An extract from Ashforth’s Curiosities of Horseracing by David Ashforth

The thing about Seb Sanders’ racing boots was that he wasn’t wearing them. He’d worn them for the previous 25 years but on September 1 2015, at Goodwood, at the age of 43, he didn’t. At about quarter to five, to everyone’s surprise, Sanders walked into the parade ring before the Clancy Docwra Charity Stakes without his boots on. He mounted Langley Vale without them on, rode to the start without them on and raced back bootless, finishing fourth of nine to Pettochside. ...