Cherries: Harry recalls a day at the races with 'Nimbus' (From Thisisdorset)

Cherries: Harry recalls a day at the races with 'Nimbus'

7:00am Wednesday 20th March 2013 in Latest Sport By Neil Perrett

HARRY Redknapp still fondly remembers the day he and Ken ‘Nimbus’ Sullivan masqueraded as owner and stable boy to bluff their way into Wincanton races.

Redknapp takes up the story: “There was a long queue for the car park so we headed for the owners’ car park. I turned to Nimbus and said ‘let’s get under the fence and we’ll be in’.

“We ducked under the running rail and started walking up the course. Suddenly, the clerk and three other people started coming towards us. They were prodding the turf because it was frosty.

“I looked at Nimbus and said ‘we’re in trouble here’.

“Immediately, he starting digging his heel into the track and looked at me and said ‘the ground is not too bad, sir, I think we should run him today’. I said loudly ‘I think you’re right Nimbus, saddle him up’. The clerk walked straight past us and didn’t say a word!”

Redknapp also recounted another story about a day at the races.

“It was the last race and Nimbus had a nicker on one at 10-1 and I wanted the favourite to win because I was doing my money,” said Redknapp. “The pair of them were 15 lengths clear coming to the last and Nimbus starting cheering his home. I turned to him and said ‘I’ll give you £20 to shut up’. His horse ended up beating mine in a photo finish so Nimbus won a tenner and I went home absolutely potless. It was a quiet journey!”

Tony Pulis, meanwhile, said: “I remember Nimbus telling me about the day he went to Dunkirk when he was in the Army. He must have only been about 4ft 8ins at the time! On his back, he carried a bike and all his kit and it weighed more than him. He said they got close to the shore on a boat and all had to jump off. Nimbus said he sank and had to throw off all his kit to stop drowning!

“Then, there was the time when Harry took us to Portugal and Nimbus kept going on about how important it was for the players not to get sun-burned. After the first day, he was as red as a beetroot and couldn’t move. He had sun-stroke and had burned himself to smithereens!”