A legend and a tutor: Ted Voute remembers the late James Delahooke

IN 1980, I had two jobs interviews kindly set up by Ivor Herbert and Chris Collins – one was at Barleythorpe Stud where Mummy's Pet stood and the other was at Adstock Manor Stud where High Line was standing. It was at that moment that my life took its first incredibly lucky turn.

Both interviews went well – Mr David Gibson at Barleythorpe was charming, but my interview with James Delahooke made me identify a career path that I hadn’t realised was possible.

James must have been 42 years old – he had tons of energy and interest, and experience of running his stud farm.

It was my first proper job. I was paid £35 per week and lived in Ryan’s Cottage, which was in the Hunter yard run by George Cook.

James was an avid country sportsman. He hunted whenever he could and owned the 1987 Foxhunters Chase winner Border Burg.

I had signed up for the student stud hand job, and there was so much going on in this little village of Adstock. The Thatched Inn was a favourite watering hole where locals would gather on a Friiday night. James had many many good friends – Eddie Bulman, a renowned batchelor, often grazed the paddocks with his sheep and Eddie still buys my sheep today.

Johnny Christie looked after Jack Peveril's farm on the other side of the village and the film producer Denis O'Dell and his wife Donna lived in the White House. They bred a few horses. too, and James always helped them out.

Bill Lloyd was the stud groom for many years, and in those days the stud was made up of a lovely central yard, with the stallion boxes by the house where High Line’s handler Clive Newland lived.

James was always improving the stud – I think the local builder Paul Terkelson must have thought he won the lottery!

James was a very loyal person and many of us came through the stud at the start of our working lives – Adrian Dangar, David Redvers, Andy Dive were all students based there for around a year.

James didn’t have the patience to teach you, but if you kept your mouth shut and your ears open there was no end to the knowledge you could consume.

His natural stockmanship and farm management stood us in good stead for years to come.

In the early 1980s, High Line started to get going, which back then that meant 45 mares was a full book!

The lay-out at Adstock meant you had to walk through the same gates to get to the rest of the farm. Adstock was a clay farm – bottomless in the winter – James was always putting in ironstone pathways; treating the mud fever was a full-time job.

Working at Adstock was a life style, almost a commune. James was always inviting us somewhere be it for a day on one of his hunters or driving to race tracks such as Huntingdon to watch his hunter chasers.

He had a white Tickford Capri, which I was a allowed to drive to Henley-on-Thames when James was building that first stud farm for Prince Khalid Abdullah. On that trip I met Simon Mockeridge and Terry Campbell; Simon, of course, is still with Juddmonte.

I remember marvelling at the round foaling boxes that Keith Warth had designed under James’ direction. At the time I was smitten by my drive in the Tickford, but when I look back to those formative years much was learnt “the James way.”

He didn’t do chit chat. He had an opinion and didn’t want to clutter his mind with nonsense.

I remember trying to talk to him about the up-and-coming sires who had just had a winner or two and looked exciting, but he never let them impress him till they were leading sires.

James had this ability to separate all the noise from the business and focus on the successful stuff.

He surrounded himself with good people, experts in the areas he didn’t have time to keep up with and looked for concise reporting.

Pedigree expert Bill Oppenheim, part of his buying team, was always consulted on the likelihood of a yearling being able to perform at the highest level.

James liked vets who had an opinion, but didn’t give him a conformation report. He wrote positive things in his catalogue, and very little if they were nice.

James had his team which didn’t change much over the years; he was loyal.

James Delahooke

In a way we where all frightened of him as students – he often would pop up in paddocks whist you where cleaning water troughs or harrowing in the furthest paddock to make sure it was done properly.

Farms were his thing, fresh ground, new land; he believed in the land he raised horses on.

Although not reliant on feed, he was innovative with Dodson and Horrell and helped design the first balancer Fed Up as an additive to mix with the oats he bought in bulk from Banks.

I often think back to the days at Adstock where James was in his element looking after his own farm with Angie and the kids and his black labradors.

He had been due to go to Keeneland September where everybody loved to see him alongside his brother Matthew. He has always been a good friend and at one point lived in a cottage on the Adstock commune.

I remember being summoned one day – James had given Matthew the family dining room table.

The table was too large to fit in Matt’s cottage so he sold it, but had not told James who might have been offended that was sold.

We got it on the lorry having struggled with it on the main road through Adstock,just before James reappeared.

Later on James was instrumental in our consigning business under Adstock Manor Stud until its sale, when I went out on my own.

We did many things together at that time of our lives.

He brought back Master Willie to stand at Adstock and asked me to manage the farm whilst he continued to pursue his agency business.

He had some great one liners many I use to this day. The one that sticks in my head was, “Never let a vet manage your farm.”

James really was a legend; a tutor and fiercely protective of those who had worked for him over the years.

Not only did he buy so many wonderful horses, he was proud of the farms he set up or advised, including Juddmonte, Eydon Hall and

Lawn Stud to mention but a few.

Her Majesty The Queen passed the day after James’s death, and it reminded me of my only meeting with her.

It was after she won the Voute Sales-sponsored Warwickshire Oaks with Set To Music in 2012.

I had a call from John Warren, who asked if I would like to present the perennial trophy to The Queen the next day at Royal Ascot after the Queen Anne which Frankel won. It was such an honour. I didn’t have a drink until it was all over – I was petrified to say the wrong thing. I froze handing her the trophy in the Royal Box and Her Majesty quietly suggested we find a shelf to put the trophy on!

We will miss their guidance and wise words.