'I'll never ride another like Kauto Star - he was the horse of a lifetime'
Julian Muscat meets Clifford Baker, who loves life as Paul Nicholls' head lad
For Clifford Baker, long-standing head lad at Paul Nicholls’ Manor Farm Stables, the festive season has come to symbolise his love affair with the King George VI Chase.
“My Christmas is all about Boxing Day,” says Baker, who celebrated his 60th birthday last month. “When I was young I remember watching Wayward Lad and of course Desert Orchid. And we have developed a great feeling for the race since I came here in 1996.”
Little wonder. The year after Baker started at Ditcheat, See More Business became the first of 11 King George winners saddled by Nicholls. It’s a remarkable record in the most prestigious park-course steeplechase outside the Cheltenham Festival.
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Published on 14 December 2020inInterviews
Last updated 12:17, 18 December 2020
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- 'All of us who ply our trade training horses are dreamers - to put so much into it you must have a dream'
- 'There was a moment of rage - but he's a magnificent horse and it suits me that he's passed under the radar'
- When Patrick Mullins met Jack Kennedy: 'You could say I've been lucky - they're just broken bones and they heal'
- Richard Hannon: 'When you're dead and buried the only things you're remembered by are your Classic winners'
- Paul Carberry: 'I jumped up on to the rafters. It tended to be all very strait-laced in those days, but I changed that'