O BROTHER WHERE ART THOU? LATE TIP PAYS OFF
THEY thought it was all over, but City A.M.’s tips finally came good at Royal Ascot yesterday, when Rhythm of Life beat Dubai Queen in the day’s final race.
Ben Dascombe, otherwise known as The Insider on City A.M.’s racing column The Punter, had been tipping Rhythm of Life all day – mainly because the horse is owned by his brother Tom Dascombe, the Cheshire racehorse trainer whose Manor House stables are part-owned by footballer Michael Owen.
David Turcan of Sporting Index and Ranald Macdonald, the owner of Boisdale restaurants, were among the group that celebrated “cleaning up” with the Dascombe brothers at the City A.M table, while elsewhere in the Royal Enclosure, Nancy Dell’Olio was “eye-catching” in fuchsia and TalkSport presenter Alan Brazil enjoyed the hospitality in the Michelin-starred Waterside Inn.
The Capitalist also hears business was booming for Kevin Doyle, the owner of Tramp, who took advantage of “the Ascot business opportunity” to sell 12 memberships to the private Mayfair club to well-heeled racegoers. The names of the dancefloor dozen have yet to be revealed, so watch this space to see which City luminaries Doyle managed to persuade to enjoy a night on the tiles in the near future…
CROWD PLEASERS
WHO do you think was the big attraction at the Royal Ascot Charity Ball in the Ascot Pavilions on Monday night?
Not actors Hugh Grant (right) and Dougray Scott, as measured by the size of the donations from City firms including JP Morgan, BGC Partners, Citigroup and BAE Systems in the charity auction, but Finnish racing driver Kimi Raikkonen.
The golf day with the two actors raised £10,000 for Cancer Research and the Injured Jockeys Fund, but an anonymous banker parted with £24,000 for a trip for four on the Raikkonen’s yacht at the Monaco Grand Prix.
BACK TO THE FUTURE
BERWIN Leighton Paisner hit the roof of the Grange Hotel near St Paul’s for its cocktail party to mark ten years since the merger of Berwin Leighton and Paisner & Co.
Over cocktails to represent the company’s international offices – Pimm’s Classics, Moscow Mules, Orange Belgians and Sand Dunes – managing partner Neville Eisenberg outlined how far the firm has come in the last decade.
“The oak tree over there signifies our growth and transformation,” he told colleagues including chairman Peter Robinson and head of corporate finance David Collins.
Some things don’t change, though. “There are now more than twice as many lawyers at BLP as in 2001,” continued Eisenberg. “But more than 20 per cent of our people were in the firm at the time of the merger. Including, of course, me.”
POETS’ CORNER
YOU DON’T often find Mayfair wealth managers writing poetry, but James Dunn, a partner at Killik & Co (above) , is the exception to the rule thanks to his epic account of his cycle ride from Land’s End to John O’Groats.
“Torrential rain in Preston soaked our clothes throughout. They said that Spring had been so dry, but we could see no drought,” he wrote on the Lancashire leg, while his experiences further south inspired: “In Devon I got problems. Three punctures in a row. Repairs all done, we struggled on, with tyre pressure low.”