A MINER’S SON WITH A DEEP PASSION FOR HORSES
Allan Lancaster A.S.E.A
Allan was born in 1949 in Stoke-on-Trent. His father worked down the local pit and, as a treat, when Allan was aged four he took him and Allan’s best friend to visit some pit ponies. And that day was to indelibly influence Allan’s future. He went on to become a jockey, and then a renowned artist whose commissions included a racehorse painting for the late Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum.
“We fell in love with those pit ponies,” recalled Allan.”My father would lift me up to sit on them. It was great fun to see how long I could stay on. So began my lifelong passion for horses. My best friend’s father was a horse dealer and one day he took us to the horse sales in Newcastle-under-Lyme. In truth, we should have been in school, but it was such an amazing experience to be surrounded by so many horses and ponies.
“And it got even better.The sale organiser was short of riders and we were paid sixpence for each horse we rode, showing them to potential buyers. At the end of the day I felt very rich, and very happy. Annoyingly, after two years riding at the sales, we were spotted by the school police. My father and I were well and truly told off. Luckily, my best friend’s dealer father let my ride regularly.”
A WORKING LIFE DEVOTED TO HORSES
Leaving school at 15, Allan headed for the then bustling training centre at Epsom, the home of the Derby, where he was an appentice jockey employed by Major Dick Thrale. He later moved on to National Hunt racing, working in Kent for the Queen Mother’s trainer Major Peter Cazalet where he looked after the 1968 Grand National-third Different Class, who was owned by Hollywood actor Gregory Peck.
As a jockey, he rode on the Flat, over hurdles and fences, but unfortunately injuries sustained from falls forced a premature end to that part of his career. Allan also worked for Hampshire owner-trainer John Meacock and then on to Wantage to the ever popular David Gandolfo, with whom to this day he remains in daily contact.
Allan currently lives near Lambourn, the heart of National Hunt Racing, from where hundreds of top class jumpers and jockeys have emerged with his long standing partner and ex lady jockey Celia Radband.
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FROM SADDLE TO EASEL
Throughout his life, Allan has enjoyed painting. Riding racehorses over 45 years has given him a tremendous insight into movement, muscle and make up, and many viewers of his work remark how those key factors are accurately reflected in his painting. His successful exhibitions include those staged at Royal Ascot, London’s Society of Equine Artists at The Mall, and The Vale and Downland in Wantage, Oxfordshire.
Three years running he won top prize at Racing Welfare’s Art Exhibition staged at London’s White City. In 2005, art promoter Sally Mitchell was so impressed by his work that she introduced him to Malcolm Coward S.E.A. and Allan gratefully accepted the latter’s offer to attend his workshops. Recently, Allan received an acknowledgment from HRH Princess Anne in recognition of his work for Racing Welfare after donating paintings for fundraising auctions.
