A correspondent writing from Australia’s sunny shores confesses that his preference has always been for racing cars rather than racing horses. However, he does recall a huge silver trophy won at Punchestown by his grandfather, William Lingard Amphlett Goulding, or perhaps his great-grandfather William Joshua Goulding.
In one respect his recollection is spot on. The Irish Racing Calendar, 1910, reveals that Mr W.L.A. Goulding’s Repeater II did indeed win at the Kildare and National Hunt Races – as the annual highlight of the Irish jumping year was then styled. Not just any old race either, Repeater II carried off the coveted Conyngham Cup over four miles in the hands of Mr Cecil Brabazon, Aubrey’s father and Dick’s grandfather. Moreover he started favourite to beat six opponents, confidence he duly justified, winning ‘in a canter by 5 lengths, 30 lengths between second and third’.
By Peterhof out of Geneva, Repeater II is unrecorded in either the General Stud Book or the Half-bred Stud Book. All we know is that he made a winning debut at the Tipperary Hunt Meeting, over the Fethard course, in May 1906, when ridden by his then owner Mr J.W. Murphy. The race was the Grove Plate, ‘a flat race for half-bred certificated hunters the property of members of, or subscribers to, the Tipperary Hounds, two miles and a half (£22 10s).’
Unseen under Rules in 1907, Repeater II showed his aptitude over Punchestown’s banks and walls when winning the 1908 National Hunt Cup, over four and a half miles. Ridden by Mr C.J. Stephen, Repeater II was entered to be sold for £150. Clearly, two bidders at least valued him more highly, for connections were forced to £285 to retain him, almost as much as the winner’s prize. Once again Repeater II disappeared from public view. When he did reappear in 1909 – now the property of W.L.A. Goulding – Repeater was an also-ran in the Irish Grand National before finishing second in the Conyngham Cup, beaten two lengths by Wild Fox III,.
The winner was owner-ridden by Captain William Pallin of Athgarvan Lodge, home nowadays to Philip and Eileen Lynch.
Like good wine Repeater II improved with age, so much so that he made a winning reappearance as a twelve-year-old in the 1911 Irish Grand National, ridden by Galway amateur J.A. ‘Crasher’ Trench, whose rider’s allowance made that vital difference in seeing off the favourite, Dysart, by a length and a half. The Fairyhouse principals renewed rivalry in that year’s Conyngham Cup, the weights now very much in Dysart’s favour. While Dysart may have avenged his Fairyhouse defeat, beating Repeater II by four lengths, he still went under by a short head to Victor Olympic, ridden by his owner Count Stolberg.
Repeater II galloped into well-earned retirement, having given Kennycourt, Kilcullen trainer Captain Edward Bacon his greatest racing triumphs. However, Captain Bacon’s posthumous fame lay years ahead, for he was the father of the wayward artist Francis Bacon , whose paintings were to become the most expensive ever produced by an Irish-born artist.
William Lingard Amphlett Goulding, who succeeded his father as chairman of the fertiliser firm W and H.M. Goulding in 1925, had the rare distinction of single-colour racing silks, in his case ‘Lilac’. Whereas his greatest racing moments were enjoyed in the National Hunt sphere, his father achieved Irish Oaks success with Kosmos (1896) and The Kiwi (1921), in addition to the 1901 Irish Derby with Carrigavalla, that one under his ‘nom de course’ A. Summers. One of the first generation of rugby players, the elder Goulding was capped for Ireland against Scotland in 1897, going on to become IRFU president, subsequently serving as Senior Steward of the Turf Club in 1922.
In tandem with his racing interests W.L.A. Goulding was also an accomplished polo player, honorary secretary and later vice-president of the All Ireland Polo Club. In addition to his ever-expanding industrial empire he played a key role as governor of the Bank of Ireland at a time of political uncertainty when the first Fianna Fáil government assumed office under Éamon de Valera in 1932.
Marriage in 1908 to Nesta Violet Wright produced two sons, of whom the elder Sir William Basil Goulding succeeded him as 3rd baronet upon his death in London on 20 June 1935. As it happened, that melancholy event occurred on Gold Cup day at Royal Ascot, his intended destination. True or not, William Lingard Amphlett Goulding’s last words are said to have been “Bugger, it’s Ascot tomorrow.”