Claude Duval legend, including claims of alchemy, gambling, and much womanising. He is reported to haunt the Holt Hotel along the A4260 (Oxford Road) in Oxfordshire, a hotel where he spent many nights when it was a small coaching inn. Recent historians have reappraised the legacy of Duval. James Sharpe in "Dick Turpin" regarded Duval as the most significant figure in the shaping of the highwayman myth. John and Philip Sugden's "The Thief of Hearts" reconstructs what is known of the historical Duval, using much fresh evidence, and shows that the traditions about the Frenchman were used by such literary luminaries as
Dick Turpin (horse) he travels so well and has got a good racing brain". The colt was back in France in August for the Prix Jacques le Marois at Deauville Racecourse and ran seventh behind Immortal Verse. On 24 September Dick Turpin was sent to Italy for the Group 1 Premio Vittorio di Capua over 1600 metres at San Siro Racecourse in Milan in which he was ridden by Christophe Soumillon. He started odds-on favourite against six opponents including Cityscape, Fanunalter and the German mare Vanjura. After racing in fifth place he produced a strong run on the outside in the straight, caught