Where are they now
Ruacana (Stable name Roo)
We had the pleasure of training Roo for two seasons and he did us proud winning two races at Lingfield, and running an absolute cracker at Sandown Park on ITV Racing on Tolworth Hurdle day last year. He famously won the Grade 1 Coral Finale Hurdle at Chepstow as a three year old in 2013, and had a long and successful career spanning 9 years. When we were looking for a last minute replacement to ride Roo in the Flat Jockeys v Jump Jockeys Race that he won back in November 2019, Gem called up Racheal Kneller to take the ride. Rachel and Roo cruised to a brilliant win, and so taken was Rachel with her ride on Roo, she made contact with the owner to say that she would love to have him when he retired. So Roo and Rachel have now teamed up again for the next chapter in his life.
The Game Is A foot (Stable name Oscar)
The Game Is A Foot came to Shovelstrode in 2015 and soon proved a stable favourite. He won five races for the team, four of those coming in Zoe’s stellar season of fifteen winners 2017/2018. He was ultra-consistent, always tried his heart out, and finished second twice as a twelve year old in his final season. One of our work-riders Sophie Conway took a big shine to The Game Is A Foot, and when the decision was taken to retire him, Sophie was first in line to give him a new home and a new career. Sophie plans to do a variety of things with Oscar including show jumping .
Frank N Fair (Stable name Black)
The Shovelstrode team had the pleasure of training Frank N’Fair for her whole career. She started out with a 5th placed finish in a Fontwell bumper in 2013, and 5 years later had raced 36 times winning 5 races and finishing second a further 4 times, and famously finished third in the Sussex National at Plumpton in 2018. She truly was a little star for the yard. One of our long-standing members of the team, Serena Whiting, looked after and adored Black, and now owns Black in retirement, where she is enjoying a new life doing a bit of everything particularly excelling in her hunter trials.
https://www.instagram.com/franknfair/
Impulsive Leader (Stable name Immy)
Impulsive Leader made her debut for the team in 2017, and over the following four years, ran some nice races without ever managing to get her head in front, with a second at Plumpton in December 2020 her best run. Her owner Kenny was incredibly patient and gave her every chance of realising her potential as a racehorse, but with that win proving very elusive, the time was right to give Immy her next assignment as a broodmare over in Ireland, where she will now have babies.
Monty’s Award (Stable name Monty)
Joined us from Charlie Longsdon and won three times for us. He is a very intelligent horse, possibly too intelligent for his own good in racing terms, and when he retired he was taken on by Sophie, who worked at Shovelstrode when he was first here. She has him based at a nice, quiet yard (which suits him) on Tilburstow Hill and is keeping him alert by getting him working on a variety of things. In the picture, they are taking part in a Tiananmen Square massacre commemoration (possibly) and Monty has just realised how that day went and is ready to beat a retreat.
Backinforglory (Stable name Gloria)
Although she could be a bit cantankerous with regards to minor things such as doing what she was told and being nice to visitors, Gloria did manage to be a close second three times before retiring. Being by Fame And Glory and out of a Flemensfirth mare, she had all the genes to appeal for breeding and has come back to the yard in mid-2025 with her first foal, Winnie, in tow. This picture was taken on Winnie’s first day in the world – she is a bit more substantial now.