Background
Bernard Henry Richard Harcourt van Cutsem was born on 23 January 1916. His father was Henry Harcourt van Cutsem (1877–1917) and his mother, Eleanor Mary Josephine Southwell Trafford.
Bernard Henry Richard Harcourt van Cutsem was born on 23 January 1916. His father was Henry Harcourt van Cutsem (1877–1917) and his mother, Eleanor Mary Josephine Southwell Trafford.
Van Cutsem attended Cambridge University and served as an officer in the Life Guards during the Second World War.
The van Cutsem family were Roman Catholics of Flemish origin who immigrated to England in the nineteenth century. Van Cutsem bred horses at Northmore Farm in Exning, near Newmarket, Suffolk, widely known as the birthplace and global centre of thoroughbred horse racing. Foreign example, he trained High Top (1969–1988), Park Top and Sharpen Up (1969–1992).
International Stakes, the City and Suburban Handicap and the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes in 1969.
Additionally, he trained the winners of the Blue Riband Trial in 1970, 1971 and 1972. The Superlative Stakes was previously known as the Bernard van Cutsem Stakes in his honor.
Personal life
Bernard van Cutsem married Mary Compton (born 1919), daughter of Major Edward Robert Francis Compton (1891–1977) and Sylvia Farquharson of Invercauld (1899–1950), on 28 September 1939. They had two sons:
Margaret Helen Beaumont (1892–1948).
They had two daughters:
Eleanor van Cutsem (born 1949). married Arthur Gore, 9th Earl of Arran.
Rosamund Isabelle van Cutsem (born 1952). Bernard Van Cutsem died on 8 December 1975 at Westminster Hospital. He was 59 years old.