Post by QPR Report on May 18, 2010 14:51:08 GMT
Which one? Which one?
Mail - Jewellery theft ruins mogul’s trip to the races
14th May 2010
For friends of music magnate Chris Wright, it should have been a midweek break of
high spirits and excitement as they gathered at York races for the start of the three-day Dante meeting.
But instead of celebrating winners — or commiserating over losses on the racecourse — Wright, 65, co-founder of Chrysalis Records, found himself having to console his chums after they were targeted by thieves.
And they're off: Thieves escaped with jewellery stolen from the rooms of race-goers being entertained by Chris Wright (above)
Yesterday, Wright — whose proteges included Leo Sayer, Jethro Tull and Steeleye Span — woke up to discover that a Raffles-style sneak thief had raided several rooms at the luxury Middlethorpe Hall hotel in York, where he and 20 friends were staying.
At least three of his pals discovered they had been victims, although Chris and his wife, Janice, escaped the raid, as did The Beatles’ producer Sir George Martin and his wife Judy, who were there with the Wrights.
‘It has been very upsetting — we’ve been staying at this hotel for years,’ says Lincolnshire farmer’s son Chris, a former owner of Queen’s Park Rangers Football Club and rugby club Wasps.
He and his wife had been hosting dinner in a private room at the hotel for guests he had invited to the meeting and who were to join him at his box at the racecourse yesterday.
It was a special day because Wright’s Gloucestershire-based Stratford Place Stud was sponsoring a race.
Among those robbed were the Derby-winning trainer Paul Cole and prominent racehorse owner and bloodstock trader Bernard Gover.
Says Cole’s wife, Vanessa: ‘I lost all my jewellery. My main complaint is that the hotel does not have any safes in the rooms. Whoever it was must have had a key or a master key, because there was no sign of any break-in.
‘The room wasn’t in disarray, and we had left a laptop in the room that wasn’t taken.
‘In fact, I didn’t realise anything was wrong until the next morning when I went to my jewellery box to put away the things I had been wearing at dinner the night before. Everything was gone.
‘I think we must have been targeted by these thieves. How much was it all worth? Put it this way: enough to buy a good horse!’
Another victim, Karen Bourdon, says: ‘It’s the second time it has happened to me. I was also robbed at Cheltenham races recently.’
A police spokesman tells me: ‘It was a high-value theft. Paul and Vanessa Cole had a substantial amount of jewellery, money and personal effects taken from their room.
'The jewellery alone is worth in excess of several tens of thousands of pounds. It included earrings, rings, and wristwatches
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1278102/Richard-Kay-14-May-2010.html
Mail - Jewellery theft ruins mogul’s trip to the races
14th May 2010
For friends of music magnate Chris Wright, it should have been a midweek break of
high spirits and excitement as they gathered at York races for the start of the three-day Dante meeting.
But instead of celebrating winners — or commiserating over losses on the racecourse — Wright, 65, co-founder of Chrysalis Records, found himself having to console his chums after they were targeted by thieves.
And they're off: Thieves escaped with jewellery stolen from the rooms of race-goers being entertained by Chris Wright (above)
Yesterday, Wright — whose proteges included Leo Sayer, Jethro Tull and Steeleye Span — woke up to discover that a Raffles-style sneak thief had raided several rooms at the luxury Middlethorpe Hall hotel in York, where he and 20 friends were staying.
At least three of his pals discovered they had been victims, although Chris and his wife, Janice, escaped the raid, as did The Beatles’ producer Sir George Martin and his wife Judy, who were there with the Wrights.
‘It has been very upsetting — we’ve been staying at this hotel for years,’ says Lincolnshire farmer’s son Chris, a former owner of Queen’s Park Rangers Football Club and rugby club Wasps.
He and his wife had been hosting dinner in a private room at the hotel for guests he had invited to the meeting and who were to join him at his box at the racecourse yesterday.
It was a special day because Wright’s Gloucestershire-based Stratford Place Stud was sponsoring a race.
Among those robbed were the Derby-winning trainer Paul Cole and prominent racehorse owner and bloodstock trader Bernard Gover.
Says Cole’s wife, Vanessa: ‘I lost all my jewellery. My main complaint is that the hotel does not have any safes in the rooms. Whoever it was must have had a key or a master key, because there was no sign of any break-in.
‘The room wasn’t in disarray, and we had left a laptop in the room that wasn’t taken.
‘In fact, I didn’t realise anything was wrong until the next morning when I went to my jewellery box to put away the things I had been wearing at dinner the night before. Everything was gone.
‘I think we must have been targeted by these thieves. How much was it all worth? Put it this way: enough to buy a good horse!’
Another victim, Karen Bourdon, says: ‘It’s the second time it has happened to me. I was also robbed at Cheltenham races recently.’
A police spokesman tells me: ‘It was a high-value theft. Paul and Vanessa Cole had a substantial amount of jewellery, money and personal effects taken from their room.
'The jewellery alone is worth in excess of several tens of thousands of pounds. It included earrings, rings, and wristwatches
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1278102/Richard-Kay-14-May-2010.html
