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'That day changed our lives - everything that's happened since has gone back to that'
Ralph Beckett tells Jonathan Harding about a seismic Epsom triumph and his hopes of further Classic success
Often a trainer making their breakthrough at the highest level can experience a false dawn. Despite proving beyond all doubt they can do the job, it does not always lead to a sudden influx of owners, nor sadly the overnight doubling of horses in the yard.
Yet the surprise success of Look Here in the 2008 Oaks did prove to be a seminal moment for Ralph Beckett. Indeed, the exquisite pedigrees of many of the horses we watch work at Kimpton Down Stables, which the trainer effortlessly reels off, can be traced back to that afternoon in June.
A framed photo and racecard in the hallway of his home serve as a more permanent reminder of how far he has come since that day and a jumping-off point from which to discuss a filly who not only provided Beckett with his first Group 1 but completely altered the trajectory of his career.
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Copy- 'You probably only get five proper darts at a big race each year, so you have to deliver - and I think I've got a massive chance'
- ‘I’ve never had to deal with that in my career and I did find it hard - you start asking yourself what you’re doing wrong’
- ‘I’ll be there to see the kids open their presents but then it’s a coffee, bang, out the door’ - life in a racing yard at Christmas
- ‘I miss the craic of going racing but it’s a young person’s game these days - and I don’t know how they survive, to be honest’
- 'I don't want to be part of this narrative that Irish trainers are better than us - I think that's rubbish, it drives me nuts'
- 'You probably only get five proper darts at a big race each year, so you have to deliver - and I think I've got a massive chance'
- ‘I’ve never had to deal with that in my career and I did find it hard - you start asking yourself what you’re doing wrong’
- ‘I’ll be there to see the kids open their presents but then it’s a coffee, bang, out the door’ - life in a racing yard at Christmas
- ‘I miss the craic of going racing but it’s a young person’s game these days - and I don’t know how they survive, to be honest’
- 'I don't want to be part of this narrative that Irish trainers are better than us - I think that's rubbish, it drives me nuts'