Rogues…
Good fun to be around. Sometimes in small doses. Exhausting if you have to deal with their whims and vagaries on a daily basis…
I have used this analogy before…
If MARSH BENHAM were a person, he would be very good fun to bump along with at the pub…
But if your daughter brought him home, you would be nervous…
Eccentric. Full of attitude and opinion. Keeping those who get legged up on him on their wits. Prone to throw a Marsh shape for no apparent reason. Cheeky. Quirky. Fun and funny…
He has it in him to dig his heels in when the stalls open. He has it in him to do no more than meander through the motions at the back of the field before making a cursory and wholly inadequate effort through the closing stages…
But thankfully he also has it in him to win the occasional horse race. Usually one or two times a year…
Yesterday at Sandown, under Benoit de la Sayette, Marsh was on a going day. Head held high as he mounted his challenge widest of all, the “will he or won’t he” moment of truth. For whatever reason, the old fool decided to go through with it…
Fantastic effort from those at home who have to put up with his “Marsh moments” on a daily basis. Plenty of conjecture and chat through the morning as “Firm” crept into the going description, but jockeys calling it lovely summer ground. And so we ran – and so we won…
All credit to Clerk Of The Course Andrew Cooper (Good Morning Andrew…!!) and his team for producing lovely fair ground. An article in yesterday’s Racing Post about the conundrums and decisions Clerks have to make as weather patterns become more and more variable. The second toughest (maddest..??) job in racing – after being a racehorse trainer…
To Goodwood yesterday evening. Ed Arkell has produced a fabulous green swathe of turf set amidst the baked brown of high Sussex…
A Preview Evening for “Glorious”. Hayley Moore, Jim Crowley, Ed, David Stevens of Coral and me. Several words. Few of them very wise I suspect – certainly from my corner…
Double header today…
Imperial Cult to Sandown’s beautifully watered ground (Jack Callan up). Tex (Pat C) to Ascot…
Here’s Marsh doing Marsh stuff…
“And slowly away Marsh Benham and having to be ridden along….”
https://www.thejockeyclub.co.uk/the-racing/race-replays/2026/07/23/sandown/#billy_ocean_live_at_sandown_park_29_july_handicap
