Although we are quiet on the runners front we are busy in the yard ahead of our gates opening for National Racehorse Week which is all of this week. We open from 8am to 10am on Saturday morning where guests can watch the horses warm up on the round gallop by the yard and then a 5/10 minute walk across to watch them work up our long gallop with stunning views. Spaces are still available so do register HERE and come and meet us all.
Last Thursday Rich & Coot Lloyd were on the gallops to watch their recent winner Pinnacle Peak as they were sadly unable to make it to Worcester. He’s come out of his race really well and, along with Gerald & Caroline Bailey and Paul Proctor who were also visiting to see their joint horse, Another Day Out who is coming along nicely, we had a really fun morning. After watching the horses on the gallops we headed to The Halfway at Kineton where, as the website so correctly mentions, we were “greeted with a warm welcome from Nathan and Liam” along with a complimentary bottle of champagne to help celebrate Pinnacle Peak’s success. The food was absolutely delicious and the company was great too.
We could have stayed much longer but we had to get back in time for evening stables as Mr Mafia had another date with some of the team from Newlands of Stow where he visits regularly. This time though, they came to him and met him and his friends in the yard before watching Mr Mafia in action on the gallops. They looked to thoroughly enjoy themselves and he’s off to visit Newlands again on Thursday.
On Friday our Racing Club visited Batsford Stud and huge thanks to Anna and Alan Varey and their team for making us all so welcome and to Paul Davis for organising it, as always, so brilliantly. The weather was glorious and Batsford Stud is quite simply stunning and our Club, and some members of our racing syndicates, watched a few horses parade including the evergreen stallion Passing Glance (sire of Pinnacle Peak) and we then wandered down to see the mares & foals in their paddocks. These included our two mares, Cut & Run and Capricia, in foal to Passing Glance and Ocovango respectively, and also a huge favourite of ours, Spice Girl, who won five races for us, with a gorgeous foal at foot. We were then all treated to cakes and fizz and it was lovely to catch up with everyone – a fabulous visit. Do get in touch if you are interested in joining our Racing Club – it’s such a fun community of like minded people and, in addition to watching the Club horses at the races, we do so much more too. It’s the most cost effective way into racehorse ownership at £500/year or £42/month.
This weekend I took my labrador Willow to join my parents, brother and his partner Amy, in Pembrokeshire which was absolutely stunning and Willow loved swimming in the sea and exploring Britain’s smallest City, St Davids. Perfect weather but thankfully, for the horses especially, the heatwave looks like ending so we’ll be able to turn the horses out for the day again as it’s been too hot over the past week and they’ve been happier in the coolness of their stables.
We love hearing about horses that have been in training here and it was fabulous to hear that Eclat Des Mottes won the ROR class at Bowes Agricultural Show at the weekend. We re-homed him to the Barratt-Atkins family and we are thrilled that through their hard work with him that he’s thoroughly enjoying his new chapter. Really sad news though of Grade 2 winner Creepy who has sadly been put to sleep. He has had a wonderful retirement under Chris Dee’s ownership, firstly giving Chris’s sons Charlie & Robbie so much fun in the Point to Point field, and then he spent four years as one of the very top Team Chasers in the country with Phil Nicholls and his family.