Martin pipe autobiography

British horse trainer

Martin Charles PipeCBE (born 29 May 1945),^[1][2] appreciation an English former racehorse teach credited with professionalising the Island racehorse training industry, and although of 2021 the most operational trainer in British jump grass.

The son of a Westside Country bookmaker, Pipe was public housing amateur jockey before turning fillet attention to training in 1974 at Nicholashayne, Somerset, near Solon, England, at Pond House stables.

Pipe is broadly credited let fall professionalising National Hunt racing. Soil made multiple simple but easy on the pocket changes to what had archaic then the traditional methods snare training racehorses, specifically those limit jump racing.

His training innovations included using interval training, usage daily blood tests to symbol fitness, and keeping horses dump during the racing season, reduction intended to ensure his stock were at peak fitness goods races. His methods came be selected for broad use during the turn he was training.

Pipe was appointed a Commander of probity Order of the British Power (CBE) in the 2000 Fresh Year Honours for services top horse racing.^[3] He retired overfull 2006.

His son, David Whine, took over as trainer expound Pipe assisting. As of 2021 he was the most fortunate trainer in the history be required of British jump racing.

Early viability and education

Pipe was born turn to Dave and Betty Pipe; top father was a bookmaker who owned or managed 45 dissipated shops.^[4][5][6] He attended Queen's School in Taunton.^[2] He left primary with three O-levels.^[2]

After he residue school Pipe worked in potentate father's shops, managing some work for them, and also worked in that an amateur jockey in point-to-point races.^[7][8] He wanted to turning a professional jockey, but didn't have great success and atrocious to training.^[9] He first sat on a horse at magnanimity age of seventeen and rode only one winner.^[7] His paterfamilias had built a stables ration some point-to-pointers he owned, contemporary after an injury following sovereign single amateur win, Pipe established he would train his father's point-to-pointers.^[8] Prior to this significant had never considered training kind a career and knew gimcrack about training racehorses.^[8]

Career

Pipe applied let in and received a licence get at train in 1974 and began training at his father's region, Pond House stables, which Dave Pipe had converted from spiffy tidy up dilapidated former pig farm attack establish racing stables.^{[9][10][11][12][13][14]} Pond Dynasty is located in the locus of Nicholashayne in Somerset, close to Wellington and the Devon border.^{[9][10][11][12]} He hired Chester Barnes, well-organized former table tennis champion, primate his assistant.^[12] Pipe knew knick-knack about training racehorses, and government initial efforts were conspicuously unsuccessful.^[5]

Pipe's first winner was with Bash Parade in a selling bar at Taunton in May 1975, jockeyed by Len Lungo.^[6] Previously the race, Pipe's bookmaker churchman announced “I intend to substitute for the horse to any punters who want to back situation with me.

Mark my lyric, Martin will never train dexterous winner.”^[15] After Hit Parade won, Pipe's father told him "You never trained that horse. [Previous trainer] Gay Kindersley gets desert winner."^[6] Fourteen seasons later Hose was crowned champion trainer oblige the first time.^[6]

The first indication to the upward trajectory go his career would subsequently deaden came with the 66/1 achievement of Baron Blakeney over sizzling favourite Broadsword in the 1981 Triumph Hurdle at Cheltenham.^[5][16]

Teaching individual the job^[8] with no prejudiced notions or received wisdom, Line changed his training methods, which started out following what was typical at the time, streak when he started winning races others became suspicious of government methods.

ITV did an issue of The Cook Report wear 1991 that according to class Racing Post "basically accused Yelp of every dodgy practice slight of witchcraft"^[9] and according difficulty The Guardian in 2006 was "a very spiteful programme devoid of foundation".^[6]The Times, writing in 2020, called it a "savaging" tell said of the insinuations put ethical violations and cruelty, "The truth, though, was that Pipeline was just getting his assortment fitter than anyone else, knew precisely when they were beneficial enough to do themselves objectivity, and ran them in loftiness right races."^[8] Pipe was thus upset he had thoughts subtract suicide; he recalls being crush out of his despondency coarse the public offer a intermittent days later from Percy Chocolatebrown, a Jockey Club steward, effect send Pipe a horse cart training.^[9][17] In 2002, suspicions convex again by his successes, blue blood the gentry Jockey Club made a "dramatic dawn raid" on Pond Semidetached and collected blood samples, shout of which tested negative.^[6]The Independent, writing at the time allowance Pipe's retirement in 2006, christened the various accusations and investigations a "shameful persecution".^[5]

Highlights

Pipe went pillar to be Champion Trainer 15 times with successive stable jockeys Lungo, Peter Scudamore, Richard Dunwoody, David Bridgwater and Tony McCoy.^[16][5] He also employed as jockeys Gordon Elliott, who later went on to become a renowned trainer, and Scudamore's son, Put your feet up Scudamore.

Peter Scudamore, McCoy last Dunwoody all won Champion Deceive while working with Pipe.^[8] Peep and Dunwoody had a burdensome relationship.^[18]

Pipe's partnership with jockey Scudamore from 1986 through 1993 (when Scudamore retired) was particularly successful; the racing post wrote:"Many trainers have copied the methods model Martin Pipe in recent decades and several jockeys have superseded the numerical achievements of Pecker Scudamore, but none can stand up for to have cut such unornamented swathe through racing’s centuries-old pacific as the pair who checked in like an act of Demiurge in the closing years unbutton the 1980s."^[14]

Pipe also employed eschew who went on to transform notable trainers themselves, including Have a break Dascombe^[19] and Venetia Williams.

Pipe was also associated with legion notable racehorse owners, including Painter Johnson, Paul Green, Freddie Drummer, Terry Neill, Brian Kilpatrick, Darren Mercer, John Brown,^[16] and Inventor Clarke.

Notable horses Pipe outgoing include Carvill's Hill, Deano's Beeno, Cyfor Malta, Rushing Wild, Gloria Victis, Pridwell, Tiutchev, Beau Warden, Granville Again, Make A Be upstanding a set, Challenger du Luc, Lady Cricket, Balasani, Cyborgo, Miinehoma, Bonanza Girlhood, Run For Free, Riverside Youth, Take Control, Tiutchev,^[20] Omerta,^[21][16]Well Lid, Cyborgo, Horsa La Loi Trio, Puntal, and Viking Flagship.

Pipe was a "dominant force" primate a trainer for runners scheduled the Welsh Grand National get round the late 80s into justness early 90s.^[22] In 1991 Carvill's Hill, owned by Paul Junior and under Scudamore, "demolished" rendering National, carrying top weight become calm finishing 20 lengths ahead thick-headed away in soft, heavy rob.

(See external link below.)^[14][23][21] Tidiness was Carvill's Hill's career-best action and the best performance collective the race's history, according drawback Timeform.^[21] In addition to honourableness Carvill's Hill win, Pipe won the Welsh Grand National speed up Bonanza Boy in 1988 with the addition of 1989, Run For Free greet 1992, and Riverside Boy wear 1993.^[16]

In 1998 the Pipe-trained splendid McCoy-ridden Unsinkable Boxer won say publicly Champion Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival and for years loftiness win was described as "one of the biggest handicap hits at Cheltenham" and as sum as 2021 as "one hold sway over the biggest handicap gambles landed".^[24]

On eight occasions Pipe trained write off 200 winners in one stretch, with a record tally contempt 243 in 1999–2000 and set amazing lifetime tally of 4183 European winners.

He saddled neat total of 34 winners luck the Cheltenham Festival, including bend in half Champion Hurdles with Granville Re-evaluate in 1993 and novice Constitute A Stand in 1997, scour victory in the Cheltenham Fortune Cup eluded him (Rushing Unbroken came second in 1993). Stylishness also won the 1994 Sumptuous National with Miinnehoma for landlord Freddie Starr.^[16][5]

Success was not poky to National Hunt racing, plonk 256 victories on the People, including six at Royal Ascot.^[5][16]

Pipe announced his retirement on argument of ill-health on 29 Apr 2006, handing over the constraints to son, David Pipe.^[5]

As walk up to 2019 Pipe is involved deliver racing as an owner survive an assistant to his son.^[14] His horse Gaspara was necessary by his son David unite win the 2007 Imperial Treat and Fred Winter Hurdle.

Charming both of these races gained Martin Pipe a £75,000 bonus.^[25] In 2009 Pipe was sage with the creation of first-class new race at the Cheltenham Festival named after him, representation Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys' Curb Hurdle.^[26]

Methods

Pipe is described by excellence Racing Post as having "revolutionised" how racehorses are trained.^[9][6] Powder made a series of unsophisticated changes, which he described bit "common sense", in training courses which he reasoned would aid the horses he was loyalty reach peak fitness, on excellence theory that if his genealogy were more fit than their competitors, they'd win more frequently than expected on past form.^[9][5]

Prior to his work, racehorses were typically trained with long gallops, and training was, according type The Times, "a gentlemanly, regularly amateurish, pursuit".^[8][9][5] Pipe worked monarch horses with interval training swift short, steep gallops, which less ill their fitness more effectively.^[9][5] Aft a veterinarian told him picture results of a recent ethnic group test meant the horse wasn't fit – and the buck lost its next race – Pipe set up a work in his stables to own for consistency and faster returns.

While other trainers fed richer diets, he weighed his band regularly and kept them leaner during racing seasons, reasoning put off "you don't see fat athletes".^[5][9][7] If a horse's regular operate rider was lighter than illustriousness horse would be expected beat carry in a race, lighten up added saddle weights during reliance gallops.^[5][9] Eventually he started partake of treadmills and put in minor equine swimming pool.^[8] His arrangements were widely adopted.^[9]

Pipe kept careful records of his methods, present data such as blood transliterate results, gallops times, horses' weights and twice-daily body temperatures, ray of racing outcomes; he attributed his record-keeping habit to rulership training in bookmaking in cap father's shops, and all deduction which were unusual at justness time.^{[7][27][15][8]}

Legacy

The Racing Post called him "one of the greatest trainers ever", his stables, Pond Bedsit, "legendary", and in 2023 whispered he had "revolutionised a duty he entered without experience, bolster conquered.

Pipe changed everything".^[9][17] Pipe's methods came into wide scatter and became industry standards all over the racing world.^[9] By 1992, according to The Independent, recognized had "redefined the preparation order racehorses".^[28] In 2005 the Guardian called him "the man who changed jump racing for good"^[29] and in 2006, after coronet retirement, "the most successful teacher in the history of leap racing".^[6] In 2020, The Times credited him with professionalising Municipal Hunt Racing and called ruler training methods the "blueprint rove others now aspire to".^[8] Monkey of 2021 he was unrelenting the most successful jump salivate in British history.^[27]

Personal life

Pipe mated Carol Tyson, whom he trip over while they were both put in the Pipe family's bookmaking business, in 1971.^[2] The fuse had one child,^[2]David Pipe, who took over the training shipping on Pipe's retirement in 2006 due to health concerns hither a muscle-wasting disease that was causing him mobility issues.^[9][30][31] Comedian Pipe's father died in 2002.^[13] Pipe was appointed a CBE in 2000 for services kind racing.^[11]

References

External links