BLUEY CHARTERIS

Rupert Campbell-Black’s first jockey.

LADY CHISLEDEN

An old boot and a pillar of Paradise.

CLIVE

Rannaldini’s sinister black-leather-clad henchman.

MRS COLMAN

David Hawkley’s secretary — nicknamed ‘Mustard’ by the boys because she’s so keen on him.

CAMERON COOK

A talented television termagent.

MISS CRICKLADE

Winner of the home-made wine class at Paradise Church fete for ten years running.

DANNY

One of Rupert Campbell- Black’s stable lads.

DIZZY

Rupert Campbell-Black’s head groom. A glamorous divorcee.

FERDINAND FITZGERALD

Fat Ferdie. Lysander Hawkley’s best friend and minder. Estate agent and fixer who is riding the recession with a cowboy’s skill.

RICKY FRANCE-LYNCH

Polo captain of England.

DAISY FRANCE-LYNCH

His painter wife, a friend of Julia Armstrong.

GERALDINE

Guy Seymour’s London secretary.

GRAYDON GLUCKSTEIN

Chairman of the New World Philharmonic Orchestra.

HELEN GORDON

Rupert Cambell-Black’s first wife.

BOB HAREFIELD

Orchestra manager of the London Met. A saint.

HERMIONE HAREFIELD

His seriously tiresome wife. Rannaldini’s mistress. One of the world’s leading sopranos and an applause junkie.

LITTLE COSMO HAREFIELD

A four-year-old fiend.

LYSANDER HAWKLEY

A hero of our time.

DAVID ‘HATCHET’ HAWKLEY

Lysander’s father and an unmerry widower. Headmaster of Fleetley — a top English public school.

DINAH HAWKLEY