Geoff Price qualified in 1964 and returned to Wales to practice in Cardiff, which was before VT was introduced. Geoff and I had been at Neath Boys Grammar school together although he was the year above me and when I arrived in Manchester in 1960 we re-established our friendship and for one year we had adjacent flats in Levenshulme.
Even in those days, Geoff was always very interested in horse racing and I well remember going with him to watch the November Handicap run in Castle Irwell, the Manchester race course, before it was built over to accommodate the expanding Salford University Campus. I seem to remember us also visiting race meetings at Chester or Haydock Park.
Geoff’s first foray into racehorse ownership was as part of a syndicate but when it disbanded he and his wife decided to buy a horse of their own and have it trained in the Vale of Glamorgan only six miles from their home.
His current horse is a bay gelding which they bought from Ireland, called Oscar Sunset. He was immediately successful, winning three of his first four races but unfortunately he damaged a tendon and was laid off for two years. When he returned he won three times, finished second four times and third once. To date his record is 6 wins, 6 second places and 2 third placings out of 22 races in steeplechases and over hurdles.
At the time of writing this he is still active. Geoff says he has had enormous fun with Oscar Sunset and when he wins “the elation is the same as watching Wales win at Twickenham”. However, they owned another horse before Oscar Sunset called Oscar Halfpenny but he unfortunately severed a tendon while racing at Ludlow and had to be put down which as Geoff points out “is the tragic side of racing”.
Pip Thomas