Review
"Well worth a read. A superb part personal, part biographic nostalgia trip back to the days of Peter Alliss, Fred Winter and others" Phil Thomas, THE SUN ON SUNDAY
"A definite buy for me." Taylor, FRANK TRUATT MORNING SHOW. NY and NJ's no.1 Drive Time Morning Show
"Motor racing legend Mike Hawthorn and others immortalised in new sports book. Littlefield pays homage with a clever juxtaposition of history and fantasy." Darren Burke, DARLINGTON FREE PRESS
About the Author
Sir Michael Ronald Stoute (born 22 October 1945, in Barbados) is a Barbadian British thoroughbred horse trainer in flat racing. Stoute, whose father was the Chief of Police for Barbados, left the island in 1964 at the age of 19 to become an assistant to trainer Pat Rohan and began training horses on his own in 1972. His first win as a trainer came on 28 April 1972 when Sandal, a horse owned by Stoute's father, won at Newmarket Racecourse in England. Since then, he has gone on to win races all over the globe, including victories in the Dubai World Cup, the Breeders Cup, the Japan Cup and the Hong Kong Vase.He was made a Knight Bachelor in 1998 for services to tourism in Barbados. He was the only trainer in the 20th century to win an English Classic in five successive seasons and has been Champion Trainer ten times (1981, 1986, 1989, 1994, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006 and 2009). He was the trainer for Kribensis, who won the Triple Crown of Hurdling, in the 1989/90 racing season. Stoute also trained Shergar, arguably his most famous horse, who won the 1981 Epsom Derby and was later stolen, presumably by the IRA.In 2009, three horses trained by Stoute-Conduit, Tartan Bearer and Ask-pulled off a rare feat when the trio made a clean sweep of the placings at the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes. In all, the horses took home $1,787,000 of the $2,008,945 prizemoney in Britain's richest horserace. Those wins helped him regain his Champion Trainer title in 2009, winning a total of £3,372,287 in prize money.In 2013 he trained the Queen's horse Estimate to Gold Cup victory at Royal Ascot.Stoute currently trains horses at Freemason Lodge Stables and at Beech Hurst Stables, both on the Bury Road in Newmarket.
Briggs won the World Individual Championship title four times - in 1957, 1958, 1964 and 1966.He appeared in a record 17 consecutive World Individual finals (1954-70), and a record 18 in all, during which he scored a record 201 points. He also won the London Riders' Championship in 1955 whilst riding for the Wimbledon Dons. He is also a six-time winner of the British Championship. He won the first final in 1961 and then dominated the sixties titles by winning in 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, and 1969.Briggs also twice won his home title, the New Zealand Championship, winning in 1959 and again in 1963.Briggs also created a domestic record by winning the British League Riders Championship for six consecutive years from 1965-1970, representing the Swindon Robins.Briggs retired from British league racing in 1972 after an accident during Heat 5 of the World Final at Wembley Stadium with Swedish rider Bernt Persson.[6] As a result of the accident, Briggs lost the index finger of his left hand, but returned in 1974, then announcing in 1975 that this would be his last season but actually returning for another year with Hull Vikings, retiring for a final time in 1976.During the early to mid-1970s, Briggs was one of a number of World Champion riders (along with fellow kiwi Ivan Mauger and Denmark's Ole Olsen) as well as a number of others such as Edward Jancarz and Zenon Plech from Poland and England's Chris Pusey, who embarked on world tours to Australia, his native New Zealand and the USA. Their trips to the USA, primarily the Costa Mesa Speedway in Los Angeles, helped spark the American motorcycle speedway scene which had been dormant on the world stage since the pre-World War II days of 1937 World Champion Jack Milne, his brother Cordy Milne and Wilbur Lamoreaux.In 1973 Briggs was awarded an MBE for his services to sport and in 1990 he was inducted into the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame. From 17 March 2010 Briggs took part in a John o' Groats to Land's End bike ride to raise money for the BBC's Sport Relief.In retirement, Briggs became the mentor to many young riders who went on to race in World Finals including fellow Kiwi Mitch Shirra. He also lent his voice to television, becoming a respected speedway commentator in England and Europe, as well as the USA.
Geoffrey Littlefield is a baby boomer born in London, England. His lifelong passions include sport, films and music. His first magazine article was published when he was just 13 years old, featuring interviews with Chelsea FC and England soccer players. His first foray into the world of entertainment was when he appeared on the BBC radio programme Junior Sporting Chance where he captained the winning team. His love of music grew simultaneously, with particular focus on the Great American Songbook. Geoffrey eventually moved into professional music management and record production, and his written works include an exclusive interview with American singer Vic Damone, who was described by Frank Sinatra as having "the best pipes in the business." Geoffrey has been the subject of several radio and television interviews about the Great American Songbook, both in the U.K. and U.S. Geoffrey continues to write, produce and direct. His production company Allestone Productions has two movie screenplays in development. Geoffrey's first book was published in February 2021, the Authorised Biography titled NELSON RIDDLE: Music With a Heartbeat. It was a best-seller on Kindle in the Jazz Music category.
