Edgar Jessop
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Edgar Jessop’s great speedway rival ‘Tiger’ Parker always ate a sumptuous meal of tripe before a meeting, believing it would make him slipperier and therefore with less wind resistance. The Finnish Ice Racing Champion Maka Igloo always carried a walrus tooth in his leathers as a gesture to the Norse God of the Sea, Njord, who was known to bestow prosperity on those he favoured. In Igloo’s case, it apparently backfired when he was pecked to death by an enraged King Penguin while racing in Lapland.
Edgar himself eschewed such black magic, although he did request the riding number 28 when competing at the Isle of Man TT, this being the number of reputed sexual conquests achieved during his debut year in the Island. A more tactile example linked to inner beliefs was however Edgar’s attachment to the Spagforth team’s official mascot, Sophia. Whilst team mascots are not at all uncommon – most top level football clubs have an animal that is feted at the highest level and given such privileges as a locker in the team’s dressing room for home matches – the Spagorth team’s extra member was not a dog, a female ape (as is the official mascot of Ponte Preta, the Brazilian league club), or a goat, such as the for Spanish Legion, but a swan, which answered to the call of Sophia.
Sophia’s presence at the Spagforth team’s numerous appearances was an occasion of much rejoicing amongst the marque’s myriad fans, who often toted banners exclaiming, “You don’t need a long neck to be a goose’. Such was the attention paid to Sophia, she became quite aloof, refusing to ride in the back of the team van in favour of a chauffer-driven limousine (preferably a Jaguar), insisting on watching the racing from a luxurious corporate suite complete with a larder stocked with exotic fish, and politely declining to wear the Spagforth neck scarf in the famous beige and grey colours as it clashed with her neck jewellery. In the rare occasions when Edgar failed to take the top step of the rostrum, Sophia would fall into a deep funk, but generally ‘swanned’ about, gushing in the reflected glory of victory.
Tragically, Sophia’s reign came to an end during a visit to the Grand Prix of Ethiopia, yet another race won at a canter by Edgar Jessop on the works
Spagforth Septum. As the post-race celebrations intensified, team members noticed Sophia’s absence, but searches failed to find her. Later that evening, at the royal reception and trophy presentation, much flourish was made at the serving of the main course at the President’s table, at which Edgar was the premier guest. An esteemed gastronome, Edgar’s finely balanced palate detected the unmistakable trace of
Swan a l’ orange.