After many years working in horse racing, it might have been expected when John decided to write a book, the subject would have been Mill...

After many years working in horse racing, it might have been expected when John decided to write a book, the subject would have been Mill Reef or Dancing Brave, perhaps Shergar, or the mighty Frankel. 

But he chose Chief Singer who was just a bit different to the rest. A relatively cheap purchase when prices were seemingly spiralling out of control, he was to prove his worth at the top table at a time of an astonishing depth of talent on the track. It required one of the greatest Guineas winners in the last 50 years to deny him at Newmarket, but his wonderful midsummer hat-trick helped propel owner Jeff Smith and jockey Ray Cochrane from relative bit part players into the premier league, with the likes of Lochsong, Persian Punch and Kahyasi. 

They form part of the 'and all that followed' from the book title and feature here, as do the stars Chief Singer came up against in that golden period in racing which is looked back on with such warmth.