THE thought of being “carted off in a box” is enough to keep most of us awake at night. Jack Berry, the former racehorse trainer with the famous red shirt, prefers to use his mortality as a focus, rather than a distraction.
He’s not ready to be measured up just yet, because the 72-year-old has a pressing dream he’s yet to fulfil.
Just over 200 miles away from York is the racing centre of Lambourn – and Oaksey House.
The flagship facility of the Injured Jockeys’ Fund, the multi-million centre has 12 homes for injured riders, a residents’ centre, respite accommodation, gyms, a function room, a sauna and physio room.
It’s a magnificent building, carved from the former derelict Bourne House Stables.
And while it might be named after Lord Oaksey, the IJF president and fellow prime mover in the scheme, Berry – who helped form the organisation in 1964 – was absolutely integral to it.
But there’s one problem. It’s in Lambourn.
Berry reckons the fund has more beneficiaries in the north than the south, and that’s led him to his latest crusade: an Oaksey House in Malton or Middleham.
“I would like it to happen before I am carted off in a box,” he repeats. “I would like it to be somewhere in the racing fraternity – Malton or Middleham. It might be easier to get planning permission around Malton. There are more beneficiaries in the north than in the midlands and the south together.
“Oaksey House is a magnificent facility, but it’s not much good for injured jockeys up here who don’t want to move to the south. We need that facility and I would like it to happen in my time.
“It will take millions and there are all sorts of people, doing all sorts of things, to try and make it happen. I want to see it built. I have got my teeth right into the project. I am a little terrier with it and I am delighted that people are getting behind it.”
Berry’s latest book, Better Late Than Never, is the first stage in what will undoubtedly be a long fundraising drive to raise the estimated £5 million required to build a northern centre.
Two print runs of 2,000 copies have already been snapped up. A third run is now keeping Berry busy as order requests continue to flow to his Bedale home.
The book alone has raised nearly £70,000, and that’s fuelling the ex-trainer’s dreams of how the northern home could shape up. Berry, who trained more than 1,500 winners during his career, doesn’t want to stick to the tried and tested. “I would like it to be a little bit more extensive than Oaksey House, in Lambourn, is at the moment,” he added.
“There are lots of people who need it. Oaksey House is brilliant but it could have a bit more land – and that is the plan for the northern buildings.
“I would like it to be a bit different. The idea is for it to be over five or six acres – a nice little place where people can come with their dogs, go for walks and see the ducks and retired horses.”
In Newmarket, and back in Lambourn, the IJF are supportive of Berry’s northern vision.
“We are very keen to look at reproducing a similar facility to Oaksey House in the north, providing similar medical, rehabilitation and consultation facilities,” a spokesman said.
“Oaksey House is the first capital expenditure programme we have been involved in and we are learning all the time from it. Once we are more comfortable with the running of it, and the demand for it, we could look at having a similar facility in the north.
“It’s at a very early stage and it wouldn’t necessarily mirror Oaksey House, but we are certainly supportive of Jack’s vision.”
• To buy a copy of Jack Berry’s latest autobiography, Better Late Than Never, send a cheque for £14.99, made payable to the Injured Jockeys Fund, to Jack Berry, Well Close House, Hunton, near Bedale, North Yorkshire, DL8 1QW.
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