The Muscutt family has close ties to South African and Zimbawean horseracing and Monday marked a great milestone – Brian and Gloria’s 60th wedding anniversary.
Brian and Gloria Muscutt – Diamond wedding anniversary
Some short stories are worth telling – and reaching a Diamond wedding anniversary is not commonplace in this day and age.
While resident these days in the UK, Brian and Gloria maintain a close interest in racing – their son Peter is assistant to Brett Crawford in KZN and grandson Daniel is riding with success in England.
Paul Muscutt and Air Alert
They met in Johannesburg in November 1955 and shortly thereafter Brian relocated to Cape Town to ride for the late legend, Willie Kleb.
“There were no mobiles in those days, so we would write a letter every day – I mean every day – and I’d travel to Joburg every six weeks by road to visit for a few days. We married in 1957,” recalls Brian fondly.
In 1959 they travelled to the then Rhodesia, stayed a few years and did very well before relocating back to Joburg, where Brian rode for J Butler.
The family yearned for the beauty of the country North of the Limpopo though and 1967 saw them back in Zimbabwe where Brian rode till 1974. That year he took out his trainer’s licence and trained until 1995 when his jockey son Paul was tragically killed in an air crash.
Former jockey Rael Zieve, who kindly informed us of the Muscutt milestone, rode a number of winners for Brian and described him as a horseman to his core.
“They are just such a wonderful family and a great old-fashioned salt of the earth asset to the game. I rode some good horses for them – Country Call was a top baby in 1993 and his best was Air Alert who won the Natbrew Tankard. The game is really full of good stories and great people,” said Rael.
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