9 hours ago
Forget the king as another ‘Charlie' rules for Glasgow gang at Ascot
There are places whose very names evoke the racing game; Epsom, Newmarket, Cheltenham, York and Melbourne for the Cup. But until the five-year-old speedball American Affair battled home in the King Charles III Stakes, it had not normally been associated with Glasgow.
Yet American Affair is trained 15 miles south of the city by the splendidly unreconstructed Jim Goldie and bred just to the north from one of the two mares of owners John and Wendy McGrandles.
'He's probably the only horse here with a Glasgow postcode in his passport!' McGrandles said. 'I've been involved with horses since I was six. My wife is a veterinary surgeon — and we're off to the Highland Show tomorrow with sheep. This horse is the biggest winner we've had, yes. And the horse's stable name is Charlie and he's won the King Charles!'