Many people on this forum will know of Eve Johnson Houghton but not so many her father Fulke, who has sadly died at the age of 84. When I became interested in racing he was amongst the leading trainers in England and seemed set for a wonderful future. The first good horse he trained was apparently Romulus who went near to winning the 2000G in only his trainer's 2nd season (going on to win the Sussex Stakes, Queen Elizabeth Stakes Prix du Moulin). He trained him for Charles Engelhard, who was starting his interest in UK racing. A few years after he had a very fast 2yo called Falcon who cemented the relationship with FJH and his Blewbury stables. Romulus was by Ribot and Engelhard followed up with a series of Ribot sired colts. Ribocco was the first and he was a top class 2yo who rounded off his season by winning the Observer Gold Cup (now the Racing Post Trophy). He was a leading fancy for the Derby, where he was unfortunate come up against Royal Palace who beat him into 2nd. But from that defeat he rebounded to win the Irish Derby before finishing 3rd to the superb Busted in the King George. He then went on to win the St Leger before finishing 3rd in the Arc. Surprisingly Engelhard sent him to stud in the US rather than standing him in England where a son of Ribot would be welcomed. Ribocco was out of Libra (a daughter of Weighbridge of whom our own Ron had a descendent) and Libra's next son was another son of Ribot named Ribero. He wasn't as precocious but FJH achieved a remarkable double when he too won the Irish Derby (beating Sir Ivor) and the St Leger. That was 1968 in which Engelhard and FJH unleashed what looked the best Ribot so far in the shape of Ribofilio. Unrelated to Ribocco and Ribero though he was out of a granddaughter of Hyperion and they were out of a daughter of Hyperion, he was the most precocious of the 3. He won the Chesham, Champagne and Dewhurst Stakes and was installed as a very short favourite for the 2000G. Having won his trial race in a canter he then finished tailed-off last in the 2000G. The feeling was he had been 'got at'. Unlike some other doped horses he did make a comeback and finished 2nd in both the Irish Derby and the St Leger. After the Guineas flop FJH ran a once raced 3yo colt called Habitat in the Lockinge Stakes (then open to 3yos) at Newbury. An outsider, he outpointed two battle hardened older horses in Jimmy Reppin and Tower Walk. At Royal Ascot he suffered his only defeat at the hands of the 2000G winner Right Tack but then bounced back to win 3 races culminating in a victory at Longchamp in the Prix du Moulin and prove himself 1969's champion miler ( he went on to be a superb sire, especially of fillies). At the end of 1969 FJH was near the top of the tree of UK trainers but except for a couple of star horses was never to reach that peak again. the first hit was the partial loss of his principal patron in Charles Engelhard, who switched some of his horses to Vincent O'Brien at the end of 1968: one of them was Nijinsky. Engelhard died in 1971 but his wife kept a few horses at Blewbury and one of these was a Habitat filly called Rose Bowl. She was a good 2yo, finishing 3rd in the Cheveley Park, but it was as a 3yo she showed herself to be top class winning the Nell Gwyn Stakes, Queen Elizabeth Stakes and Champion Stakes (beating Allez France) .She stayed in training as a 4yo and repeated her win in the Champion Stakes. In 1977 FJH had a Nijinsky half-brother to Rose Bowl in Ile de Bourbon. A slow-maturer his first win was the King Edward VII Stakes at Royal Ascot where he looked top class. He showed he was when he went on to win the King George. He won one more race as a 3yo before being beaten in the St Leger. He stayed in training as a 4yo winning the Coronation Cup. Despite his defeats he was rated the top staying 3yo of 1978 and top staying older horse of 1979. He was to be FJH's last top class racehorse, though he did have a near top class sprinter in Double Form. Later he trained for the Aga Khan for several seasons in the late '80s but after he stopped having horses with him the stable went into decline. I was by the unsaddling enclosure on the day his last Group 1 winner Tout Seul. He had just won the Dewhurst and it was a very emotional scene with nearly every trainer there coming over to shake his hand. I'm sure they all knew that given the right material he could be as good as any of them. He retired in 2005 and his stables were taken over by his daughter Eve. He must have been very proud of her.
Great summary, Bustino! Some tremendous memories there- of some tremendous horses. In particular I remember Habitat. A really top notch colt.
