Page 47 - Eclipse - Autumn 2015

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Colonel Brian John Thompson (1962)
Vicki Laing writes:
I had the pleasure of meeting Colonel Thompson in April 2014 when he came to the Hawkshead Campus to see our bronze of Sefton and show me some pictures of his time at the RVC, including RVC visits to a brewery in 1960/61. Brian knew Noel Carding, the vet who treated Sefton and had a keen interest in the RVC and its history. Brian was
in the Royal Army Veterinary Corps (RAVC) for 27 years and had an amazing career in the veterinary profession. I was hoping to talk to Brian further about his career and write an article for a future edition of Eclipse. It was with great sadness I heard of Brians passing and my thoughts are with his family.
Here are the pictures Brian bought in, you may recognise yourself or a colleague. Thank you Brian it was a pleasure to have met you.
Christopher Sporborg - Honorary Fellow
Christopher Sporborg, who died aged 75, was an entrepreneurial merchant banker who created
the Countrywide estate agency chain, and a racehorse owner who was much involved in racecourse management on behalf of the Jockey Club. He was made an Honorary Fellow of the RVC in 2001 in recognition of his support for the College through fundraising.
Sporborg’s passionate engagement with racing began in his youth as an amateur jockey — on his racecourse debut he nished ahead of the great Fred Winter. As an owner he kept horses in training with David Ringer at Newmarket, but in later years he trained his own point-to-pointers, saddling more than 160 winners.
He had been elected a member of the Jockey Club in 1982
and took a hand in many business aspects of the
sport, including the setting
up of SIS, the broadcaster to the betting industry, and the Club’s acquisition of United Racecourses, owner of Epsom, Kempton Park and Sandown. In later years Sporborg
was chairman of Chesnara
and deputy chairman of the insurance broker CE Heath. He was also a director of Getty Images, and a trustee and fundraiser for several medical charities.
Besides his involvements
on the Turf, Sporborg loved hunting. He was master of the Puckeridge Hunt for 25 years, a keen rider in team chase events, and by one account “a surprisingly good huntsman
given that he only saw the hounds at weekends... feared by foxes throughout the Puckeridge country”. He also enjoyed skiing and shooting, supported Arsenal, and was described as a “swashbuckling” bridge player.
He was appointed CBE in 2001. Christopher Sporborg married, in 1961, Cindy Hanbury, who died in 2010; he is survived by their two sons and two daughters.
Courtesy of The Daily Telegraph