Oakeshott at Caius College, Cambridge
Oakeshott outside Caius College c. 1933,
courtesy BLPES Oakeshott Archives
One remembers life in a Cambridge college in the mid-1930s as very enjoyable and relatively leisurely. During the racing season Griffith devoted two hours a day to the study of form and breeding, and he and his closest friend in Caius, Michael Oakeshott, then a bachelor Fellow, went together to the races often at Newmarket and once at Epsom for the Derby and at Ascot. In 1936 they published a book which was remarkable both for its expert knowledge and for its humour and elegance: A Guide to the Classics – or how to pick the Derby winner. It was no mere jeu d'esprit; for a new edition was published in 1947 with the title A New Guide to the Derby: how to pick the winner. "All the learning was Guy's", wrote Oakeshott, and learning was the right word, for it was based on fundamental research, pursued over more than a decade.
– from N. G. L. Hammond's British Academy memoir of Guy Griffith (More extracts available in Acrobat format)
Oakeshott circa 1933,
courtesy Simon Oakeshott