and Ithink the Albert Hall would be a verysuitable venue. Alec Wildenstein wasalways the most troublesome of themall. After Buckskin, who had the mostawful feet in the world, was fourth inthe Gold Cup they said thatPat Eddery was not to ride for themagain. Having counted to about 100 Itold them that if Pat couldn’t ride ’emthey could go and take their horseswith them. They went the followingmorning.”

It was perhaps the skirmishes withthe Wildensteins and others that ledWalwyn to invent his famous bus thatis always on its way over BeachyHead packed with those he wouldhappily never see again.

He says: “That Alec Wildenstein isthe driver and Willie Carson is theconductor. And the other people Idon’t get on with each has a seat inthe window with the best view asthey go over the cliff. Job done.”

For all his occasional bombastWalwyn has been hugely touched byhaving had nearly 500 letters ofcongratulation since theannouncement of his MBE. Lameness

apart, he is in good form, but even ifhe wasn’t he would never let on.

Three years ago he had a majorscare, but even that has passed intolegend, and Bonk takes up the tale:“We were coming back in the car fromseeing the grandchildren and he wasmumbling away a bit more thanusual. I said ‘Peter, are you having astroke?’ and he replied ‘I don’t know,I’ve never had one before’.”

She adds: “Another time when hehad a bad fall out hunting he went avery odd colour, so we shot him intohospital. Eventually, before they lethim out, a very serious doctor cameto me and said ‘Mrs Walwyn, I amafraid he may not be quite the sameas other people. He could be a bittricky, have mood swings and jump upand down and shout a bit’.” Historydoes not relate whether the doctorwas surprised or reassured to receivethe reply, “Nothing new there then”.

It is unlikely that Lambourn everhad a greater benefactor and friendthan Walwyn and last Monday therewas a not-much-of-a-surprise party forhim at Oaksey House with more than90 on hand to celebrate hisforthcoming gong.

Bonk says: “It was a marvellousand, I must admit, an emotionaloccasion. His mother and fatherweren’t too keen on him going intoracing – they thought it was a ‘bit fast’as they used to say. But we’ve beenhere in Lambourn 52 years, havesurvived and still love it and itspeople.

“He is so chuffed about his MBE,completely thrilled. Mind you, ourdaughter Kate and I have had to havenew outfits for Windsor Castle andwhen he sees the inroads we’ve madein his cheque book he may be lost forwords for once! But life’s aboutlaughing – at least it always has beenhere.”

Peter Walwyn (left) hadhis greatest day as atrainer when Grundywon the Derby in 1975,but it was the Epsomhero’s defeat of Bustino(above) in the KingGeorge VI and QueenElizabeth Stakes thefollowing month thathas gone down as therace of the century. Intimes less happy: AlecWildenstein (right)removed his horses fromWalwyn after adisagreement with thetrainer about Pat Eddery

Thisparticularlover wasworth itin the end

L AST weekend I did somethingthat I hadn’t done for 20years. Depending on howwell you think you know me,you may now be guessing

either he’s been to a jumps meeting,he’s managed to force himself into apair of strides with a 34-inch waist, orsomething that might relate to theknowledge that all my children arenow adults.

No, wrong on all three counts.What I did was prompted by what Itold you about a fortnight ago – thefact that, according to a medium whoprofessed to know my future, onJanuary 28 I was to come into a lot ofmoney. It obviously behoved me tomake some decisions over what to dowith it all.

It came as quite a shock – to meand presumably to the clairvoyanteTara – when the predicted windfalldid not materialise, but no matter;there were other reasons why it madesense to draw up a new will, not theleast of them being that the currentone, dated January 1992, bequeathedmy home to the woman who walkedout of my life in 1999.

I’d obviously been temptingprovidence for a long time andsomething needed to be done. Overthe last two decades there had been alot of hatches and matches in theMorris clan, and before I joined thedispatches some order had to berestored to my estate.

The exercise turned out to be ratherdepressing. I’ve been a collector allmy life, but what had I collected ofany value worth passing on? Notmuch, it seemed. And it was clear thatthe collections couldn’t remaincollections.

No way could there be anotherperson on the planet with my taste inmusic. Who would want, amongmany other things, the completerecorded works of Buddy Holly andBessie Smith, all the Wagner operas,the 106 symphonies of Haydn, andsignificant chunks of the output fromRay Charles, Josephine Baker,Marie Lloyd, Paul Robeson andBillie Holiday?

But I could at least spread all theExeter City paraphernalia andmemorabilia around the family nowthat I had four male descendantsconverted to the cause. There wouldbe grateful recipients for the Grecianmugs, glasses, towels, badges,lighters, mirrors, pencils, items ofapparel, not to mention my cherishedsigned and framed shirt.

As for the books, there must be6,000 of them, with charity shops thelikeliest destination for many. Butthere is just one that should beretained in the family, if only torecognise the risks that I took toobtain it.

It was November 1960, and as wetrooped out of chapel we were told toassemble on the quad for a schoolmeeting. Fearsome headmasterFred Paul then proceeded to lectureus on the subject of ‘a certain book’being published that day. If ourparents allowed us to read it, he said,that was fine, but any boy found with

a copy in Exeter School would berusticated.

He didn’t need to identify the book,because it had recently been thesubject of an extensively publicisedtrial, and although the verdict hadbeen that it was not obscene, Fredclearly disagreed.

That lunchtime two mates and I goton our bikes and rode into town. Thatwas breaking bounds and a potentialtwo-hour detention on Saturdayafternoon on its own. Going in searchof that certain book was even morereckless. Can I say that we didn’tknow the meaning of the word fear?We certainly didn’t know whatrusticated meant.

We must have tried six shops beforewe struck lucky. The book was not ondisplay, but when we posed thequestion, the copies emerged fromunder the counter, already in paperbags. Having each parted with 3s 6d,we pedalled away triumphant.

B ACK at school, I immediatelyconsigned my copy to mylocker. But the word hadswiftly got around andwithin half an hour the lock

had been picked. The next thing Iknew, my precious new acquisitionwas in the hands of the head prefect.It was time to check the dictionary for‘rusticated’.

There was a free period thatafternoon and I sat in the library aliving definition of trepidation. At theother end of the room my book wasbeing scrutinised, and the fact thatsomeone else was acquainting himselfwith the juicy bits before I’d had thechance was the least of my concerns. Ihad openly defied the beak, whowould remember that he’d hadoccasion to rebuke me for myoutrageous behaviour on Derby day in1958.

When the bell rang, naturally filledwith dread, I was summoned into thepresence of the head prefect. Hecalmly handed me the book,suggesting that I take it home andleave it there. Never in my life was Iso relieved.

I daresay there is a copy of LadyChatterley’s Lover in half the nation’shouseholds now, but how many havethe first unexpurgated edition,purchased on the day of publication,still in pristine condition?

TONYMORRIS

‘Copies of the book emerged from underthe counter already in paper bags’