Marilyn Stowe Blog

Stowe Family Law at York Races

Stowe Family Law held its fifth annual outing at York Racecourse this weekend. We sponsored the main race of the meeting: the Stowe Family Law LLP Grand Cup. On the hottest day of the year (and according to BBC News, the hottest spot in the entire country), York was definitely the place to be!

The racing was terrific and more than 30,000 racegoers – a record turnout – attended the meeting.

I am pictured here with our guest Camilla Stowell, a senior client partner at Coutts London and Frank Arndt, who heads Stowe Family Law’s International Family Law Department in the paddock, watching the horses parading before our feature race.

Camilla is an expert on horses as well as banking. I followed her to the bookies on the course because, as she said, “the banker never loses!” Camilla went for an outsider and she was right. “Age of Reason”, ridden by Frankie Dettori, was the crowd’s favourite – but “Tactic”, ridden by Jimmy Quinn, was the winner.

Wandering through the crowds to one of the oldest and tiniest boxes on the course to watch the race, I noticed how the racegoers were all dressed up to the nines – and clutching the York race card, featuring Stowe Family Law on the front and back cover. I remarked to Camilla how strange it felt, seeing my photo there.

“Come on – you love it!” she laughed.

How do you fool the banker? I admitted to her (and to you) that maybe I did… just a little bit. Right now I am spending plenty of time at Stowe Family Law’s offices in Cheshire, and our newest office in London, but it always feels good to plant one’s feet – quite literally – on home turf.

At the end of this lovely day I was leaving the paddock after presenting the prizes in the race, when a complete stranger stopped me out of the blue and thanked me for investing in York Races. He asked me why I did it. Taken aback and not expecting it, I could only reply with the truth: that I am proud to be giving something back to Yorkshire. Why?

In the picture above I am wearing a recent birthday present from my parents: a gorgeous dress and jacket they managed to  buy me from Marks & Spencer in Harrogate. My mum is still suffering badly from the effects of her fall last year, with a broken rib and vertebrae. My father is bravely coping with the challenge of caring for her, while she recovers. If ever a couple demonstrates the meaning of what true Yorkshire grit, courage and determination are all about, it is them. And if ever a daughter has the opportunity to demonstrate, publicly, what being from Yorkshire truly means to our family and how much my family means to me, then York Races is it.