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A trip down memory lane now, as I tell the story of how I first met Adrian, and of his best horse: Mr Snugfit.
At the end of 1978 I had attended the yearling sales at Newmarket, a sale that I have attended every year since the early 1960s. As I ran my eye over the young horses being led around the sales ring I was approached by a tall smartly dressed gentleman.
"Michael Easterby?" he said to me, holding out his hand to shake.
"What the hell do you want?" I'd snapped back at him. "I'm here to buy some horses."
He introduced himself as Mr Adrian Greenwood, informing me that he had just purchased a yearling colt and he was now looking for a trainer.
Mr Greenwood was in the rag trade in West Yorkshire, and then had found his way into local politics. His interests in racing had begun when political duties saw him invited to Buckingham Palace to meet the Queen and whilst in London on Derby day he'd commissioned a taxi to the Epsom Derby where he'd seen the great Nijinsky. From that point he had become hooked and had made the decision to buy a racehorse of his own.
Mr Greenwood told me how he'd watched Mrs McArdy win the 1977 1000 Guineas and Lochnager crowned Champion Sprinter, and how he would like me to train his horse.
Of course the prospect of a new client was of much interest and we headed to the stabling block where the young colt stood so that I could have a good look at him.
I cast my eye over him. He'd cost £1,200 with a plan to race on the flat and Mr Greenwood might just have found himself a bargain although perhaps not in the way intended.
"He'll take time," I told him. "He's a long term prospect, a jumping horse. You won't see him at his best until he's matured. He's got a lot of growing to do and it'll take time."
I hadn't looked at the colt's breeding, but he had every stamp of a jumper about him. However, when I eventually saw the pedigree I thought I'd been given misinformation as his sire was Jukebox, a sprinter.
We discussed training fees and after the sales I loaded him onto a box and took him to Sheriff Hutton. The horse was given the name 'Mr Snugfit' after the line of trousers that were currently being marketed by his owner, 'Snugfit Slacks'. I loved having a clothing merchant amongst my owners and I have to say that I looked very smart in the attire that was regularly brought by Mr Greenwood when he came to visit the horse. I became very partial to Snugfit Slacks in the late 1970s. When I look back I should have really charged him for advertising as well as training.
Mr Snugfit started off in low grade maiden races in 1979, making his debut at Pontefract on 26th April 1979 ridden by Terry Lucas. By the end of the 1979 season he had a row of six duck eggs next to his name, his final outing of the year seeing him trail in again at Pontefract.
After a fruitless campaign on the flat he progressed to hurdles, running unplaced on his debut before scoring at the second attempt. On 28th November 1980 Mr Snugfit won by the skin of his teeth in the snow at Leicester at odds of 14/1. The narrowness of his win was not in terms of distance, as he came home by three lengths to win the first division of the Pickwell Novices Hurdle, but rather due to the fact that after the first race the snow became so bad that the meeting was abandoned. Only one race was run on the card that afternoon, we were just glad that Snugfit had been allocated to run in the first division of the race as my horses in the second division, Hyde and Duke Of Connaught would be denied a run.
The following month he went to Newcastle and won the Alnwick Castle Novices Hurdle, but these wins over timber were bonuses as the horse was born to jump fences, hurdling being just a stepping stone to the bigger obstacles. He was a natural and he loved jumping, although he did once try to be a little too cavalier at a hurdle at Catterick in January 1982 and took a crashing fall. The fall woke him up a bit and taught him to respect the obstacles and from that point onwards he would never find himself on the deck again.
Mr Snugfit continued to grow nicely, and at five he was looking every inch the big raw-boned chaser that I had hoped. Adrian was a fabulous owner to have in the yard and also incredibly patient, following the advice that I had given. We hadn't put too many miles on Snugfit's clock as he'd ticked over in readiness for steeplechasing. Every time he was schooled over fences and he jumped majestically. Finally he was in a position where he would be given the opportunity to demonstrate his full potential.
Mr Snugfit proved himself an out and out stayer, winning his first steeplechase in novice company at Sedgefield in April 1983 in the hands of Phil Tuck. The following season he would tackle handicaps and in December he won twice in the space of nine days starting at Southwell and following up on Christmas Eve at Sedgefield. January 1984 would see him win at Leicester when he was left at the front after a horse called Last Argument fell whilst in the lead. Snugfit plugged on led for the remainder of the race.
At this time Adrian and I had discussed the possibility of the Grand National but we decided that he was a year too young to become my first ever runner in the Liverpool showpiece and patience prevailed.
Mr Snugfit was considered a certainty when he tackled the four and a quarter mile Lincolnshire Chase, and so did the bookmakers, as he was sent off the 13/8 favourite. It was a week after his Leicester win but the race came too soon for him and he was pulled up. In March we ran him in the Kim Muir at Cheltenham in 1984 where he was unplaced. We went back to the drawing board, but it would not be until the following season that Mr Snugfit would win again.
As the 1984/5 season approached we decided to aim Mr Snugfit at the Grand National and we mapped out a campaign that would keep the horse busy.
In March 1984 Mr Snugfit ran in the Kaltenberg Pils Handicap Chase, better known as the Topham Chase, at Liverpool to give him the chance to jump the unique Aintree fences and he ran with much credit over an insufficient trip to finish seventh. The experience of the course was valuable.
After several unplaced runs Snugfit's next victory would come on New Year's Eve 1984 at Carlisle. He followed up by winning at Leicester with an especially fine display of jumping. It was a win that opened a few eyes as the form was solid, defeating a horse called Last Deal by eight lengths. Last Deal had won his last eight races over fences and the race had been a proper test. Snugfit had passed with flying colours.
Adrian and I thought he needed another run, and we sent him to Wetherby where he disappointed us both by finishing fourth, but it was just a blip and Snugfit would hit form at the right time, winning the Long Eaton Handicap Chase at Nottingham. Another victory followed as he defied a five-pound penalty to land the Kendal Handicap Chase at Carlisle.
Meanwhile, productivity at Adrian Greenwood's factory at Hebden Bridge was soaring. Every time Snugfit won the fourteen girls working there backed him, their wages being supplemented at an extraordinary rate. I half-joked with him at the time that he should cut their wages if they were making so much money in winnings.
Snugfit's prep race for the 1985 National came at Nottingham on 19th March 1985 where he lugged round top weight to win the Trent Handicap Chase. Phil Tuck hit the front two out and he galloped to the line to land the odds of 5/4, holding off the late challenge of Personality Plus. The bookmakers responded by cutting his odds further for the Grand National, but Adrian and I had already backed him at 80/1 so we didn't mind.
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