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I am way too young to remember Staff Ingham, who won the Royal Hunt Cup as a jockey on Weathervane in 1923 and also the Imperial Cup as a trainer with Angelsey in 1948, but I am lucky enough to have met Tony Ingham in the last couple of years, who trained Persian Bold to win a couple of good races at Sandown and Goodwood, I think.
He is a cracking good fella with a good few stories to tell.
Not least he tells me that back in the mid nineties he and one of his owners were invited to lunch with Ed Wray who was hoping for a £10 - £20k investment in their new Betfair Exchange project. Tony tells me that after lunch they went back to Eds office and as they didn't even have SIS, or the equivalent, at the time, he declined to invest.
Tony is a really good guy and I love him and there are loads more stories I can pass on
He is a cracking good fella with a good few stories to tell.
Not least he tells me that back in the mid nineties he and one of his owners were invited to lunch with Ed Wray who was hoping for a £10 - £20k investment in their new Betfair Exchange project. Tony tells me that after lunch they went back to Eds office and as they didn't even have SIS, or the equivalent, at the time, he declined to invest.
Tony is a really good guy and I love him and there are loads more stories I can pass on
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Persian Bold was one of my favourite horses. Very straightforward as a 2yo, it seemed, - speedy, front-runner, and high class. I had a good each way bet on him in the Middle Park, but was away in Blackpool with a girl for a couple of days at the time of the race, and watched the race in a shop window - he ran his usual good race but couldn't quite hold Formidable and Pat Eddery, so I just about got my money back.
I can rememember the back end of Staff Ingham's career. He seemed to have a lot of speedy 2yos, often running, not surprisingly, in 5f races at Epsom (which don't seem to exist any more). Broadway Melody was one such 2yo fully I remember winning, at the Spring meeting I think - the BBC were showing replays of races in slow motion at that time - must have been new technology then. Porto Bello was a fast 2yo he had - won a string of races. Geoff Lewis was his jockey around that time. He had other good horses around then like Tesco Boy (also a Tesco Girl, I think, both owned by Sir Jack Cohen, who started the business), Lord David (who Piggott usually rode), and Crazy Rhythm (who won an Ebor).
I can rememember the back end of Staff Ingham's career. He seemed to have a lot of speedy 2yos, often running, not surprisingly, in 5f races at Epsom (which don't seem to exist any more). Broadway Melody was one such 2yo fully I remember winning, at the Spring meeting I think - the BBC were showing replays of races in slow motion at that time - must have been new technology then. Porto Bello was a fast 2yo he had - won a string of races. Geoff Lewis was his jockey around that time. He had other good horses around then like Tesco Boy (also a Tesco Girl, I think, both owned by Sir Jack Cohen, who started the business), Lord David (who Piggott usually rode), and Crazy Rhythm (who won an Ebor).
There was a Jersey based owner as well from memory used to own a horse called Sunset Lodge or similar name, that was probably in the early 70s, the good old days ..
The last 5f 2yo maiden at Epsom was run in 1995.
Of the 13 2yo races run over C/D in the 1990s, 6 were won by Jack Berry horses, none by Epsom stables.
Of the 13 2yo races run over C/D in the 1990s, 6 were won by Jack Berry horses, none by Epsom stables.
Here's some stuff about Staff Ingham. I've lifted it from the website epsomandewellhistoryexplorer.org.uk, and the pages are marked as copyright Bill Eacott, so I hope he doesn't mind. On that point, someone used to post on here as Mister E, and he seemed to an in-depth knowledge of Epsom's racing people and history, so maybe Mister E is/was Bill Eacott.
"Staff Ingham was apprenticed to Stanley Wootton. As a jockey he rode the King’s horse Weathervane to win the 1923 Royal Hunt Cup, and also rode the winner of the Irish 2,000 Guineas. When his weight increased he became an outstanding hurdles jockey, and won the 1936 Imperial Cup on Negro. He served in the Royal Air Force during the 1939-45 War leaving as a Squadron Leader. He resumed training at Bredenbury, and then switched to Thirty Acre Barn. Wootton’s former Travelling Head Lad, Charlie Goodwin returned from Lambourn as Head Lad to Ingham, and William “Scottie” Scott who had been apprenticed at Middleham to the Peacock family, joined from Johnny Dines as Travelling Head Lad. At this stage Stanley Wootton owned most of the horses in Thirty Acre Barn. In 1947 Ingham trained 27 winners, 18 of then owned by Wootton. Staff Ingham was a noted trainer of hurdlers, winning the Triumph Hurdle twice, with Pundit in 1958, and Englands Glory in 1968, the Imperial Cup with Anglesey in 1948, and the Aurelius Hurdle in 1970 with Fount Of Youth.
His early successes on the Flat were primarily with handicappers, he won the 1952 Cambridgeshire with Richer, and the following year won the Cesarewitch with Chantry, an 85 guinea purchase that started at 4-1 with connections on at prices up to 66-1. In 1960 Ingham trained probably his best horse in Apostle, whose top performance came when beaten ¾ length by St Paddy in the Great Voltigeur. In the same year he trained the first of several top class two year olds, Mr. Stanley Wootton’s Kerrabee, who won the National Stakes, andfinished second in the Nunthorpe Stakes, the Cheveley Park Stakes, and the Molecomb Stakes. His best chance of Classic success was with the Great Voltigeur winner Just Great, who started favourite for the 1961 St Leger but lost the race when the horse spun around at the start and was left several lengths. Just Great’s four victories that year included the then valuable Brighton Derby Trial. Ingham finished fifth in the Trainers Championship in 1961, with Apostle winning four races including the Jockey Club Cup and the Princess of Wales’s Stakes, and Thames Trader winning five races including the Bessborough Stakes. Apostle was invited to run in the Washington D.C. International, but torrential rain and an unfamiliar surface made the journey fruitless. Overseas success included Le Cordonnier’s victory in the Prix Ridgway. As a two-year-old Le Cordonnier had finished second in the Observer Gold Cup, and third in the Dewhurst Stakes. Another horse just below Classic standard was Soderini, who finished second in the 1963 Dewhurst, and third in the 1964 St Leger. In 1965 Soderini realised his full potential by winning the Hardwicke Stakes, the John Porter Stakes, and was second in the Coronation Cup and the King George and Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes. Ingham specialised in selecting yearlings and training them into good two year olds. He relied on his eye for a horse’s constitution, and often identified next year’s first two-year-old winner in the previous November. His best juvenile was Porto Bello, later a successful stallion, siring numerous winners including future stallions Roman Warrior and Import. Porto Bello won his first six races including the New Stakes at Royal Ascot, finished third in the 1968 Kings Stand Stakes, and later won races in America. Another fast two year old from this period was Broadway Melody who won three of her first four races before being inexplicably beaten into second place in the Queen Mary Stakes, the following year Broadway Melody won Kempton’s 1,000 Guineas Trial. The mid 1960s saw Ingham at his peak, when victories included the Queen Anne Stakes with Sir Jack Cohen’s Tesco Boy. The horse was also placed in the Sussex Stakes, and Champion Stakes. Ingham’s health began to deteriorate in the 1970s but successes in that period included Crazy Rhythm’s victories in the 1972 Ebor Handicap and 1974 Ormonde Stakes. Lord David, (a son of Tesco Boy), won the Rosebery Stakes in 1972, and finished third in a vintage Champion Stakes beaten by Brigadier Gerard and Riverman. Like his master Stanley Wootton, Ingham was an outstanding tutor of jockeys. His first good apprentice was John Bunker. In the second year of his apprenticeship Bunker rode twenty-five winners from ninety-eight mounts, including the Zetland Gold Cup; he later worked in Racehorse transport and died when a plane crashed at Heathrow as it was bringing seven brood mares and a foal from Deauville on 3rd July 1968. Jimmy Uttley, David Mould, Chris Dwyer, Ronnie Harrison, Alan Watlow, Brian Elder, Michael Kettle, and Bobby Coonan, the six times Irish Champion Jumps jockey, were also apprenticed to Ingham. Coonan later described the experience as “penal servitude”. Michael Hole, who rode with great success in the United States, also served his apprenticeship with Ingham. "
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Jockeypedia has a page on him, and lists these as his major wins as a jockey...
Royal Hunt Cup in 1923 on Weathervane
Lancashire Hurdle (twice) in 1931 on Gay Light and 1934 on Mandritsra
Victory Hurdle in 1933 on Gay Light
County Handicap Hurdle in 1935 on Polly Stephens
Imperial Cup in 1936 on Negro
The page also says he was 6 foot tall, so he must have grown a fair bit through his teens, because when he won the Hunt Cup on Weathervane, although nearly 15, he was described as 'a small boy from the Wootton stable'.
As well as the above wins, he also finished 2nd in the 1933 Champion Hurdle (on Windermere Laddie), after a good duel with the winner, the Dorothy Paget-owned Insurance. He was also 2nd in the last race on the same Cheltenham card, the Gloucestershire Hurdle. They were his only 2 mounts of the day, as they were the only 2 hurdle races on the card, and he didn't ride over fences.
In 1934, he rode at 10-5 in the Gloucestershire Hurdle, which was some going for a 25yo 6-footer.
Bill Eacott's page on Tony Ingham says that it was Staff who bought Persian Bold. That was presumably as a yearling in 1976. Staff died in 1977, and so that was Tony's first year with the licence.
"Staff Ingham was apprenticed to Stanley Wootton. As a jockey he rode the King’s horse Weathervane to win the 1923 Royal Hunt Cup, and also rode the winner of the Irish 2,000 Guineas. When his weight increased he became an outstanding hurdles jockey, and won the 1936 Imperial Cup on Negro. He served in the Royal Air Force during the 1939-45 War leaving as a Squadron Leader. He resumed training at Bredenbury, and then switched to Thirty Acre Barn. Wootton’s former Travelling Head Lad, Charlie Goodwin returned from Lambourn as Head Lad to Ingham, and William “Scottie” Scott who had been apprenticed at Middleham to the Peacock family, joined from Johnny Dines as Travelling Head Lad. At this stage Stanley Wootton owned most of the horses in Thirty Acre Barn. In 1947 Ingham trained 27 winners, 18 of then owned by Wootton. Staff Ingham was a noted trainer of hurdlers, winning the Triumph Hurdle twice, with Pundit in 1958, and Englands Glory in 1968, the Imperial Cup with Anglesey in 1948, and the Aurelius Hurdle in 1970 with Fount Of Youth.
His early successes on the Flat were primarily with handicappers, he won the 1952 Cambridgeshire with Richer, and the following year won the Cesarewitch with Chantry, an 85 guinea purchase that started at 4-1 with connections on at prices up to 66-1. In 1960 Ingham trained probably his best horse in Apostle, whose top performance came when beaten ¾ length by St Paddy in the Great Voltigeur. In the same year he trained the first of several top class two year olds, Mr. Stanley Wootton’s Kerrabee, who won the National Stakes, andfinished second in the Nunthorpe Stakes, the Cheveley Park Stakes, and the Molecomb Stakes. His best chance of Classic success was with the Great Voltigeur winner Just Great, who started favourite for the 1961 St Leger but lost the race when the horse spun around at the start and was left several lengths. Just Great’s four victories that year included the then valuable Brighton Derby Trial. Ingham finished fifth in the Trainers Championship in 1961, with Apostle winning four races including the Jockey Club Cup and the Princess of Wales’s Stakes, and Thames Trader winning five races including the Bessborough Stakes. Apostle was invited to run in the Washington D.C. International, but torrential rain and an unfamiliar surface made the journey fruitless. Overseas success included Le Cordonnier’s victory in the Prix Ridgway. As a two-year-old Le Cordonnier had finished second in the Observer Gold Cup, and third in the Dewhurst Stakes. Another horse just below Classic standard was Soderini, who finished second in the 1963 Dewhurst, and third in the 1964 St Leger. In 1965 Soderini realised his full potential by winning the Hardwicke Stakes, the John Porter Stakes, and was second in the Coronation Cup and the King George and Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes. Ingham specialised in selecting yearlings and training them into good two year olds. He relied on his eye for a horse’s constitution, and often identified next year’s first two-year-old winner in the previous November. His best juvenile was Porto Bello, later a successful stallion, siring numerous winners including future stallions Roman Warrior and Import. Porto Bello won his first six races including the New Stakes at Royal Ascot, finished third in the 1968 Kings Stand Stakes, and later won races in America. Another fast two year old from this period was Broadway Melody who won three of her first four races before being inexplicably beaten into second place in the Queen Mary Stakes, the following year Broadway Melody won Kempton’s 1,000 Guineas Trial. The mid 1960s saw Ingham at his peak, when victories included the Queen Anne Stakes with Sir Jack Cohen’s Tesco Boy. The horse was also placed in the Sussex Stakes, and Champion Stakes. Ingham’s health began to deteriorate in the 1970s but successes in that period included Crazy Rhythm’s victories in the 1972 Ebor Handicap and 1974 Ormonde Stakes. Lord David, (a son of Tesco Boy), won the Rosebery Stakes in 1972, and finished third in a vintage Champion Stakes beaten by Brigadier Gerard and Riverman. Like his master Stanley Wootton, Ingham was an outstanding tutor of jockeys. His first good apprentice was John Bunker. In the second year of his apprenticeship Bunker rode twenty-five winners from ninety-eight mounts, including the Zetland Gold Cup; he later worked in Racehorse transport and died when a plane crashed at Heathrow as it was bringing seven brood mares and a foal from Deauville on 3rd July 1968. Jimmy Uttley, David Mould, Chris Dwyer, Ronnie Harrison, Alan Watlow, Brian Elder, Michael Kettle, and Bobby Coonan, the six times Irish Champion Jumps jockey, were also apprenticed to Ingham. Coonan later described the experience as “penal servitude”. Michael Hole, who rode with great success in the United States, also served his apprenticeship with Ingham. "
--------------
Jockeypedia has a page on him, and lists these as his major wins as a jockey...
Royal Hunt Cup in 1923 on Weathervane
Lancashire Hurdle (twice) in 1931 on Gay Light and 1934 on Mandritsra
Victory Hurdle in 1933 on Gay Light
County Handicap Hurdle in 1935 on Polly Stephens
Imperial Cup in 1936 on Negro
The page also says he was 6 foot tall, so he must have grown a fair bit through his teens, because when he won the Hunt Cup on Weathervane, although nearly 15, he was described as 'a small boy from the Wootton stable'.
As well as the above wins, he also finished 2nd in the 1933 Champion Hurdle (on Windermere Laddie), after a good duel with the winner, the Dorothy Paget-owned Insurance. He was also 2nd in the last race on the same Cheltenham card, the Gloucestershire Hurdle. They were his only 2 mounts of the day, as they were the only 2 hurdle races on the card, and he didn't ride over fences.
In 1934, he rode at 10-5 in the Gloucestershire Hurdle, which was some going for a 25yo 6-footer.
Bill Eacott's page on Tony Ingham says that it was Staff who bought Persian Bold. That was presumably as a yearling in 1976. Staff died in 1977, and so that was Tony's first year with the licence.
some of Tony's stories of his time training in Macau are both scary and very funny, in all senses of the word.
Some fond memories there especially Soderini, Broadway Melody and Lord David. Thanks for posting, ged.
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