'He could connect with anyone' - Queen Mother's tea party guest Mick Naughton remembered

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The healthy gathering of Yorkshire racing folk who assembled for the funeral of Mick Naughton on Tuesday heard memories of tea with the Queen Mother and queued up to tell tales of how a man described as “a force of nature” changed their lives.

Naughton died last month at the age of 82, having trained more than 300 winners in around a quarter of a century before becoming a successful broadcaster.

The congregation at York crematorium was told how he talked his way through security at Cheltenham to be greeted by an open-armed Queen Mother, who shouted, “How wonderful to see you Mr Naughton” – to the disbelief of his teenage driver David Craig, now a noted Sky Sports presenter, who said he owed plenty to his former boss.

“I used to ride out when I was at college and I did some driving for him,” said Craig. “He had an amazing way about him, people just liked him. He could connect with anyone.

“He taught me never to judge people until you’ve had a conversation and see how they treat you, whatever level of society they come from.

“He taught me to be confident, believe in myself, work hard and be polite – he taught me to connect with people, and that’s what I need in my job on Sky. I owe him a lot.”

Naughton had been a promising jockey until his riding career was ended by a serious leg injury he suffered in a fall at Market Rasen.

He turned to training, along with his wife Muriel, and had success on the Flat and over jumps with the likes of Arkle Chase runner-up Allten Glazed and Hennessy Gold Cup and Whitbread second Collingwood.

“Those were the golden years of racing when a small yard could be competitive if it had a decent enough horse,” his daughter Sarah said in her address. “We were a small yard and we always had at least one decent horse to fly the flag.

“He was a force of nature. This is a day of celebration of a life well lived.”

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