Making the Running: A Racing Memoir

by Ian Balding

The image of the Derby winner with his leg in plaster was broadcast around the world. Alongside Mill Reef stood a baby-faced man who had won the Arc, the King George, the Eclipse, and now the Derby. He trained for the Queen and Queen Mother; and Lester Piggott, Willie Carson, and Frankie Dettori all rode for him—but where had he come from and how had he got there? Ian Balding's story is one of heartbreaking loss and outrageous good luck. He left Cambridge without a degree but with a rugby blue, and became one of the outstanding amateur sportsmen of his generation. Balding's burgeoning talent was quickly noticed and he was soon running Peter Hastings-Bass' stables at Kingsclere. Ian had no money and no experience of running a business, but he learned fast. In Making the Running, Ian Balding reveals the pressure of maintaining the pace, and shares the highs and lows of the sport of kings.

288 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 2004

Reviews

[Ibrahim · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think this is the most uninspiring memoir I’ve read so far. The man led such a dreadfully privileged life, inheriting connections, favors, and marrying into an established flat-racing stable that got him a permanent seat in the high society of racing. His young life was so idyllic and hardship-free that he made a habit of giving up academically and disappointing those who believed and invested in him. Talk about a silver spoon.
Besides the story of Mill Reef, the brilliant sprinter Lochsong, and some august characters he crossed paths with, I don’t think I cared much for whatever he had to say. And my God, those insufferably long accounts of his interests, followed by many a lame and uneventful anecdote. Throughout the whole read, I tried to no avail to develop some kind of a connection with the author, but to me he always came off as bland and a bit of a snob at times. Certainly not in the conversation of truly great trainers in my book. I mean, he had some good years and a couple of top-class horses that he handled pretty well, but again it was bound to happen when you consider how things seemed to just fall into his lap. I wonder what would have become of his training career otherwise.

[Fiona · Rating 4 out of 5]

It could be easy to feel some anger with the way Ian Balding walked into success by being in the right place at the right time & knowing the right people, but his story is told so well & with such compassion you end up liking him so much! He did face tragedy with the early death of his Father from cancer & then the cancer of his employer Peter Hastings. He describes how he recognised the look of the illness. It's a really honest autobiography that also shows the tightness of his family unit & the close relationship with his older trainer brother.
The description of the life of a trainer, the world of horse racing & his undoubted love for all animals ia all there. Recommended.