LAMBOURN OPEN DAY 2019
Good Friday 19 April
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Picture of the Day
Me and one of my favourites ... Theinval Easter was late this year, 19 to 22 April, and
the weather glorious too … unlike 2018 when an early Easter resulted in the
majority of the planned Lambourn Open Day events
being abandoned due to heavy rain. In
fact the only event had been Nicky Henderson opening his yard at Seven
Barrows that day … which meant the Best Turned Out yard award was a walkover!!! Anyway, the yards opened at 08:30 so, with this
in mind, I set my alarm for 05:30, with the aim of leaving home at 06:45.
Having procrastinated, I left home at 07:00.
But, you know what? It no
longer bothers me if I arrive slightly later than planned … Life has not been the same since early January,
when a certain Richard Madden became the most important interest in my
life. I watched Bodyguard when
broadcast last August/September so it was a slow burner at first, before
suddenly hitting me straight between the eyes on the weekend of the Golden
Globes; 05/06 January. Since then, I’ve lived and breathed him every minute
of my waking day and sometimes more too – nothing much gets done, off-piste,
and that includes my racing life! I am internet and social media savvy, and I am
not naïve; recent paparazzi intrusion and resultant newspaper stories, along
with internet trolling, has shown a total lack of respect for this very
talented actor and it is very hurtful and unkind to him. Having read many legitimate articles, and
seen and heard him being interviewed on numerous occasions, I know Richard to
be a very beautiful person, both inside and out, and my love for him has
never wavered. Anyway, back to the diary in hand ... having left
home, I joined the M25 at junction 22, travelling in an anti-clockwise
direction to reach the westbound carriageway of the M4. The latter motorway is still affected by
road-works, with a 50mph in place between junctions 8/9 to 10; it’s being
converted into a Smart Motorway. I left the motorway at Junction 14, travelling
via Great Shefford, East Garston and Eastbury to reach Lambourn. I recall seeing two racehorses, being
ridden near Eastbury; the traffic slowed to
accommodate them. Having cut through
to reach the Wantage Road, I turned right and
joined the convoy heading to Nicky Henderson’s yard at Seven Barrows. There was a queue to get in; in fact around 5
separate queues! It cost £15 for
entry, plus £5 for a programme; with monies going to designated charities. Having parked my car in the field above the
yard, I walked down the hill to see the horses. I began with the stables on the right-hand
side, before progressing to the barns at the far end; River Wylde is nice. I
then travelled along the boxes towards the main yard – these included Follow
The Bear, Pentland Hills, Mister Fisher and Verdana
Blue. I headed into the main yard and discovered that
Sprinter Sacre was being held by his ex-lad, Sarwah Mohammed, standing upon the grass area in the
centre; evidently only special horses are permitted on the grass! He looked so well and happy. I toured around the loose boxes, finding
Gold Present, O O Seven, Divine Spear, Whisper,
Beware The Bear, Vyta Du Roc, Bobsworth
(visiting for the day), Altior, Theinval,
Buveur D’Air, Jenkins,
Josses Hill and Mite Bite … and yes, the latter was being a bit ‘nippy’! I was having a problem taking a selfie with one of my favourites, Theinval,
but fortunately a lady kindly took a number of photos for me (one of which is
shown above). I desperately want a selfie with Richard Madden; he’ll have to take the selfie for me, as he’s ‘King of the Selfies’ and I’m
useless! I returned to take a few more
photographs of Sprinter Sacre before heading back
to my car. I then drove back to Lambourn
village; I turned right at the cross-roads, as the main straight was chock-a-bloc
with traffic, and a lorry in particular.
I headed around the block in an anti-clockwise direction, to park
opposite Harry Dunlop’s yard. Having
consumed a couple of cheese rolls, it will come as no surprise that I then
headed to Jamie Snowden’s yard!!! The
stable staff accommodation situated next to the driveway was now complete,
and there were four children’s ponies in the adjacent paddocks, including a
painted cob. EPDS Racing no longer have a relationship with
the yard and, although Our Reward is still there, he is now a Heart Racing
syndicate horse. I did an extensive
tour of the yard, taking many photographs – Timcoda,
Kalahari Queen, Hogan’s Height, Alrightjack,
Pacify, Legends Ryde, College Oak, an unnamed Jamie
Snowden Racing Club Westerner gelding (I liked him a lot, a lovely nature),
Lakeside Pearl, and Our Three Sons. Also the yawning Fact Of The Matter, Redbridge
Gold, the previously mentioned Our Reward, Carntop,
Scorpion Sid (who slobbered on my new camera!), Shantewe,
Early Morning Rain, Chapmanshype, Etat Major Aulmes, Lyrical
King, Richie Valentine, Adrrastos, Midnight Chill,
Double Treasure, the black Floral Bouquet, Thebannerkingrebel,
Some Day Soon, Between The Waters, Coole Well,
Bucko’s Boy, Three Ways, Thistle Do Nicely (who may bite), Crown Theatre,
Grange Ranger, Filemon,
King Vince, Amorlette, Falcons Fall, and Dans Le Vent. I then continued across the road to Warren Greatrex’s yard at Uplands; the yard is the former home
of jockey/trainer Fred Winter. I
toured the yard, taking photos of Missed Approach, Portrush
Ted, Gangster, Dicosimo, Miss Honey Ryder, Keeper
Hill, Jackson Hill, Mulcahys Hill, Boite and La Bague Au Roi. My final visit was to Oliver Sherwood’s yard, where
I photographed Rayvin Black, before I returned via
the main road to the field where the afternoon events would be held. I popped to the portaloo,
before finding a bale of straw to sit upon, adjacent to the arena. As the bales were large enough to
accommodate two people, I was joined by an older lady a short while
later. It transpired she was trainer
Harry Dunlop’s mother-in-law! She said
she liked National Hunt racing best, and had visited Nicky Henderson’s yard
earlier in the day too, but she wasn’t permitted to be disloyal to her
son-in-law who trained for the flat!
She also asked me if I’d been to a point-to-point; no, never. The presenters for the day were Merrick Francis
and trainer Richard Phillips. The first display of the afternoon was a parade
of the Vine and Craven foxhounds; Harry Dunlop’s mother-in-law popped over to
say hello to her grandson, William, who was taking part as a mounted hunt
follower. The pony William rode was a
racing pony. His mount was 18 years
old and keen to get on with the job in hand; this meant that Harry’s wife had to lead the pony for the majority of the
time. There was a slight delay ahead of the second
event, the Stannage International Stunt Team,
because of traffic problems in the village; this had delayed those wishing to
park ahead of the afternoon’s proceedings.
The Equine Parade followed, in the main
arena. The parade was led by Sprinter Sacre, followed by Hunt Ball, Bobsworth,
Buveur D’Air, Pentland Hills, Coneygree,
Stormy Antarctic (trained by Ed Walker), La Bague
Au Roi, and Toast Of New York led up by former
jockey Jimmy McCarthy. Trainer Jamie
Osborne announced that ‘Toast’ was
now officially retired, having encountered a number of niggling injury issues
during his comeback effort. Jamie
Osborne’s whippet, Bobby, was also paraded; evidently she is a legend on the Lambourn gallops. The next event was two heats of the camel racing
– these were held beside the all-weather gallop which runs alongside the
arena field. I headed over to gallop;
I stood at the end of the cordoned off section as it was the only place I
could get a good view. Taking part were AP McCoy, Noel Fehily, Nico de Boinville, Brendan Powell Senior (who rode twice), Jamie
Osborne, a lady rider plus A N Other.
John Francome was supposed to ride, but
didn’t show for this particular event; hence Brendan had two attempts, but
failed. He would be leaving Lambourn the next day to take up a post in Ireland as
Assistant Trainer to Joseph O’Brien; Brendan had announced his retirement
ranks very recently, the role no longer paid. The next event was the schooling over hurdles
with top jockeys – including Jeremiah McGrath, Noel Fehily,
Nico de Boinville and AP
McCoy. There was a brief RDA display, followed by a ROR
display in the main arena. This was followed by the Camel Racing final, held
in the main arena on this occasion.
The finalists were AP McCoy, Nico de Boinville, Noel Fehily and
Jamie Osborne. And there was no
surprise that AP won the race … Merrick Francis joked, as he does every year,
that AP has to win. He’s even won
races at the Open Day because of objections to the winner! The final event was the Show Jumping – the McCoy
family, the Osborne family, the Bradstock family,
plus John Francome plus one. Technically it wasn’t family, apart from
the Bradstock’s Sarah and Lily. The Osborne team might have been, but for
the fact that Saffy Osborne was away competing in
Ireland this particular weekend.
Anyway, it will come as no surprise that AP McCoy’s team won!!! I believe Ed Walker won this year’s prize for
best turned out yard! Events over for another Good Friday, I walked
back to the car park situated opposite Windsor House stables. I ate the two remaining cheese rolls, as I’d
been surviving on Fruitella sweets for most of the
day. I left Lambourn just after 17:00 and I wish I could give a
description of my journey home … but I won’t, as I took a long
diversion! It was another of my
wonderful ‘Magical Mystery Tours’ …
that’s ‘magical’ for me, and a ‘mystery’
to everyone else who doesn’t understand my need to do it!!! But, despite not having a satnav, I wasn’t lost at any point! I returned via the A303, M3 and M25, arriving
home at 21:25. I’ve either got dodgy new front tyres or they
aren’t balanced properly, as speeds above 60mph cause a lot of vibration on
the steering wheel of my car. Although
at over 80mph this disappears again … naughty me ... that’s too fast! |
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Click here for Lambourn Open Day photos index – hopefully this will
happen at some point ... Maddenitis permitting!!! |
