PartialLogo
News

How David Elsworth's forgetfulness could have cost him Desert Orchid

Glory days: David Elsworth relives a moment of magic with Desert Orchid at Wincanton
Glory days: David Elsworth relives a moment of magic with Desert Orchid at WincantonCredit: Edward Whitaker

David Elsworth has revealed that he could have missed out on the chance to train Desert Orchid – because he forgot that the legendary grey's owner Richard Burridge had arranged to visit him.

Elsworth, speaking to the Racing Post as part of a big interview for Sunday's newspaper, recalled the early days of his incredible career, particularly the horse who changed his life forever.

"Richard Burridge was a scriptwriter working in London and he used to be a betting shop board man in the afternoons," said Elsworth. "I must have had a good week or two and caught his eye – maybe he backed a few of them, I don't know – so when he went back to see his old man [small-time breeder Jimmy Burridge] in Leicestershire, where they had a horse galloping around the field, he said he'd buy it and race it as long as he could send it to David Elsworth.

"Then I remember when the Burridges first came down, I was going to Fontwell and I'd forgotten they were coming, so I'm in the kitchen and just about to leave and they walk in the door. I might have gone already and missed them, but I was still there, I gave them a cup of tea and they were very enthusiastic, waffling on about this grey horse, and I was obviously diplomatic enough not to put them off completely, and they agreed to send him down.

"His old man had never heard of me, so how lucky was it that the man who owned Desert Orchid thought I knew what I was doing? And how lucky was it that when I got him he turned out to be that good?"

Richard Burridge (left), Simon Sherwood and David Elsworth in the Sandown winner's enclosure with Desert Orchid after his 1988 Tingle Creek success
Richard Burridge (left), Simon Sherwood and David Elsworth in the Sandown winner's enclosure with Desert Orchid after his 1988 Tingle Creek success

Elsworth went on to win four King Georges and a Cheltenham Gold Cup with Desert Orchid as well as many other big races in a glittering 70-race career, and he spoke out against the way more recent star horses have been campaigned since then.

"It gets on my nerves hearing trainers who are frightened to get their good horses beaten. If you've got lucky enough to train a good horse, it's not about you. He belongs to the owner but also to the public, and if you're a racegoer you want to see them run and find out how good they are.

"So he won the Irish National with top weight, the Whitbread with top weight, the Tingle Creek and the Victor Chandler giving lumps of weight away, but that was how we found out what we wanted to know. Could he give two stone and a beating to Long Engagement at Sandown? No, he couldn't, but it didn't matter."


Read more from David Elsworth in the Big Read, available to members from 6pm on Saturday or in Sunday's Racing Post newspaper. Join Members' Club here.


Peter ThomasSenior features writer

Published on 21 August 2020inNews

Last updated 12:04, 21 August 2020

iconCopy