Gerald Barnard Balding Jr.

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(23 September 1936 – 25 September 2014), known as Toby Balding, was a British

racehorse Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic ...

trainer, one of the few to have won the "big three" British jump races—the

Grand National The Grand National is a National Hunt horse race held annually at Aintree Racecourse in Liverpool, England. First run in 1839, it is a handica ...

Cheltenham Gold Cup The Cheltenham Gold Cup is a Grade 1 National Hunt horse race run on the New Course at Cheltenham Racecourse in England, over a distance of about 3 miles 2½ furlongs ...

and

Champion Hurdle The Champion Hurdle is a Grade 1 National Hunt hurdle race in Great Britain which is open to horses aged four years or older. It is run on the Old Course at Cheltenham over a ...

Biography

He was born in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

where his father,

Gerald Barnard Balding, Sr. Gerald Matthews Balding (1903 – 16 September 1957) was a British champion polo player. Biography He was born in Leicestershire, England, in 1903. He had two brothers who also played polo, Ivor Godfrey Balding and John Barnard "Barney" Balding ...

, ran a polo team. The family returned to the UK in 1945 and Toby was educated at

Marlborough College Marlborough College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Independent school (United Kingdom), independent boarding school) for pupils aged 13 to 18 in Marlborough, Wiltshire, England. Founded in 1843 for the sons of Church ...

. His brother,

Ian Balding Ian Balding (born 7 November 1938) is a retired British horse trainer. He is the son of the polo player and racehorse trainer Gerald Matthews Balding and the younger brother of trainer Toby Balding. Ian Balding was born in the US, but his fami ...

, also a retired trainer, trained

Mill Reef Mill may refer to: Science and technology * * Mill (grinding) * Milling (machining) * Millwork * Textile mill * Steel mill, a factory for the manufacture of steel * List of types of mill * Mill, the arithmetic unit of the Analytical Engine earl ...

to win the Epsom Derby. TV presenter

Clare Balding Clare Victoria Balding (born 29 January 1971) is an English broadcaster, journalist, and author. She currently presents for BBC Sport, Channel 4, BT Sport, is the current president of the Rugby Football League (RFL) and formerly presented the ...

is his niece and trainer

Andrew Balding Andrew Matthews Balding (born 29 December 1972) is a British racehorse trainer based at Park House Stables, Kingsclere, near Newbury, Berkshire. Balding attended Caldicott School, a boys' preparatory school, and Radley College, a public school ...

his nephew. He achieved success with both flat and

National Hunt In horse racing in the United Kingdom, France and Republic of Ireland, National Hunt racing requires horses to jump fences and ditches. National Hunt racing in the UK is informally known as "jumps" and is divided into two major distinct branches: ...

horses. He first began training in 1956, aged 19, and his first winners were Bower Chalk at

Ascot Racecourse Ascot Racecourse ("ascot" pronounced , often pronounced ) is a dual-purpose British racecourse, located in Ascot, Berkshire, England, which is used for thoroughbred horse racing. It hosts 13 of Britain's 36 annual Flat Group 1 horse races a ...

on the flat and The Quiet Man at Wincanton Racecourse over jumps. In 1969, Balding won his first

Grand National The Grand National is a National Hunt horse race held annually at Aintree Racecourse in Liverpool, England. First run in 1839, it is a handica ...

with Highland Wedding, following up twenty years later with the

gelding A gelding is a castration, castrated male horse or other equine, such as a pony, donkey or a mule. Castration, as well as the elimination of hormonally driven horse behavior, behavior associated with a stallion, allows a male equine to be calmer a ...

Little Polveir Little Polveir (1977–1999) was a race horse. He won the 1989 Grand National steeplechase ridden by Jimmy Frost, beating West Tip by seven lengths. The horse had previously finished ninth in 1986 and did not finish in 1987 and 1988 (where he f ...

. That same year he had won the

Champion Hurdle The Champion Hurdle is a Grade 1 National Hunt hurdle race in Great Britain which is open to horses aged four years or older. It is run on the Old Course at Cheltenham over a ...

with Beech Road, a race he also went on to win in 1991 with

Morley Street Morley Street (1984-–2009) was an Irish racehorse. He was a specialist hurdler but also won steeplechases and races on the flat. In a racing career which lasted from November 1988 until December 1995, he ran forty-five times and won twent ...

regarded as the best horse he trained.

Cool Ground Cool Ground is a former National Hunt racehorse. He won the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 1992, as well as the Kim Muir in 1989, the Anthony Mildmay, Peter Cazalet Memorial Chase in 1990 and 1991, the Welsh National in 1990, and the Greenalls Gold ...

gave him a

Cheltenham Gold Cup The Cheltenham Gold Cup is a Grade 1 National Hunt horse race run on the New Course at Cheltenham Racecourse in England, over a distance of about 3 miles 2½ furlongs ...

victory. Balding was instrumental in the careers of jockeys

Adrian Maguire Adrian Maguire, born 29 April 1971 in Kilmessan, County Meath, Ireland, is a racehorse trainer and former jockey. Maguire began his career in Irish pony racing at the age of nine, in which he rode more than 200 winners. In 1990 he rode his first ...

and

Tony McCoy Sir Anthony Peter McCoy (born 4 May 1974), commonly known as AP McCoy or Tony McCoy, is a Northern Irish former National Hunt horse racing jockey. Based in Ireland and the UK, McCoy rode a record 4,358 winners, and was Champion Jockey a reco ...

, providing them both with their first jobs in England. He was based at Fyfield near

Andover, Hampshire Andover ( ) is a town in the English county of Hampshire. The town is on the River Anton, a major tributary of the Test, and is situated alongside the major A303 trunk road at the eastern end of Salisbury Plain, west of the town of Basi ...

and finally retired on the final day of the 2004 flat season, having trained over 2,000 winners. On 12 December 2006 he was elected an Honorary Member of the

Jockey Club The Jockey Club is the largest commercial horse racing organisation in the United Kingdom. It owns 15 of Britain's famous racecourses, including Aintree, Cheltenham, Epsom Downs and both the Rowley Mile and July Course in Newmarket, amo ...

and was for a time a Director of the

British Horseracing Authority The British Horseracing Authority, also known simply as the BHA, is the regulatory authority for horse racing in Great Britain. It was formed on 31 July 2007, after the merger of the British Horseracing Board (BHB) and the Horseracing Regula ...

He was appointed

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(OBE) in the 2011 New Year Honours for services to horse racing. Toby Balding died on 25 September 2014, two days after his 78th birthday.

Significant wins

Grand National

*Highland Wedding (1969) *

(1989)

Cheltenham Gold Cup

(1992)

Champion Hurdle

*Beech Road (1989) *

(1991)

References