'We felt pushed into a corner' - how stable staff brought Guineas day to a standstill and changed the industry forever

Anyone who thinks British racing has its troubles today should be thankful they weren't around in the 1970s. Amid a backdrop of economic turmoil across Britain, the racing industry and its employees had their backs to the wall – and 50 years ago this week the frustrations boiled over into all-out war between stable staff and trainers.

Whatever drama unfolds in Sunday’s 1,000 Guineas, it is hard to imagine anything on the same scale as stable staff sitting down across the track and a champion jockey being dragged off his horse. Yet those were the scenes on the day of the fillies’ Classic in 1975 as striking staff took to the track. 

This is the extraordinary story of that 13-week strike period, one of the most shocking times in British racing and one profound enough to have transformed the future for some of the most vital people in the industry.