CHARLIE BROOKS

Charlie Brooks is one of the most dashing and controversial characters on the British horse racing scene, ideally placed to reveal what really goes on in the stalls and on the racecourse. 

He enjoys speaking on panels and at corporate days either on his own or with his girlfriend, the stunning Miriam Francome.  He writes a fortnightly column in the Daily Telegraph, interviews as well as commentates for BBC Radio 5 Live and television and presents on The Racing Channel and Bloomberg Cable TV.

Brief History

• Until May, 1998, he was a leading trainer, with Suny Bay - runner-up in two Grand Nationals and the best steeplechaser in the country - in his stable and the Lloyd Webbers among the owners for whom he trained. The future looked bright, then quite suddenly, in a storm of publicity and rumour, Charlie Brooks became a former trainer.
• In 1999 Brooks released his book, Crossing the Line, which talks openly about the biggest issues in racing: are horses being given performance-enhancing drugs? What other tricks do trainers and jockeys get up to? And what is taking place behind closed stable doors?  Many of the stories rival the raciest of racing novels.
• Known for his colourful public image, newspapers invariably refer to him as Charlie "Looks" Brooks.
• Above all, Brooks is known for the fact that in 1987 he inherited Uplands from the legendary trainer and jockey, Fred Winter, after Winter suffered a tragic fall.
• As a jockey completed the course in the 1987 Grand National.
• He won races in America, Italy and France.
• At 25, Brooks assumed control of Uplands, one of Britain's best known racing establishments. After a series of highs (more than 100 winners) and lows (thoughts of driving to Beachy Head), Brooks eventually sold the stables to Andrew Cohen, chief of Betterware, a household products company, and effectively made himself Cohen's employee.
• After Suny Bay was beaten in teh Grand National for teh 2nd year in a row Brooks gave up training the eighty horses in his yard citing "too much agro from the horse owners" as one of the reasons for retiring.

·         He has recently delivered speeches at the Grand National dinner, teh Daily Telegraph lunch and to The Antiguan professional Cricketers Association, and he is speaking at The Derby Dinner at The Savoy in June 2002