Racing Stable Daily Life Stories In November

Racing Stable Daily Life Stories In November reveals gallops, stars and heartbreak!

Sunset Hill by Jay Kirkman

The New Gallop Arrives!

The highlight of the week was definitely the delivery of the new gallop fibre, which means our gallop is up and running again! Nothing is ever easy though – we got stuck behind the delivery lorry on our lane with the Hexham runners, while the lorry itself was stuck on the corner!

Jamie and Josh did a quick job on the neighbour's overhanging branches with a chainsaw to free it. Josh then unloaded everything in the dark, and the next day Jamie and the girls laid and raked it all. Proper teamwork! Although we've kept up fitness on the circle, both horses and riders find the gallop so much easier.

Back to Carlisle – Pinot Rouge was given a very positive ride by Nathan over a shorter distance than she needs and on ground too fast for her, but she still made an excellent account of herself. It's all part of her education! His breathing still hampers Les's Legacy, so we're consulting with the Dick Vet this week. Velasco is on the same list – we're lucky to have so much expertise on our doorstep!

Wee Alki made his debut over hurdles, which was a big learning curve. He settled after the first couple of hurdles and came fifth, beating five others. He'll improve massively for that experience.

Sunset Hill did brilliantly – beating the favourite and coming second to a quickly improving Jenny Candlish horse in a hot mares' novice.

Samwise

Performance of the Week went to Beyond the Verge, just beaten in the bumper by a well-fancied Lucinda Russell horse. That win gave Lucinda her 1,000th winner at Kelso, and Patrick Wadge, her jockey, also lost his claim beating us – apparently they'd already opened the champagne! Beyond the Verge was carrying 10 pounds more than theirs and a stone more than the third horse, so another superstar in the making.

Staff News – Codey left us to join Maurice Barnes, and Caitlin won her second Best Turned Out in a week! Bekah was unlucky not to win hers at Kelso – all excellent standards. Jamie and Amanda are doing a part-time job at Newcastle Races at night as drivers for our vet, which will give them brilliant insight into veterinary care of racehorses on track.

We had five horses in sick bay, now all sorted and back on the walker. Most will be back in full work come 1st December.

We're settled in now, hoping it rains soon! Most of our horses are waiting for proper soft ground, but as long as the ground is safe, we'll run them. It's pointless having them standing in stables.

Dates:

• 15th Newcastle (please rain or water!) – Dancer, See a Stride, Jimlis Island
• 19th Carlisle – Atomic Angel, Champ Royal
• 20th Hexham – Rock Steady Eddie, Pinot Rouge

Christmas menu coming soon, as Gary didn't fancy the first proposal! It's the 14th December.

Racing Stable Daily Life Stories In November When Everything Goes Wrong

I often speak about the ups and downs of racing, but this week has been an absolute disaster. I'm writing this with a very heavy heart.

Amanda, who has worked for us for two years now, had a terrible accident on the gallops on Thursday morning. It was very foggy, and the young horse she was riding jinked and threw her into a stone wall. Jamie and the rest of the staff were absolutely amazing, confronted with this horrific scene. The Air Ambulance couldn't land due to the fog, but the Newcastle ambulance was quickly with us.

She has a fractured skull and has had a successful operation to remove bone fragments from her brain. Jamie reports she's out of the high dependency unit and talking much better. I'm sure we all wish her a full and speedy recovery.

Just when you think it can't get worse – we lost Jimlis Island at Newcastle. He was quickly pulled up by Nathan but sustained a fracture that the vets couldn't guarantee would mend, even though the Girsonfield Racing Club were keen to try the operation.

I took the decision to have him put out of his pain. He's been a brilliant horse – winning two and second twice. Who could ask for more? That apart, he was a lovely character with no bad in him and a favourite with us all.

Jimli's Island

I decided – in case it was the watered ground that cost us Jimlis – to wait for proper soft ground for the rest of the horses. Watered ground can be soft on top and very firm underneath. We'll never know if that was a factor, but it could have been. As Nathan said, we have a yard of good horses and a long season ahead. So the Carlisle runners wait, and we watch the weather.

In other news – the foals came in today for the rest of the winter, and the horses have been rugged up and will come in shortly. Did I mention Josh is also off with a broken hand sustained playing rugby? However, we have people coming in to ride out until Josh and Amanda are fit again. A new girl from Menzies is coming tomorrow for a trial – Rebecca highly recommends her, as does Nathan.

Ben Smith came in for the first time yesterday. He's Ollie Murphy's conditional and rode Wee Alki in his bumper. What a charming young man! He follows all our horses and was very impressed to ride 'the legend that is Velasco!' Les's Legacy had his breathing checked with an overground scope and is clear, so he progresses to his next race.

Life on the yard goes on...

Dates:

• 20th Hexham – maybe Pinot Rouge
• 22nd Catterick – maybe Atomic Angel
• 14th December – Menu this week

Recovery and Moving Forward

A day early this week with some important updates. First, the good news – Amanda is making an excellent recovery and is out of hospital! She can't go near a horse or drive for six months, but I think she's been incredibly lucky. She's asked me to pass on this message:

'I would just like to say a massive thank you to yourself and all of our owners. I am completely overwhelmed with the ongoing support, cards, gifts, and good wishes. This makes me even more determined for a speedy recovery to get back to work. PS please give Joker a hug from me as I'm sure he will be feeling guilty!'

We'll be keeping in touch with Amanda, and she'll be going on her Racing Secretary's course in the spring, which was always part of her development plan with us. I think she'll also be turning up at the races and certainly at Joker's first racecourse gallop!

It's been a much better week than last week, that's for sure! Ice and frost were a big part of it, and carrying water to each horse when they drink eight gallons a day is not a joy. The water drinkers are now defrosting, I'm happy to report.

The horses all went well as we wait for the ground to ease and the rain to appear (not snow, as we have today!). Staff-wise, we employed a young lady called Abi who came highly recommended from Rebecca Menzies. We also called upon part-time people who've worked for us over the years, and all horses were ridden. It helps that Nathan comes in twice a week, and we had amateur Tash Cookson in as well. Horses are being clipped, so extra rugs for them.

Racing Club News – The Otterburn Racing Club will be kicking off soon. Anyone interested in joining, please get in touch (Jumps).

Freddie – He's a homebred out of Bahrikate by Frontiersman, only three but very mature. We'll be taking him to Newcastle for a gallop at 7:30am on Wednesday if any gallop watchers would like to come along. Please drop an email if you're coming in case plans change.

With signs of rain, entries have been placed for next week:

• 28th Nov Musselburgh – Les's Legacy, 0-100, 3 miles, trying to get his confidence back after his wind operation
• 29th Nov Musselburgh – See a Stride, 0-120 mares' hurdle
• 30th Nov Newcastle – maybe Kilmore Rock or Sunset Hill in the French Furze
• 30th Nov Bangor – Atomic Angel in the fillies-only 3-mile hurdle
• 1st Dec Carlisle – Champ Royal in a chase
• 1st Dec Carlisle – Wee Alki and Whispering Dancer in the novice 2.3

Christmas Party – 14th December – The Coach House has been taken over by new owners, so the menu will be with you soon!

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