Arthur Jeremy Tree, invariably known by his middle name, retired from the training ranks at the end of the 1989 Flat season and died on March 7, 1993, aged 67, having suffered poor health for some time. Described in his obituary as ‘one of the ‘old-guard’ trainers’, Tree began training in his own right Lansdowne House in Newmarket in 1952, but moved to Beckhampton Stables, near Marlborough in Wiltshire – recently vacated by Sir Noel Murless – in 1953.
A decade later, Tree saddled his first British Classic winner, Only For Life, owned by Monica Sheriffe and ridden by Jimmy Lindley, in the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket in 1963. Despite racing on his favoured soft ground, Only For Life was sent off at 33/1 following a disappointing reappearance in the Greenham Stakes, but belied those odds by rallying in the closing stages to win by a short head.
Tree would win the 2,000 Guineas again, albeit in controversial circumstances, in 1980 with Known Fact, owned by the founder of Juddmonte Farms, Khalid Abdullah, and ridden by Willie Carson. The favourite, Nureyev, owned by Stavros Niarchos and trained by Francois Boutin, was first past the post, but jockey Philippe Paquet was adjudged to have caused interference to several horses, including third-placed Posse, and Nureyev was disqualified and placed last.
Between his two Guineas’ winners, Tree also saddled two Oaks’ winners, Juliette Marny, ridden by Lester Piggott, in 1975 and Scintillating, ridden by Pat Eddery, in 1979, both of whom won with plenty in hand, for a total of four British Classic winners altogether. Both fillies were bred and owned by James Morrison, Second Baron Margadale and proprietor of the historic Fonthill Stud, near Salisbury.