Down Memory Lane (Part 3). A Remarkable Man.

Yesterday’s dramatic finish to the Betfred Sprint Cup- in which Dream Ahead edged out Bated Breath and Hoof It- evoked a personal memory of another top sprinter who, on the same day at Epsom in 1970 when Nijinsky was winning the second leg of the Triple Crown, was flying home under top weight of 10st to set a world record time of 53.89 seconds for five furlongs.
That horse was the grey sprinter, Raffingora, ridden likewise by Nijinsky’s jockey, Lester Piggott.
Yet Raffingora is only a small, integral part of a far more remarkable story which concerns his trainer- a man about whom it can justifiably be said.... “When most men live to die, he died to live.”
William Cyril Marshall was born in 1918 in Newcastle-upon-Tyne but , three months later, he moved with his parents to a farm near Chichester .
It was through his father, Cyril, a keen huntsman and breeder of shire horses, that Bill Marshall acquired his love of horses.
By the age of twelve, he had ridden his first Point-To-Point winner but was apparently destined to follow the family tradition of attending Rugby School.
However, young Bill would have none of this and promptly decided to leave home. He mounted his push-bike and cycled the 21 miles to Portsmouth- where he boarded a tramp steamer to Australia.
Having reached Australia, he found a job as a jockey, but soon turned his hand to training and established a travelling stable, taking his horses to "bush race meetings” the length and breadth of the country.
At 17, he got ‘itchy feet’ and decided to emigrate to South Africa where he earned enough money working in a gold mine to set up a successful training yard near Johannesburg.
He may have stayed there, but the outbreak of the Second World War changed all that.
Immensely patriotic, he decided he wanted to join the RAF, and therefore bought himself a Tiger Moth- followed by flying lessons.
In late September, 1939, he decided to fly the flimsy machine back to England, a journey fraught with danger owing to bad weather and the difficulties in knowing in which countries he could safely land en route for refuelling.
Having arrived safely back home, he joined the RAF; served in the Battle of Britain and later in North Africa; and was decorated with the DFC for “Having destroyed two enemy aircraft, seven flying bombs and sharing in the destruction of one midget submarine.”
After the War, he rode as a National Hunt amateur rider until 1950- when he took out a licence to train, firstly at Chichester and afterwards at both Cleeve Hill, Cheltenham and Ogbourne Maizey, Wiltshire (later the location of Sir Gordon Richards’ horses).
He trained mostly National Hunt horses until the mid sixties, the best known being Pontin Go(Eider Chase winner), Sea Horse, and Hindhead- although he did win the Goodwood Stakes on the Flat - with Terrington in 1956.
By the late sixties however, Marshall decided to concentrate on the Flat, and so moved to Newmarket where he was the prime mover behind improving the gallops and in setting up The Heath Committee, two actions for which all current Newmarket trainers are indebted.
Although he managed four Royal Ascot winners in the early seventies, the three horses for which he was best remembered were Polacca-which won six races off the reel in 1972; and the greys, My Swanee and Raffingora.
In 1969, My Swanee won six good handicaps (including the Magnet Cup) with ever increasing weights, but it was his stablemate, Raffingora, who was the star of the show.
Having won only three races in fifteen appearances in his first two seasons- when trained by Geoffrey Brooke and then former jockey, Doug Smith- he was sent to the sales in November, 1968, and passed on to be trained by Marshall at Ogbourne.
The change of scenery- or more likely Bill’s skill- resulted in Raffingora winning eight races in 1969 and a further nine in 1970. In 24 months, he ran 28 times, including wins in two sprints of Group Class.
His winnings for those two years totalled £24,000 in the UK and 24,000 francs in France- a tremendous amount in those days!
Moreover, he endeared himself to the racing public in a similar fashion to another grey years later- Desert Orchid.
Two years later, 1972, Bill Marshall and his wife had a brush with death when their light aircraft crashed after take off at Newbury races. Although the pilot was killed, fellow passenger, Joe Mercer, managed to pull them from the wreckage. Four years after, Bill managed to repay the debt by providing Joe with his two thousandth winner, Major John , at Brighton in 1976.
Now housed at Newmarket, Bill carried on training until 1981 and, after saddling 1500 winners in the UK, he doubtless felt ‘wanderlust’ again and moved to Barbados.
Once again, he made a great contribution to his local racing scene at Garrison Savannah, including the introduction of new owners eg. Derrick Smith of current Coolmore fame.
His wife, Pamela, found sponsors and he himself launched a new training career. He soon became champion trainer (eleven times in total), and won seven Barbados Gold Cups; nine Barbados Derbies; and seven Midsummer Creole Classics.
His popularity was enormous and crowds for Cup days, once about 2000 people, had swelled to throngs of 25,000.
The area also afforded him one of the greatest loves of his life- deep sea fishing.
In 2005- one year after his last Barbados Derby- William Cyril Marshall passed away.
He remains today the only man who has trained winners on four continents.
Lester Piggott said...” He was a remarkable man because he did so many things beside training horses.”
In a way, Lester’s epitaph does not do Bill justice.
What tribute can you pay to a man who ....runs away to Australia at twelve years of age and rides horses to bush meetings all over the country; earns a small fortune in South African gold mines at seventeen; flies a light aircraft in wartime back to the UK, refuelling in eight countries; wins the DFC as a fighter pilot- and flies upside down under a bridge to impress a girlfriend; and is still training winners and deep sea fishing at 86 years of age?
Perhaps we should ask three of his sons.......called Tom, Dick, and Harry!
*Reference Biography: “You Win Some You Lose Some.” By Julian Armfield, 2003.

 

Like i say there is more to racing than picking a winner .

 

Another great piece Tamerlo.

I was just entering my teens when Marshall was in his golden period and he seemed to be having winners every day. I always associated him with sprinters and two year olds but there was clearly more to him than that. It is important that we remember these characters of the past.

 

Fascinating article Tam. Brought back a few memories. One thing I couldn't help wondering; did he ever re-unite with his family or keep in touch? They must have been very worried, then relieved and very proud.

 

Ron, I just can't really comprehend how a lad of 12 yrs of age can hop on his bike and sail to Australia ,etc. Apparently the steamer went via Hamburg and a sailor advised him to "drink first and then visit the brothel; not the other way round!"
What his parents thought or did I'd love to know, and I'm going to try and get hold of the biography.
A truly amazing and inspirational character!

 

Great post Tamerlo. They don't make 'em like that anymore.
Wasn't R Marshall a decent apprentice (can't remember much after those years) jockey as well? I remember him riding Grey Mirage in a few biggish races for his Dad.
Thanks for that

 

Nice one Tam, an amazing story of an adventurous man who had the nerve to follow his dreams. A well written piece mate, that entertained me no end.

PS. You, as I, clearly have a feeling for this story telling, and I have to say Tam, the more I see of your work these days, the more I like it. I've been following your essays for a long while now, and am a big fan. Onya mate.

 

Thanks to you all for your kind comments-much appreciated.
Bustino, yes, Bill Marshall's son, Richard, won the 2000 Guineas Trial on Grey Mirage in 1972- and Lester Piggott then rode him in the Guineas itself (unplaced).
By the way, Bill did have 3 sons called Tom, Dick, and Harry!

 

Great stuff as usual Tam.

 

Wonderful article Tam, absolutely terrific achievements of Bill Marshall.


These articles are super for people who are not so well-educated in previous decades of horse racing. Thoroughly enjoyable read!

 

Great article

 

Brilliant read Tam about a brilliant man.

 

Just come across this post regarding Bill Marshall. I have been searching the internet, sports bookshops, Amazon, in fact everywhere for over 5 years trying to find a copy of Bill Marshalls biography "You Win Some, You Lose Some" for sale/auction and never came across a single copy, or even anyone who owned one.
Then last month I found a copy for sale/auction on Ebay (USA), I put in an offer and it was accepted. Imagine my delight when I found there was an inscription on the inside page signed by Bill and given to one of the ghost writers "with best wishes and thanks." I have had confirmation of the signature and message by the person involved.
Apparently the limited edition has been out of print since shortly after 2003 and is now regarded as a collectors item.
I have read many sporting books but just having finished reading this I can safely say it is the most enjoyable book I've read for many a year. And the old saying "None come along for years, then they all come at once," I have found another copy someone may part with - but they don't come cheap !!
Rodd.

 

Welcome Rodd.

And nice to bring back an excellent post and see some names we haven't seen for a while.

 

I was on Raffingora that day he won the cherkley sprint and he has been my favourite horse ever since. I now own his great great great great grandson who has won his own races. does anyone have any footage of that 1970 cherkley sprint please.

 

Welcome Joe. What was your horse? I had a beautiful grand daughter of Dancing Brave and we had a stallion or 2 lined up for her but we lost her in a freak accident. One of the worst days in my life. Distraught doesn't come close