Lilacs in the Spring

I have no strong preference when it comes to the various television channels concentrating on racing. Twist my arm and I’d say there is slightly too much detail on Racing UK  –  is it really all that relevant how fast a horse covered a particular furlong? Do we note it down for next time? I think not.

On the other hand, I’ll happily watch Dave Nevison. Life has dealt him a couple of sickening blows and his ‘dancing on tables’ days seem a long time ago. His views are valid but restrained. Where others see romance and glittering possibilities, Dave sees a job that has to be done. I’m with him on that.

Sky sometimes dips towards jokiness and we certainly don’t need the tips but I enjoy listening to Mick Fitzgerald, especially around the so-called ‘gaffs’. Mick lives and breathes Lambourn, so if an amateur rider you’ve never heard of turns up at Newton Abbot  –  a venue I like more and more as the years go by  –  Mick can probably fill in all the details.

Sky’s coverage of racing in France is also highly creditable and I tune in just to catch a glimpse of the chateau at Chantilly. It’s all too brief, of course, and we could do with some more background material. This magnificent building, torn apart during the French Revolution and all but obliterated in the Second World War, is thriving these days, the Aga Khan having chipped in $40m as part of the resurrection process.

I’d go racing once a week in France if I could. Needless to say, I’d be in a petit pavement bistro for a cognac and strong coffee beforehand, my Paris-Turf readily to hand, but I’d stroll over to the racecourse in good time to see them canter down at Chantilly. The betting is of secondary importance, although 8/11 about Aidan O’Brien’s Group 1 winner Hawk Mountain in the Prix De Guiche was remarkably generous. But then, as we know, people can’t quite have top-class horses in cheekpieces, no matter what they may say. He is unlikely to appreciate Epsom but looked the proverbial good thing here.

His victory was followed by Edaja retaining her unbeaten record at 2/1 in the Prix des Lilas. Lilacs bloom earlier nowadays, although Chantilly has always had its share in the spring.

Their proud appearance reminded me that the Closerie des Lilas was one of Hemingway’s favourite cafes during his lengthy sojourn in the French capital in the 1920s. The flowers also offered a poignant reminder of how things have changed for Parisian punters in a hundred years and how Flat racing has taken a back seat.

This is Hemingway sitting outside the Closerie des Lilas in late afternoon and writing about the sport:

‘I walked over to the kiosque and bought a Paris-Sport Complet, the final edition of the afternoon racing paper with the results at Auteuil and the line on the next day’s racing at Enghien. The waiter Emile came to the table to see the result of the last race at Enghien.’

For Paris a hundred years on you might just as well read London. If a sports editor believes people aren’t interested in racing, it goes to the bottom of the list. Incredibly, the Observer on Sunday failed to mention the 2000 Guineas at all, even though it produced one of the most impressive winners of recent years.

I think two or three things about Hemingway. I believe he was happiest with his first wife, Hadley Richardson, and came to realise it later in life. I think the early Paris material, glittering like a string of diamonds in a shady banlieue, is as good as anything he wrote afterwards and My Old Man is a short story which touches perfection.

And he adored racing, simply adored it. Simple can be good, in fact it can be very good indeed. In A Moveable Feast he and Hadley go racing, though they can barely afford it, and a friend from the old Milan days tips them a couple of winners.

‘My, but racing is very hard on people,’ my wife said. ‘Did you see that other horse come up on him?’

‘I can still feel it inside me.’

The horses came by, ours wet, with his nostrils working wide to breathe, the jockey patting him.

‘Poor him,’ my wife said. ‘We just bet.’

Yes, that’s right, we just bet; and write a little bit, of course. Some of us seek our own Closerie for inspiration. Lilacs in the spring would be a welcome bonus, I feel.

Ian Carnaby’s books are available to buy on our website by clicking here