Clifford Lines, who has been in the sport for almost 70 years, saddles Catapult (GB) (Equiano {Fr}), his final runner, in the sunracing.co.uk H. at Lingfield on Wednesday. As a work rider for top trainers such as Sir Noel Murless and Sir Michael Stoute, Lines sat on some of the legends of the turf–including Shergar, Shareef Dancer, Sonic Lady and J O Tobin. Training in his own right from his base at Newmarket, Lines has decided the time is right to call it a day after he started as an apprentice in 1949.
“At 84 it's time to pack up,” he told Sky Sports Racing. “I've been training for the last eight years. I didn't start until my mid 70s. I had stables next door and I used to pre-train up to 20 horses for Sir Michael Stoute for a few years, and then I decided to sell my stables and built my own place, and then I thought I'd train a few horses. I've loved it. We've had our bits of good luck and our bits of bad luck–but on the whole it's been good. We've had a few winners and enjoyed every minute.”
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