Sir Mark Prescott.

Totally agree ,furthermore it's high time the man wrote his autobiography I'm totally convinced it would be a fantastic and amusing read.

my favourite trainer. quick tale.
the stud i worked for used to sell yearlings at the newmarket sales. sir mark would come to see them each year, [came more for the coffee and fruit cake than to see the horses] one year i dragged this yearling round the ring, was built like a 3 mile chaser, sir mark bought it for £3k, as a 2yr old ran twice down the field, as a 3yr old it won 4 on the trot. i couldn't believe it.

hope one day he will write a book about his life, would be a great read.

I actually wrote a letter ( remember those ? ) to him at Heath House asking when he planned to do a book and who would write it.
I got a charming reply back from him saying at the moment he was far too busy!
I recall Alistair Down saying on the Sunday Forum that Sir Mark has always kept notes of things throughout the years , so maybe given time and good health eventually a book will appear.It would be a travesty if it didn't

Sir Mark and George Duffield must have been one of the longest trainer-jockey partnerships in racing history.

If you havent already Hound Dog try and get hold of George's book

Hound Dog - Sir Mark once said (and I hope I have it right) "I've looked at a lot of women, but I never looked at another jockey" and he was talking about George.  The man's a natural on camera and the 3 Newmarket C4 bits were seriously good - He obviously loves the place and it really shows.

unfortunately duffield resembled a block of wood and couldnt ride a clothes horse but as prescotts wanted usualy had 10lb in hand wasnt a great drawback

Sir Mark   could read the handicap like no  other .. his record with cheap horses is there for all to see... very well done SIR
Ashliegh your  spot on

1st time poster - all about opinions.........mind you........you don't really believe that do you?. Posted for effect cos you go back a long way, I'd guess.

i certainly believe in any given big race as a punter you wouldnt see the booking of george duffield for your selection as a positive

1st time poster - is that intended as some kind of justification for your comment - "duffield resembled a block of wood and couldnt ride a clothes horse"?.

Come on, just admit that your flawed memory got the better of you, in your search for witty and pseudo-informed post.

yeah what a knob head.

He always wears 2 watches ... so knows exactly the time of day ... shrewdest trainer on the planet and always good for a laugh.

The pieces on the history of Newmarket , that were aired this week on C4 , were great to watch IMHO . I'm more of a jumps man , but it was very interesting to see behind the scenes at Newmarket . Sir Mark seemed at ease on camera , and no doubts has a vast personal knowledge of the place . In both its history , customs and myths/legends .

Think channel 4 or some one should make a DVD about Newmarket history, Think it would sell well.

marsha.

Have met Sir Mark on a couple of occasions, great company and, a wonderful raconteur !

am i right in saying he likes bull fighting and **** fighting?...........nice guy all right

allround good guy

Total filth

MJK .  How on earth do you come to that conclusion?

agree with mjk

I am pleased that other trainers do not adopt his MO - many of the smaller trainers would but they have not the financial backing that Prescott has

To my mind there is nothing particularly clever about running an expensive animal bred for middle distances in three 6f 2yo races to achieve a mark of OR=46 before being gelded and going on a winning run in low grade staying handicaps - some on here are easily impressed.

That said, he is interesting to listen to ........

There was one story about Sir Mark Prescott when he was ringing some jockeys and trainers to ask about their views on field sports. It was getting late when he phoned Philip Robinson who had gone to bed. "Hello Philip, Sir Mark Prescott here."  Robinson automatically thinks it's George Duffield trying to wind him up.

"I'm conducting a survey on field sports, and I know you do a bit of shooting and hunting. Could I have your views on the subject ?"

Robbo thinking it's Duffield having a joke says, "What I really like is being in the middle of a field with my missus, giving her a good sh@gging with a cow licking my arse !"

The phone goes dead.

Robbo rings back Duffield, "You fecking tw@t I knew it was you. Fecking field sports, ringing me this time of the night !"

Duffield, "It wasn't me, it was Sir Mark he's been ringing up everybody."

Crepello,

The Hon. Sir Mark Prescott Bart. is a knight of the realm and therefore ticks all the right boxes at the BHA .... and he knows it.

No way would they drag him in with the threat of losing his licence on the grounds of his runners not running on their merits, when we know only too well this is what he does and has been getting away with for years.

Now if this were done by a small non-descript trainer, they would come down on him like a ton of bricks.

In Sr Mark's case, it would be a quiet word in his ear by one of his BHA cronies (who shared a regiment or school with him) to the effect of .... "we know what you are up to, but don't do it so often dear boy ..... a case of champagne should be enough to turn a blind eye"

I like him because he sails close to the wind and cocked a snook at the authorities over his hare coursing exploits with the late Clarissa Dixon-Wright (one of the 2 Fat Ladies, RIP).
Always wears the hare badge on his jacket and great supporter of country sports.

What you see is what you get,


btw, to the hater's ^ is he breaking any current rules ! ?....

And, one of the greatest exponents of Sir Marks modus oparandi was John Dunlop !

viz la viz... what rule says you can't run stoutly bred horses' over sprint distances as 2 year olds ! ?....

halycyon days

You use the word "hater's" (no idea why you use an apostrophe but never mind) ...

Please behave yourself.

double penalty for first win at new distance, that would sort out these scammers

Indeed so Crepello...

He's not a knight, he's a baronet - the difference being that the first is an honour awarded that expires on the death of the holder, the latter is the lowest level of hereditary title. The baronetcy was originally presented to his grandfather and will end with Sir Mark as he has no children.

As for his training methods, how disgraceful that a trainer should attempt to deliver wins for the owners who pay his fees. The way some people react to him, you'd think every horse in his yard was a two mile handicapper that started life in 0-60 races. It's as if he never trained Alborada or Confidential Lady, or even the filly that won the 5F race at York yesterday.

owners must have deep pockets stable not usualy open for buisness till late july ,august,then 2 yr plan or 2 years training fees depending how you view it ,for some slow old boats to land a few low grade handicaps,thank the lord for scatter cash nh owners payig fortunes for his geese

you forgot pivotal

Easy start

Slowly into stride, never placed to challenge


and then for the win
Tracked leaders, going well, headway over 2f out, led inside final furlong, ran on strongly


DATE    RACE CONDITIONS    WGT    RACE OUTCOME    JOCKEY    OR    TS    RPR
22Aug96      Yor 5GF C1G1 72K    9-7    1/8 (shd Eveningperformance 9-6) 100/30    George Duffield    —    *    *
11Jul96      Nmk 6GF C1G1 90K    8-13    6/10 (5¼L Anabaa 9-5) 9/4F    George Duffield    —    *    *
21Jun96      Asc 5GF C1G2 65K    8-10    1/17 (½L Mind Games 9-2) 13/2    George Duffield    —    *    *
06Nov95      Fol 5GF C32y 5K    9-2    1/9 (4L Smithereens 8-6) EvensF    George Duffield    —    *    *
30Oct95      Ncs 6GF C42yMd 3K    9-0    1/12 (2½L Domak Amaam 9-0) 2/1    George Duffield    —    *    *
19Oct95      Nby 6GS C42yMd 4K    9-0    9/20 (6L Fly Tip 8-9) 16/1    C Nutter

Yes FTP, you make a good point, thank God for the race horse owner ''M'' .

He evidently always used to give George Duffield a letter with his riding instructions

I love the man...Is he a poofter though?

He should have a Beautiful wife surely.

He wasn't always running a horse down the field to achieve a favourable weight.
I backed one of his at Leopardstown in 1998 named On Call in a six runner race over 14f
The odds-on favourite was 4yo Ebadiyla carrying 10-1, Irish Oaks (12f) and Prix Royal Oak (15f) winner.
The favourite looked like she was in need of two or three runs to get fit, looking overweight to me.
The Mark Prescott 3yo filly carried 8-5 and hacked up at 8/1.
Sir Mark found a race for his filly.  Well entered imo.

Kincsem - not sure On Call is a good example to use to "defend" the great man.  I would regard it as a perfect example of him playing the system. She made her handicap debut off 48 having finished no better than 10th in three maidens at 2 over 7f and a mile. She then, at 3 won SIX handicaps in a row over 12f to 16f, before later going on to win the Irish Listed race.

Dear me acey, ya can't say poofter any more, it's LGBHGV or summat now.

I don't have to defend him
Four 3yo fillies in that race carried 8-5, 4yo Ebadiyla probably carried a penalty for her Group 1 wins.
I'm assuming penalties on Ebadiyla made the race for the 3yos in the race.
On Call had six wins before the race, all very small value races.  Rose Petal, another 3yo in the race had five wins before the race.
I wouldn't blame Sir Mark for entering a staying filly in three races at 7f and 8f as a 2yo, then as a 3yo running her in 12f, 14f, 16f handicaps before stepping up to a 14f listed race.
A 3yo staying handicapper beat a 4yo Group 1 classic winner getting 24 pounds which were the terms of the race, not 24 pounds gained by hoodwinking the handicapper.

Henry Cecil said that knowingly running a horse over a wrong distance was nothing less than cheating in an interview with Matt Chapman.

Kincsem - Not sure we are that far apart.  I was pretty much ignoring the Irish Listed race which you have described accurately. My point was that On Call was a typical and brilliant 2 to 3 Prescott campaign (even without the Irish race).

Yes Sparrow I saw that interview with Chappers.
Henry was talking out of his hole.
He'd have had a fit if he ever looked at Australian racing where top class middle distance horses will routinely start their seasons racing over 6/7 furlongs

What I never understand is why handicappers don't give his horses extra marks because they know they will improve - everyone else knows it, why don't they??