ACCIDENTALLY finding something good’ is the usual definition of serendipity. Although whether the three gentlemen, who accidentally found themselves in a lawnmower race in Colonel Roger ‘Babe’ Moseley’s garden, felt good about their impromptu trial is unknown.

Ex-amateur jockey Moseley, who won the 1931 Welsh Grand National on Wise Don, was the chief selector during William Micklem’s bid to make the British junior team. “He was extremely competitive in everything he was involved in. Later he ran Badminton Horse Trials and in 1967 also started the Junior European championships.”