Sport Question

April 12, 2023 marked the twentieth anniversary of the demise Thirsk Classic Trial, which, for decades, was run over a sharp, flat, left-handed mile at Thirsk Racecourse in North Yorkshire. Granted that Classic winners trained in the North of England have proved few and far between in recent years, younger readers may find the setting incongruous, but the Thirsk Classic Trial nonetheless enjoyed a respectable, if unspectacular, roll of honour.

The likes of Nearula (1953), Pall Mall (1958), High Top (1972) and Tap On Wood (1979) all won the race on the way to victory in the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket. More recently, the 1997 winner, Starborough, could only manage fourth in the Newmarket Classic, but went on to win the inaugural running of the St. James’s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot the following month.

The Thirsk Classic Trial was promoted to Listed status in 2000, making it the only ‘black type’ race run at the course. Ironically, the final running of the race, sponsored for the one and only time by Sky Bet, was worth £32,000 in prize money, making it the most valuable ever staged at Thirsk. That 2003 renewal was won by Royal Dignitary, trained by David Loder and ridden by Lanfranco ‘Frankie’ Dettori, but just five of the orignial 18 entries went to post and the winner was not even entered in the 2,000 Guineas.

Commenting on the discontinuation of what was one of the oldest Classic trials in the country, Clerk of the Course Christopher Tetley said, ‘The race never really took off as such and, although a number of good horses have come out of it, it only ever attracted a handful of runners. The lack of numbers, and the conviction that the resources going into the race could be better spent elsewhere, were behind the decision to stop the race.’

Barry Hills, trainer of Tap On Wood, expressed his disappointment at the decision, saying, ‘ I have run a lot of good horses in the Thirsk Classic Trial. It fitted well in the calendar, and was a good race for the North. It’s a sad loss.’

In short, the nineteenth century politician who was known as ‘The Leviathan of the Turf’ was Lord George Bentinck. Born in 1802, Bentinck was the third son of William Bentinck, Fourth Duke of Portland and, two years before his death in 1848, famously led the protectionist opposition to the repeal of the Corn Laws in the House of Commons, which ultimately cost the Conservative Prime Minister, Sir Robert Peel, his position.

However, before devoting himself to his political activities, Bentinck was one of the most colourful and influential figures in the history of British horse racing. In Jewish mythology, the Leviathan was a primordial sea monster, but the term has come to mean anything that is very large or powerful, so his sobriquet is not entirely inappropriate.Bentinck was a hugely successful racehorse owner, responsible for seven British Classic winners, including the unbeaten filly Crucifix who, in 1840, won the 1,000 Guineas, 2,000 Guineas and Oaks. He was also an inveterate gambler, who regularly won, and lost, vast sums of money and the pre-eminent member of the Jockey Club of his day.

Alongside his friend, Charles Gordon Lennox, Fifth Duke of Richmond, who was also a steward of the Jockey Club, Bentinck was responsible was many of the innovations that shaped the faced of modern horse racing in Britain. At his local course, Goodwood, he introduced racecard numbers corresponding to those displayed on the numbers board for each horse, a pre-race parade in front of the grandstands, public saddling and unsaddling and a flag start. He also conceived the Stewards’ Cup, in its current guise, which was run for the first time in 1840. Thus, what became the ‘Goodwood Festival’ was seen as the epitome of good practice and many of the reforms implemented at the West Sussex course became commonplace elsewhere throughout the country.