Dick Turpin Day Update
Today is 287 years since Dick Turpin was hanged in York. Not for highway robbery, but for horse theft. It would also have been Ravi Shankar’s 106th birthday, but he was not convicted of any equine related chicanery (as far as we know) but did record a song uncharacteristically titled “Dispute And Violence.” Still looking for the Extreme Noise Terror cover version… But on to the matters in hand.
Quote from Andy just before Easter on training racehorses – “This can be a very stressful job.” That may be a slight misquote as webmaster was busy priortising his tasting options for the various homemade cake offerings the yard during the conversation and was thus slightly distracted. After that, how did the expected busy Easter pan out?
TROPICAL SPEED – As feared (but not hoped) his chase rating had been raised for his hurdling runs in late 2025 to the degree that he was no longer qualified for his intended race. That was the four horse race at Plumpton in which the joint-favourite rode a finish a circuit too early.
GOLD CLAREMONT – Not declared anywhere as the forecasts of a bit of rain from Storm Dave did not come to pass where there were possible races for her.
EPHYRA – Although she was fine in the preliminaries (see the pic below just before they left the paddock), she had a big tantrum once out on course and Caoilin pulled her up after a lap and a bit to save her for another day. That was definitely a race where she could have been in the shake-up.
LOLA DE MAGNY – Knocked a joint on the Friday. We declared her in hope of it clearing up, but it did not do so sufficiently for her to run. The small consolation was that the going may well not have been soft enough for her, but if it was, then the race was one where she could have gone very close.
YASMINA – The jockeys got caught playing mind games with each other over who would make the running. In the muddle, Callum ad libbed and kicked on with her early. She had half a look at the stables when passing them, but he got a breather into her down the hill and when one horse was able to challenge, she was headed but rallied to lead again, only to be edged out by a neck in the last fifty yards. A tremendous effort and the tactical about turn did not decide the race, Yasmina was just unlucky to bump into one who was a tiny bit better on the day.
So in conclusion, no, training racehorses is not a stressful job. Many people find the horses can be good stress relievers, but the horse giveth as well as taketh away.
Yasmina, in the process of givething.