Paul Davey; racehorse trainer (My Swallow)
Hyfler/Rosner
Trainer of My Swallow
The Independent
03 April 2007
Tony Smurthwaite
Paul Davey, racehorse trainer: born 25 April 1925; married;
died Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk 7 March 2007.
Paul Davey rose to prominence as trainer of the top-class
racehorse My Swallow, arguably the best of hundreds owned by
the television rental millioniare turned turf investor
extraordinaire David Robinson.
In 1971 My Swallow took part in what is still regarded as
one of the greatest runnings of the 2,000 Guineas, becoming
locked in battle with the brilliant Paul Mellon colt Mill
Reef, trained by Ian Balding. So absorbed were the pair with
taking one another on over the length of Newmarket's Rowley
Mile that they left the race at the mercy of a then
less-heralded rival, Brigadier Gerard. While the Brigadier
raced on into turf immortality with 17 wins from 18 starts,
and Mill Reef won the Derby and Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe,
My Swallow's best days were behind him.
There had been salad days, none the less. Bought for his
precocity as a two-year-old, as were most of the Robinson
horses, My Swallow was a revelation, winning the top four
races in France for his age group in 1970.
Paul Davey's father Ernie trained from stables in Malton,
North Yorkshire, where his son's apprenticeship lasted until
beyond the age of 40. The break was as long-haul as it was
long-awaited. Davey junior took up residence in 1968 at the
renowned Clarehaven Stables in Newmarket as private trainer
to Robinson, Britain's biggest owner of the 1960s and 1970s.
With Robinson's firepower allied to Davey's burning ambition
to prove to his peers in Yorkshire that he could train in
his own right, the pair flourished and by the following
season Robinson was Britain's leading owner.
Robinson's string of 157 horses was divided between Davey
and his fellow Newmarket trainer Michael Jarvis. Davey and
Jarvis were part of an entourage that also included the Earl
of Harrington, whose role was largely in pedigree assessment
of potential purchases. Jarvis recalls that he and Davey,
both ambitious and young, were dubbed the "Robinson
Rangers".
In 1970 Davey took charge of a two-year-old who would shape
his trainer's career. My Swallow won all his seven races
that year, starting in the Zetland Stakes in May as odds-on
favourite under Lester Piggott and ending in the Grand
Critérium, by way of the Prix Robert Papin, Prix Morny and
Prix de la Salamandre.
My Swallow also won at Epsom on Derby Day. His success in
the Woodcote Stakes gave Piggott a warm-up act just an hour
before he steered Nijinsky to victory in the Derby as the
middle leg of his Triple Crown. After his memorable run in
the Guineas the following spring, My Swallow ran just twice
more, without winning, before retiring to Derisley Wood Stud
in Newmarket, now a part of the Maktoum family empire.
Yellow God was another smart performer for Davey, winning
the 1969 Gimcrack Stakes, one of the top races for
two-year-olds, then running a respectable if distant second
to Nijinsky in the 2,000 Guineas. Davey showed once more his
prowess with two-year-olds in 1971, thanks to the robust
chestnut Deep Diver. He was even busier than My Swallow,
running 11 times for seven wins including the Cornwallis
Stakes at Ascot. Moreover, Deep Diver carried his form into
the next season, establishing himself as a top-flight
sprinter with victories in the Nunthorpe Stakes and Prix de
l'Abbaye de Longchamp.
Clarehaven was certainly in the ascendant, yet by 1974
Robinson had decided to reduce his racing interests.
Generally a taciturn figure at the races, and even miserable
according to some, Robinson ran his racing operation on
strict business rules. His withdrawal was followed not too
longer afterwards by that of Davey, who while cutting a
quiet figure was none the less a well-known and cheery face
about town in Newmarket.
It seems that by this time Davey's thirst for achievement
was slaked. He left Clarehaven for Yorkshire to look after
significant property interests. He was to return to
Newmarket in later life.