Lives in Cricket No 19 - Frank Sugg

billiards player and it is likely that Frank’s enthusiasm for the game was sparked by his brother’s successes. At any rate, Frank became a serious enough billiards player himself to win prizes in amateur competitions in the Liverpool area. Rifle shooting was more of a minority sport than bowls and billiards for the obvious reason that the facilities and equipment were less widely available. But for a well-known sportsman and successful businessman like Frank Sugg an entrée to the sport was easy. He proved to be a more than competent shot, regularly carrying off prizes at local events. One of Frank Sugg’s interests not mentioned in the cricket literature was horse racing. With the continuing success of their sports business in the years around the turn of the nineteenth century, Frank and Walter Sugg were relatively rich men, and they were beginning to enjoy a lifestyle beyond the reach of most professional cricketers. They had many friends among the upper reaches of society in the Liverpool area through their business connections and the many contacts they had made in cricket and other sporting circles. These friends included racehorse owners and racegoers. The Suggs became regular spectators at race meetings at Aintree, Haydock and other local racecourses. In due course, and no doubt with encouragement from friends among the racing fraternity, the brothers decided to invest in racehorses of their own. For a time, around the turn of the century, horse racing became one of the main interests of the Sugg brothers. During 1901, for example, the brothers owned, jointly or singly, six racehorses. They entered these horses in races at various meetings at courses up and down the country, some flat races, some hurdles, and on two occasions a horse owned by Walter Sugg came in first. Frank had no winners in 1901. 99 Only detailed research in the Racing Calendars held by the National Horseracing Museum at Newmarket would establish Frank Sugg’s record as an owner in its entirety, but it seems that the horses he owned could not have given Frank much of a return on his investment. While this was a disappointment to him, some compensation was the enjoyment he had from the glamour and excitement of race meetings, and the social occasions that they provided. Away From Old Trafford 101 99 I am grateful to Alan Grundy of the National Horseracing Museum at Newmarket for researching its archives for information on the Suggs’ involvement in horse racing in 1901.