David Chapman

THE world of racing united this week to pay tribute to David Chapman, the quietly-spoken Yorkshire trainer who allowed his horses to do the talking and who had a phenomenal record of success with his sprinters.

Based at Stillington, near Easingwold, North Yorkshire, Mr Chapman’s career spanned over 40 years before he retired in 2008.

His granddaughter, Ruth Carr, continued the family legacy by taking over the training licence – and she spoke of her shock following the 77-year-old’s sudden death on Monday night.

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“He was out doing his evening feed yesterday evening, came back in, took his boots off, and had some sort of blackout,” she said, “He never regained consciousness and unfortunately passed away.

“It’s heartbreaking, but he was a great man and a great influence on my life and my career.

“He was still my assistant trainer, right up to Monday.

“We have had three winners from our last three runners, including at Beverley on Bank Holiday Monday.

“It was great that he could go out on a high.”

Mr Chapman’s greatest strength as a trainer was with sprinters, of which Soba, Chaplins Club, Glencroft and Quito were his finest talents.

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The exceptionally quick Soba won 13 races, including the Stewards Cup at Goodwood in 1982.

It was one of 11 successes that season for the horse, known as the Queen of the North, and who was ridden on each occasion by David Nicholls, now a top trainer in his own right at Thirsk.

“I was only speaking to him on Monday – I can’t believe it,” said Mr Nicholls.

“Without David Chapman I wouldn’t be training racehorses, it’s as simple as that.

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“I worked for him for 30 years and he was a great man and a great friend.

“They are a very close family and you can only wish them well.”

Chaplins Club twice won nine handicaps in a season – proof of Mr Chapman’s notion that it is horses, and not trainers, who determine the frequency of races. He would not have run the horse if there was any chance of the gelding’s wellbeing suffering as a consequence.

In winning nine handicaps in 1985, Chaplins Club became the first horse to achieve this feat for 100 years.

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This record of consistency was then matched three years later when seven wins came in a golden 19-day spell.

He won the last of his 160 outings at Redcar in July 1992 and a race is staged in honour of Chaplins Club at Pontefract each year.

Former champion jockey Kevin Darley, Chaplins Club’s regular rider, said: “David was great trainer, a real gentleman and he is going to be missed by a lot of people.

“I think it is fair to say David was an unconventional trainer, he did things with horses a lot of trainers wouldn’t think of doing, they didn’t have a routine, he just worked them or did whatever when he thought they needed it, and with horses like Chaplins Club and Glencroft he trained their brains more than anything else.”

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Mr Chapman’s most renowned horse in his final years as a trainer was Quito, who claimed 20 wins from 121 starts, including seven Listed races and an Ayr Gold Cup triumph.

Former steward Michael Hill, who owned Quito in partnership with the trainer, said: “David was a lovely man, very modest and really kind, and his death is a terrible loss.

“I had horses with him for around 35 and we had a great deal of fun.

“He was a master of the business of getting horses that perhaps hadn’t shown as much promise as other trainers had expected, and turning them into frequent winners.

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“I remember when Quito won the Ayr Gold Cup, a reporter asked David how he would be celebrating to which he replied ‘I’ll be driving the horsebox home.’”

That theme was taken up by former jockey Tom O’Ryan, now a distinguished racing journalist and broadcaster, who rode his first winner for the Chapman yard, Vivacious Boy, at Beverley in 1972.

He said: “He was a great friend, a fine trainer, and a tremendous man.

“Riding for him was an experience, just as it was travelling with him to the races in his horsebox.

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“With his wife Marion seated beside him, they would set off on a six-hour trek to one of the Scottish tracks and stop off once or twice to gather water for the horses in a local beck, near the roadside.

“The chances are, after scrambling down the bank and back up again, you’d arrive in the weighing room with grass-strained trousers.”

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