Horse racing is the second largest spectator sport in Great Britain, and one of the longest established, with a history dating back many centuries. According to a report by the British Horseracing Authority it generates £3.39 billion total direct and indirect expenditure in the British economy, of which £1.05 billion is from core racing industry expenditure, and the major horse racing events such as Royal Ascot and Cheltenham Festival are important dates in the British and international sporting and society calendar.
Dame Judith Olivia Dench is an English actress. Widely considered one of Britain's greatest actors, she is noted for her versatile work in various films and television programmes encompassing several genres, as well as for her numerous roles on the stage. Dench has garnered various accolades throughout a career that spanned seven decades, including an Academy Award, a Tony Award, two Golden Globe Awards, four British Academy Television Awards, six British Academy Film Awards, and seven Olivier Awards.
Seabiscuit was a champion thoroughbred racehorse in the United States who became the top money-winning racehorse up to the 1940s. He beat the 1937 Triple Crown winner, War Admiral, by four lengths in a two-horse special at Pimlico and was voted American Horse of the Year for 1938.
Richard Stanley Francis was a British steeplechase jockey and crime writer whose novels centre on horse racing in England.
Lester Keith Piggott was an English professional jockey and trainer. With 4,493 career flat racing wins in Britain, including a record nine Epsom Derby victories, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest flat racing jockeys of all time and the originator of a much-imitated style. Popularly called "The Long Fellow", he was known for his competitive personality, restricting his weight and, on occasion, not sparing the whip, such as in the 1972 Derby. Piggott was convicted of tax fraud in 1987 and sentenced to three years in prison, but served just over a year.
Geoffrey Dyson Palmer was an English actor. His roles in British television sitcoms include Jimmy Anderson in The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin (1976–79), Ben Parkinson in Butterflies (1978–1983) and Lionel Hardcastle in As Time Goes By (1992–2005). His film appearances include A Fish Called Wanda (1988), The Madness of King George (1994), Mrs Brown (1997), Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) and Paddington (2014). He also made guest appearances in television series such as The Avengers, Doctor Who, and Bergerac.
Lambourn is a village and civil parish in Berkshire, England. It lies just north of the M4 Motorway between Swindon and Newbury, and borders Wiltshire to the west and Oxfordshire to the north. After Newmarket it is the largest centre of racehorse training in England, and is home to a rehabilitation centre for injured jockeys, an equine hospital, and several leading jockeys and trainers. To the north of the village are the prehistoric Seven Barrows and the nearby long barrow. In 2004 the Crow Down Hoard was found close to the village.
The Evening Standard Theatre Awards, established in 1955, are the oldest theatrical awards ceremony in the United Kingdom. They are presented annually for outstanding achievements in London Theatre, and are organised by the Evening Standard newspaper. They are the West End's equivalent to Broadway's Drama Desk Awards.
Mousey is a 1974 Canadian thriller action drama film directed by Daniel Petrie, and starring Kirk Douglas, Jean Seberg and John Vernon.
The Irish Grand National is a National Hunt steeplechase in Ireland which is open to horses aged five years or older. It is run at Fairyhouse over a distance of about 3 miles and 5 furlongs, and during its running there are twenty-four fences to be jumped. It is a handicap race, and it is scheduled to take place each year on Easter Monday.
William Fisher Hunter Carson, OBE is a retired jockey in thoroughbred horse racing.
John Geoffrey Tristram Lawrence, 4th Baron Trevethin and 2nd Baron Oaksey was a British aristocrat, horse racing journalist, television commentator and former amateur jockey. He was twice British Champion Amateur Jump Jockey, before becoming a celebrated journalist and recognisable racing personality both on television and through his charitable work for the Injured Jockeys Fund, which he helped establish. He has been described as "quite possibly the outstanding racing figure of modern times, touching so many via his compelling writing, broadcasting, race-riding and tireless fund-raising".
Brian Taylor (戴萊) was a successful jockey in Thoroughbred horse racing best known for riding Snow Knight to victory in the 1974 Epsom Derby.
Nathaniel Gould was a British novelist. He was a best-selling author in his lifetime.
Dead Cert is Dick Francis's first novel, published in 1962 by Michael Joseph Ltd in the UK and in the US by Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
Time Charter was an Irish-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse and broodmare who won several major middle-distance races between 1982 and 1984. After winning twice as a two-year-old in 1981, she developed into a classic filly in the following year, finishing second in the 1000 Guineas before winning The Oaks in record time. Later that year she won the Sun Chariot Stakes before beating a field of colts and older horses by seven lengths in the Champion Stakes. As a four-year-old she won England's premier weight-for-age race, the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes and successfully conceded seven pounds to the outstanding French filly All Along in the Prix Foy. In 1984 she recorded an impressive four length victory in the Coronation Cup and was retired from racing at the end of the year having won nine of her twenty races. She later became a very successful broodmare.
Sixties Icon, is a retired British Thoroughbred racehorse and active sire. In a career which lasted from April 2006 until November 2008, he ran seventeen times and won eight races. He recorded his most important victory when winning the Classic St. Leger Stakes as a three-year-old. He won five other Group Races before being retired to stud.
Mirabel Topham was chairman and managing director of Topham Ltd for 36 years to 1973 and owner of Aintree Racecourse in Liverpool, England, where the Grand National horse steeplechase is held. She was one of the colourful and controversial personalities in UK racing during this time.
The Favorite is a two-part film based on the 1962 detective novel of British writer Dick Francis, Dead Cert. For the first time the Soviet Central Television was demonstrated on 13 and 14 September 1977.
Scott Antony is a British former actor best known for playing the role of Henri Gaudier-Brzeska in Savage Messiah (1972).
