THIS IS FINDON VILLAGE — www.findonvillage.com created by Valerie Martin, contains scenes from her home village of Findon, West Sussex, U.K.

THE DOWNSIDE OF BEING A RACING VILLAGE

Copyright Valerie Martin 2000

Part published in the Findon News, October 2000.

Downs House, at the top of Stable Lane in Findon, was once home to Captain Ryan Price, in his time the most successful racehorse trainer saddling "jumpers" after the Second World War. He held a phenomenal track record as a National Hunt trainer and won the Grand National in 1962 with Kilmore starting at 33-1, and was just as brilliant later as a flat trainer.

In October 1972, the equestrian industry of Findon hit the news, and this time it was not in the racing results.

Findon was a village that had almost more horses than humans and it was said that horseshoe nails from the blacksmith's forge (now John Henry's Café site) had been causing punctures in car tyres. The matter was solemnly brought before the Parish Council meeting and a lady parish councillor said —

"although the blacksmith makes a gesture of sweeping the road after shoeing, perhaps now he'll sweep it more carefully". 

Captain Ryan Price (who had by this time moved to Soldiers Field in Nepcote to train horses over the flat), had won the Oaks at Epsom earlier in the year with Ginevra.  In fact, he ended the racing year by being the champion trainer for 1972.

Do you remember the St. Leger of 31 years ago?   Does the name Bruni ring a chord?    He was not the easiest horse at home, but was strong and once he gained his top gear he simply bolted.   He was quite a character and never worked with other horses and was normally sent for hacks over the Findon downland with a quiet horse as a companion .

It is said that the nearby Worthing bookmakers suffered one of their blackest days when Bruni, a three-year-old grey from Ryan Price's Findon stable with Tony Murray in the saddle, won the St. Leger by ten lengths at odds of 9-1.   The inns in the village were filled with revellers spending their winnings that night.

In 1980 that the 68-year-old Captain decided to go ahead and lay a new all-weather exercise track for his racers on the Findon Downs at a cost of £30,000. Alas, in the autumn there was much rain. It poured cats and dogs on the downland and surface water flowed like a fast moving river over the lane from Cissbury Ring. The new exercise track flooded and its contents began to move ever so slowly down the hillside and then gathered momentum.

The Findon villagers blamed the Captain for the havoc caused following the heavy downpours and ensuing flooding in the centre of the village. They claimed quite rightly that his wood shavings and sawdust from the new track were swept down the hillside in the torrent. Inevitably his new track had ended up blocking the drains in Nepcote Lane and the High Street. 

It was said at the time that if the track had cost the Captain £30,000, it was thought that £29,000 worth was now liberally spread throughout the heart of the village.  Seven lorry-loads of the offending soggy wood savings were shovelled up and carted away from Findon in October twenty years ago.

There was even talk of obtaining a court order to prevent any further sawdust being brought in to replenish the trainer's track with further supplies of wood shavings and sawdust!

Continue if you would like to read about A Personality of the Past — Captain Ryan Price 1912-1986.

Continue if you would like to read about Bruni.

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