Richard Marsh (horseman)
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Richard Marsh MVO (1851–1933) was a British trainer of racehorses. After his promising career as a jockey was ended by his rising weight, Marsh set up as a trainer in 1874. He trained from a number of stables before eventually making his base at Egerton House in
Newmarket, Suffolk Newmarket is a market town and civil parish in the West Suffolk (district), West Suffolk district of Suffolk, England, 14 miles west of Bury St Edmunds and 14 miles northeast of Cambridge. In 2021, it had a population of 16,772. It is a global ...
. In a training career of fifty years, Marsh trained the winners of twelve British Classic Race and many other major races. His greatest success sprang from his association with
King Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria and ...
, for whom he trained three winners of The Derby. Two of Marsh's sons later became successful trainers.


Background

Richard Marsh was born on 31 December 1851, either in
Dover Dover ( ) is a town and major ferry port in Kent, southeast England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies southeast of Canterbury and east of Maidstone. ...
or in the village of
Smeeth Smeeth is a mostly agricultural land use village and civil parish, centred east of Ashford in the Ashford Borough of Kent, England. Geography Smeeth is a small village in population near Mersham Hatch Park on the A20 road from Ashford to ...
in Kent. His father was a farmer and the family had no links to racing.


Riding career

Marsh began riding racehorses in his mid teens and rode his first winner in 1866. He attracted the attention of some Newmarket trainers and rode his most important winner on Temple in the
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at
Royal Ascot Ascot Racecourse is a dual-purpose British racecourse, located in Ascot, Berkshire, England, about 25 miles west of London. Ascot is used for thoroughbred horse racing, and it hosts 13 of Britain's 36 annual Flat Group 1 races and three Gra ...
in 1869. Marsh's rising weight forced him to abandon his career as a flat race jockey, although he had some success as a jockey in hurdle races and
steeplechase SteepleChase Records is a jazz record company and label based in Copenhagen, Denmark. SteepleChase was founded in 1972 by Nils Winther, who was a student at Copenhagen University at the time. He began recording concerts at Jazzhus Montmartre, ...
s until retiring from the saddle in 1881.


Training career

In 1874 or 1875, Marsh began training horses at Banstead Manor at
Epsom Epsom is a town in the borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, England, about south of central London. The town is first recorded as ''Ebesham'' in the 10th century and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain ...
. He later moved to the Newmarket area, where he was based at
Six Mile Bottom Six Mile Bottom is a hamlet within the parish of Little Wilbraham, near Cambridge in England. Etymology The hamlet was named in 1801, deriving its name from the six mile distance to Newmarket and its location in a bottom, an archaic term for ...
before moving to Lordship Farm. He attracted the patronage of several major owners including the
Duke of Hamilton Duke of Hamilton is a title in the Peerage of Scotland, created in April 1643. It is the senior dukedom in that peerage (except for the Duke of Rothesay, Dukedom of Rothesay held by the sovereign's eldest son), and as such its holder is the pr ...
. In 1883, he recorded his first classic win when the Duke's horse Ossian won the St Leger. Three years later, he won the 1000 Guineas and Oaks for the same owner with Miss Jummy. The horses owned by the
Prince of Wales Prince of Wales (, ; ) is a title traditionally given to the male heir apparent to the History of the English monarchy, English, and later, the British throne. The title originated with the Welsh rulers of Kingdom of Gwynedd, Gwynedd who, from ...
had been trained by John Porter at
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, but in late 1892 they were sent to Marsh, who had just opened a large and well-equipped new stable at Egerton House in Newmarket. The official explanation was that Newmarket was closer to the royal residence at
Sandringham Sandringham can refer to: Places Australia * Sandringham, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney * Sandringham, Queensland, a rural locality * Sandringham, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne **Sandringham railway line **Sandringham railway station * ...
, although there had also been a disagreement between the Prince's racing manager Marcus Beresford and one of Porter's principal patrons the
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. One owner who followed the Prince'e example was
Maurice de Hirsch Moritz Freiherr von Hirsch auf Gereuth (; ; 9 December 1831 – 21 April 1896), commonly known as Maurice de Hirsch, was a German Jewish financier and philanthropist who set up charitable foundations to promote Jewish education and improve the ...
, who transferred the outstanding racemare
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from Porter to Marsh. La Fleche took some time to adapt, but won the
Ascot Gold Cup The Gold Cup is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged four years or older. It is run at Ascot over a distance of 2 miles 3 furlongs and 210 yards (4 ...
for Marsh in 1894. Marsh's first major success for his royal patron came with
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. The colt won seven of his nine races including the Derby, St Leger, Eclipse Stakes and Ascot Gold Cup. Persimmon's successes led
Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...
to pay her final visit to Royal Ascot after Marsh assured her (correctly) that the horse was sure to win. Four years later, Marsh trained Persimmon's temperamental brother
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to win the Triple Crown. Diamond Jubilee's wins enabled Marsh to win his third and final trainers' championship. The Prince continued his involvement in racing after coming to the throne as King Edward VII in 1901, although the numbers of his horses in training declined. Marsh gave the King his final major successes by sending out Minoru to win the 2000 Guineas and Derby in 1909. Wins for other owners in the same period included the 1898 Derby with the 100/1 outsider
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and the 1000 Guineas in 1896 with the filly
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. Royal interest in horse racing declined after Edward VII was succeeded by
George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until Death and state funeral of George V, his death in 1936. George w ...
in 1910 and Marsh trained no further classic winners. He continued to be successful at a lower level, winning races including the
Middle Park Stakes The Middle Park Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to two-year-old colts. It is run on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket over a distance of 6 furlongs (1,207 metres), and it i ...
and the
Royal Hunt Cup The Royal Hunt Cup is a flat handicap horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run at Ascot over a distance of 1 mile (1,609 metres), and it is scheduled to ...
before retiring at the end of 1924. Marsh lived at
Great Shelford Great Shelford is a village located approximately to the south of Cambridge, in Cambridgeshire, in eastern England. In 1850 Great Shelford parish contained bisected by the River Cam. The population in 1841 was 803 people. By 2001, this had g ...
near
Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...
until his death in May 1933 at the age of 82.


Personal life

Marsh was a financially successful trainer, but ploughed most of his money into maintaining and improving the facilities at Egerton House. At one stage he was made
bankrupt Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the de ...
and on his death he left an estate of only £383. Away from the racecourse his main interest was
drag hunting Drag hunting or draghunting is a form of equestrian sport where mounted riders hunt the trail of an artificially laid scent with hounds. Description Drag hunting is an equestrian sport where a field of mounted riders chase a pack of hounds who fo ...
. Shortly after his retirement he published his autobiography entitled ''A Trainer to Two Kings''. Richard John Marsh married twice, his first wife Olive Thirlwell (m 1876 England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1837-1915) was the eldest daughter of a Sussex farmer (and racing enthusiast) Robert Thirlwell and older sister of Dan Thirlwell a well respected jockey of the 1880s. Richard had two sons who became successful trainers, Charles Marsh, from his first marriage, was the private trainer to William Brodrick Cloete and won the Oaks with
Cherimoya The cherimoya (''Annona cherimola''), also spelled chirimoya and called chirimuya by the Quechua people, is a species of edible fruit-bearing plant in the genus ''Annona'', from the family Annonaceae, which includes the closely related sweetsop ...
on the filly's only racecourse appearance. Marsh's second marriage was to Grace (m 1900 ), the sister of
Fred Darling Frederick Darling (1884–1953) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse trainer who trained a record-equalling seven English Derby winners. Darling's father, Sam Darling senior, was a trainer at Beckhampton, near Avebury in Wiltshire, who traine ...
. Their son
Marcus Marsh Marcus Maskell Marsh (1904–1983) was an English racehorse trainer. He was the son of the trainer Richard Marsh. His British Classic wins included The Derby and St. Leger with Tulyar (1952) and Windsor Lad (1934) as well as the 2,000 Guin ...
trained five classic winners including
Windsor Lad Windsor Lad (1931–1943) was an Irish-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse. As a three-year-old in 1934, he won both The Derby and the St Leger in record time. In 1935, he won the Coronation Cup and the Eclipse Stakes before his career ...
and
Tulyar Tulyar (1949–1972) was an Ireland, Irish bred, British-trained Thoroughbred Horse racing, racehorse and Horse breeding#Terminology, sire. He won Epsom Derby, The Derby, the St Leger Stakes, the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes, the Orm ...
.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marsh, Richard Members of the Royal Victorian Order 1851 births 1933 deaths British racehorse trainers People from Dover, Kent People from Great Shelford People from the Borough of Ashford