LOOK SHARPE: A Great Man Who Made His Mark on Royal Ascot….

Sports betting PR legend GRAHAM SHARPE brings you his latest ‘LOOK SHARPE’ column…

MANY HAVE TRIED, but none has succeeded.

That much is glaringly obvious every time another ‘big’ meeting comes around.

They all pay lip service to telling viewers and listeners what is going on in the betting ring, and they portray the betting action with varying degrees of success and enjoyment.

But, for me, Royal Ascot mainstream TV coverage just emphasised that none of them comes remotely close to doing so with the sheer force that John McCririck brought to the role. So brilliantly did he perform that task that his screen presence transferred to mainstream television in a variety of roles and appearances.

Who has done that since John’s death aged 79 in July, 2019? Brian Gleeson tried valiantly, but just lacks the spark of charisma, background knowledge and genuine enthusiasm that Big Mac offered.

In my opinion, only Matt Chapman has come anywhere near close, but his short dalliance with mainstream tv, via ‘Dancing On Ice’ ended early in 2018, in a way which suggests it is unlikely to be repeated any time soon.

I was a little disappointed firstly that ITV’s Ascot coverage had to compete with the Euros, and found itself disjointedly jumping from channel to channel during the afternoon’s coverage.

Ed Chamberlin is a competent presenter, but for me lacks the ‘warmth’ and spontaneity that his sidekick/underling Oli – how odd is that spelling, by the way? – Bell rings to his role. And as for Ed trying to convince us that the horse, Illinois should be pronounced IllinWAH – that was just bizarre! As was his promotional remark about the ITV7: ‘It’s not easy, but someone could easily win it.’

Race results and starting prices were freqently tardy in coming up on screen in complete form, which seemed to illustrate a playing-down of the inherent gambling element of the whole thing, regardless of the posh frock and even posher racehorse owner elements of themeeting. Obviously the betting is not the only ingredient of this historic event, but without it, it self-evidently wouldn’t last much longer.

It was wonderful to witness the irreplaceable and inimitable Sir Mark Prescott enjoying a Royal Ascot winner, and responding to the congratulations afrter his 20/1 winner Pledgeofallegiance ended a 28 year drought at this meeting for him. I have spoken with Sir Mark in the past about the notable missing ingredient to his career – an autobiography, and even offered to ‘ghost-write’ such a guaranteed racing best-seller for him. He quite rightly insisted that he is entirely capable of writing such an obvious best-seller himself, but there is no indication that he has yet signed a contract to do so any time in the near future.

So here is my own look at this great racing personality…

HE HASN’T TRAINED Derby or Grand National winners, but Sir Mark Prescott, 3rd Baronet, has strong claims to be considered one of the finest exponents of the art of placing racehorses to their best advantage. And definitely one of the quirkiest – eccentric, even.

Now, in his mid seventies, Sir Mark is still going strong, still a lover of cigars, coursing and bull-fighting – the latter the inspiration for a stalls blanket for his runners which he created, based on a ‘picador’s accoutrement’.

‘All I want out of life is a cigar, to go and see a bullfight and have the freedom to turn up the heating’ said this teetotal Old Harrovian, whose heroes include Labour stalwarts Tony Benn and 1930s Party leader, George Lansbury.

His place of work, Heath House Stables, is even older than Sir Mark – winners have been sent out from this beautiful, historic Newmarket location for best part of two hundred years, best part of two thousand of them by the current resident, who began there half a century ago.

Sir Mark had 200 rides as an amateur jockey and learned the training trade from mentor Jack Waugh who ‘drilled into me that your duty is to your owner first, last, always’ – and taught him to recognise horses by feeling their legs, blindfolded – him, not the horse!

His first winner was Belle Royale at Teesside Park on April 23, 1971.

You could argue that his career peaked when his Alpinista won the 2022 Arc de Triomphe – significantly boosting the Sharpe bank balance, it must be admitted!

His former, long serving, jockey George Duffield – of whom Sir Mark once commented ‘I have looked at many another woman, but I have never looked at another jockey’ – declared; ‘He finds it an enormous challenge to place cripples or quirky horses to win.’

He has had prolific winners like Spindrifter, with 13 wins as a two year old, and Misty Halo who, between 1981 and 1985 won 21 of 42 starts, a post-War record for a mare. He can also spot a horse’s sweet spot and exploits it – Masafi won seven times in 18 days for him and Fall In Line six times in 13.

But: ‘I haven’t the slightest interest in being champion trainer, I would like to be the best trainer, though I don’t know what that is.’

Known as the ‘bachelor baronet’ Prescott is perfectly happy single – ‘If I had a family and whatnot, I’d have less time to do all my little scheming wheezes. I’m very happy that everybody else breeds like rabbits and gets into all the expense and often have their lives completely messed up by it.’

He broke his back in an accident at Wye racecourse, aged 15 and was in hospital for 18 months – ‘I couldn’t swallow, I couldn’t blink for nine weeks.’ This changed his perspective on life – ‘I came out believing it was desperately important to do everything as well as I could, but equally to realise it is all completely unimportant in comparison. Training should never be life and death. That’s for other sports.’

Sports, perhaps such as bull-fighting, which features prominently in the shape of dramatic photographs in his home, along with the skin of 1884 Ascot Gold Cup winner St Simon, paintings of fighting cocks and statues of greyhound coursers.

Quizzed about bullfighting, Prescott stresses the difference in quality of life between the animals involved in that sport and those served on a plate as veal.

Sir Mark is known for thinking ahead and once answered ‘I’m not prepared to bet against it’ when asked whether he believes in life after death.

But he has prepared for that hopefully long delayed event, once telling my sportswriter friend Will Buckley that he had been shown around his graveyard of choice, having ‘wanted to find myself a nice plot with some agreeable people around.

‘I had to contact the Parks and Recreation authority. A nice fellow showed me the graveyard, and there was Fred Archer (multiple champion jockey), Mr Dawson, Mr Waugh (legendary trainers) and lots of nice people. I found a nice corner and said ‘I want three plots down there.’

He said ‘Would that be for Sir, and Lady Prescott and your son and heir?’

‘Certainly not’ I replied, ‘It’s so I don’t have to have any f***er next to me.”

Pure Sir Mark!

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Views of authors do not necessarily represent views of Star Sports Bookmakers.

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