Thursday, 31 January 2019

2018: A Year In Review - Part 2

Oh so you came back for some more?

*thought I'd gotten away with that for a minute...*

July

The second of the four 'crown jewel' meetings saw most of the country head to the Welsh coast for what was rumoured to be (and has subsequently been confirmed as) the last staging of the Ceredigion two day festival at Aberystwyth.  This is a particular favourite with Scottish harness racing fans, mainly for the good weather, the great welcome and the better nightlife.  For us the weekend began with bitter disappointment as we had Stevie primed for an assault on Welsh turf, however Mr Self-Destruct had different ideas and a freshly-mangled leg put us out of the game only a couple of days before leaving.

Somehow I found myself on post-race interview duties again, although this time laid off the alcohol (purely because I was struggling to cope in the heat and also because I needed a clear head in order to carry off the fetching high-vis vest I was forced to wear to reduce the risk of being run over by horses...).

My Buddy delivered a popular Welsh win for owner/trainer/driver and postman (come ONNNN) Alan Jones in the Group 2 Travis Perkins Final, whilst the Laidlers returned to winning ways on the big stage with former stakes-sensation Springhill Glory landing the Group 1 Park Lodge Final.

#Squadgoals - with some of the crew at Aberystwyth
The Star Makers Final was staged at Tir Prince in the middle of the month, and although we had qualified Al Jolson for the event, an injury put him out for the season so we had no vested interest in the race.  Looking at it with an open mind it looked a highly competitive race, and it was the Jones family's Father Ted who landed the spoils on the night.  Despite stating that he would run a lap in only his underwear if the horse won, owner/trainer/driver Marc failed to live up to his promise...the jury is out as to whether we were cheated or secretly blessed!

Whilst we were bringing Dark Velvet, Rita & Denver home from Wales, Rodney Camden from the Foody stable was dominating at Wolsingham when winning the Joy Robson Memorial Final.

Towards the back end of the month the third 'crown jewel' fixture was staged at Musselburgh and it was a popular Scottish victory in the Group 2 Hurricane Pace Final on day one as the Gilvear family's Someones Fantasy toughed it to run out a gutsy winner.  The second day saw a Musselburgh queen return to the winner's circle as 2017 Hurricane Pace Final winner Rhyds Passion won both her heat and the coveted Group 1 Famous Musselburgh Pace Final in very impressive fashion.  I didn't think I could love her more after this day...but as the season progressed so did she!

Rhyds Passion & James Haythornthwaite cruising to victory in the Famous Musselburgh Pace Final (Bill Cardno photo)
OK I'm done talking about everyone else's July.  Especially when July was my month.  Well, not so much mine, more Elmo's.  After my co-owner Smarty tried to convince me to swap the horse for some semen (not the semen again) at Aberystwyth because he didn't think he'd turn into much, I remained firm in the face of adversity.  With Stevie nursing a mangled leg and Al scratched for the remainder of the year, on July 12th I joked that if Elmo Hanover was my stable star then it really showed how bad my stable was.  I arranged for one of the gaiting straps to snap at a convenient moment in the race to act as a deterrent for horses to get close to my pacing camel (disclaimer: I'm kidding, it happened BY ACCIDENT), and it worked.  We recorded win #1 with the mighty Elmo and boy did it feel gooooooood.  It wasn't graceful, but it didn't need to be.  My boy finally knew what winning felt like and I wanted him to remember that feeling in the hope that he might actually do it again.  And he did, just 2 weeks later at Corbiewood once again.  He also came SOOOOO CLOOOOOOSE to creating uproar at Musselburgh as he was just beaten by another Scottish horse, All Smiles from the Mackenzie stable.  I was stood with his previous owner as he came romping like a camel on an escape mission from a desert tour towards the finish line and the only thing that would have been better than the look on his face in that moment would be the look on his face if he'd actually won.  I may have been scraping him off the floor.  All of this was sufficient to secure Elmo the SHRC Horse of the Month award for July.  I hope you can feel the pride that is emanating from me as I write that.

After win number one - PROUD OWNER! (Annette Sproul photo)

August

On Scottish soil, former Scottish Horse of the Year Starzapan came to the fore at exactly the right moment to win the Greentree Standardbreds Mares Pacing Series Final for all at Trackside Racing Stables.  It was a delight to hand over the trophy to Mrs Mackenzie, the First Lady of Corbiewood and a woman all of us look up to (despite her diminuitive stature), whose son, Ally, trains the mare and whose grandson, Stuart, drove the mare to victory.

The First Lady of Corbiewood, Mrs Mackenzie, being presented with the trophy
My first foray out of Scotland in August came by way of the VDM weekend at Portmarnock, Dublin.  I had somehow landed the job of conducting some pre-race and post-race interviews alongside Darren.  I got to spend some quality time with my spirit sister Heather Vitale and I also met Heather and Mike Wilder for the first time, even interviewing Mike after a winning drive on the Sunday.  This meeting proved to be very beneficial when Smarty and I ventured across the Atlantic to the States later in the year.  Evenwood Sonofagun defied logic to overcome his rivals in the FFA and it was a brilliant Scottish win for the Gilvear family once again as their 2YO Northern Pride netted top honours in the VDM Colts Final.
 
Big Burd & Boots on tour at the VDM Weekend in Portmarnock, Dublin

Team Haythornthwaite reigned supreme at Bells Field in Scotland as the Fletcher's Tommy Camden won the Group 2 main event, whilst at the opposite end of the country on the same day Ayr Musketeer and Jaimie Davies took out the Group 2 Boughrood Final in Wales.  We had a 'mare at Bells Field as Stevie ran out on the paddock bend, broke, yet still got up for second to secure a place in the final.  Elmo, despite appearing to like the stiffer, staying style of racing, wasn't 100% and it showed as he trailed in mid-field.  Personally Bells isn't my favourite track to race at and I feel as though I've given it a fair go.  I wish Boughrood was closer, or not on the same day, as I'd rather be there in all honesty.

The fourth and final 'crown jewel' fixture at Tregaron was the best its been in recent years.  Wins for my friends the O'Neil family (with Ayr Treasure) and Emma Langford (with Camden Pro) went down a storm as I showed blatant disregard to the long drive home by getting drunk in the beer tent with friends from Ireland.  I joined Tim Kelleher, Barry 'Pinno' Pinnington and Darren Owen for a lively interview panel across both days, with Tim asking me (whilst under the influence in the beer tent) if my opinions really were my own, as they were 'quite good...for a girl'.  He's lucky he's got Irish charm, or I could take offence at that...Father Ted (of Star Makers Final fame) won the Strata Florida Final on the Friday and Teatime Preacher (of record-breaking maiden fame earlier in the year) landed the Welsh Classic Final on the Saturday to add another Group 1 to the Laidlers' haul for the year.

The point at which I decided Smarty could drive the full 7 hours home...and no, I don't know why Tim is on a chair.
From Tregaron we returned to the last event of the season at Appleby, with less fortune than we'd had on our previous visits with Stevie.  A third-placed effort in his heat got him a spot in the final but it wasn't to be and with hindsight we should have managed his campaign slightly better at that stage in the season.  We live and learn.  Team Laidler absolutely nailed Appleby in 2018, landing all four of the finals there as Merrington Checkm8 became the final piece in a successful jigsaw when winning the Brough Final.

Our last adventure of the month saw Smarty, George [Carson] and I head south to Kilnsey Show with Elmo and Sunnyside Clinton.  We were luckless on the day, but it spawned an idea which would see us drive on a 10+ hour round trip to the depths of Staffordshire just over a week later with the same team on board...the rest, as they say, is history.

Elmo (left) & Clinton...if only we knew what was on the horizon...
September

After having been reliably told by the Gaffer on Elmo's last start at Corbiewood that I wouldn't win another race with him because he didn't 'want to race', Smarty, George and I set off to Longnor.  I needed one more win in order for Smarty's infamous bet with Elmo's previous owner to pay off; with Cassius having notched up two wins at Pikehall and Bells Field, both horses were on two wins apiece.  Cassius found himself out for the season after Bells due to being sore so it was all eyes on Elmo.

None of us had ever been to Longnor before.  Smarty had found videos on Youtube of previous meetings there to get some sort of idea of the type of thing we were letting ourselves in for; and everybody else who had ever been before told us it would be like nothing else we had ever encountered.  A slight technical hitch with the box meant that we had an unscheduled pit stop at a garage near Penrith (thanks to Google for helping us find a garage and to the mechanic for fitting us in and ordering a replacement part at such short notice - Clinton and Elmo spent the guts of an hour walking around an industrial estate and looking at sheep), but after the initial hiccup we managed to find Longnor with plenty of time to spare, which meant George and Smarty were able to walk the track before racing began and get a feel for what was in store.

A total lack of phone signal meant that for the next few hours we were living in a tiny bubble alongside some other hardcore harness racing enthusiasts - bearing in mind this was a Thursday afternoon and the only reason I wasn't in work was because I had booked the day off to go to Glasgow to see a band called 'Striking Matches', however they had cancelled the gig the week before which paved the way for this trek to Longnor.  'What's for you won't go by you', so the saying goes, and it's right.  On that day we were meant to be at Longnor.

For anyone reading this not acquainted with the handicap system, there exists an allowance or 'lift' of 10 or 20 yards for C Class (or novice) drivers depending on how many wins they have amassed.  The purpose of this is to encourage trainers to allow inexperienced drivers to drive for them, particularly on horses who would benefit from being brought back down a grade or 2 to be more competitive.  As Elmo was a Grade 1 (the lowest open handicap grade), he could not benefit from any lifts, and despite there being A Class drivers available in Elmo's race at Longnor, we still chose to put George (a C Class driver) on board.  The reason I am making this point is simple: whilst there was a sizeable bet at stake, and decent prize money on offer which would make the long journey far more bearable, the ultimate purpose of having Elmo to begin with was to have fun.  There seemed nothing more fun than letting our enthusiastic friend get involved.  We chose to put up a C Class driver with 2 career wins to his name over far more experienced drivers who were available, for no obvious benefit to ourselves.  The benefit, which was obvious to Smarty and I, was that it made George part of the team and part of the fun.  If you can't enjoy your hobby with like-minded friends, you're probably doing it wrong.

Long story short (but I'll post the video further down) is that despite a slightly hairy moment on the last two bends where I thought George and Elmo were going to get hooked up with long time leader Rhyds Gambler and James Haythornthwaite on their inside, as Wellfield Ginger and Sarah Allen mounted their challenge to their outside, Elmo and George won.  Win number 3.  The long drive, the breakdown, the wet weather which saw me rummaging around the back of the box to find a very unflattering pair of orange high vis overalls to keep me dry was all worthwhile.

Not 15 minutes later George was back out on the track with Sunnyside Clinton, a horse he was training for one of his owners, and he made it a quickfire double with a performance that could only be described as a procession as he led from pillar to post.  In the space of half an hour George had doubled his lifetime tally of winning drives.

We were able to enjoy the interim races between the heats and final before I had to prep my catch driver, Richard Haythornthwaite.  George was obliged to drive Clinton due to being his trainer, and with only one driver at the track who hadn't driven a horse to qualify for the final, Richard was my man (well technically his father Alan hadn't either, but he had decamped to the beer tent long before the rain had blown over).  For the last few years I have supposedly been acting as an unofficial agent for Richard, however never given him a drive on a horse of my own.  I don't think he expected his first drive for me to be on the mighty Elmo, a horse who up until that day drew more disparaging comments than complimentary.  The advice was simple - keep chasing him, do not let him switch off.  All of us at the box felt that Clinton had the strongest chance of winning, so I told Richard that in an ideal world he could finish second to George.  My parting words were 'but y'know, try to win'.

Elmo had slightly different ideas to us about racing and tried to mount an escape bid back off the track just before the off, so I found myself inside the track as the race began having walked him around in a circle as the starter began to get them under orders (think of it as being an outrider, but without the horse...like an 'outwalker').  I was alone for the race, bar a steward stood about 15 feet away from me, and had to go through the motions of trying to figure out if my horse was travelling well enough to be in the mix at the business end all by myself.  As they passed the crowd at the start of the final lap I could see Richard giving him a proper shake of the reins and he didn't look like he was going to find anything...then commentator Peter Deighton used a phrase which will stay with me forever - "can Richard conjure up a run with Elmo Hanover?  And he is doing, he's cutting him back all the time! Elmo Hanover - just look at him go!"

As they turned off the last bend and I realised that Elmo was actually going to win the final, I'm not ashamed to say I found myself on my knees and totally overcome with emotion.  The emotion was mainly shock and disbelief, but shortly afterwards it was replaced by the greatest sense of pride.  My 'Hopeless Hanover', the horse my other half tried to get me to swap for 'as many straws as you can get, but try for 6', the horse my stable driver told me was 'useless', the horse my future father-in-law told me only 2 weeks earlier wouldn't win another race that year...he won heat and final, two trophies, the most prize money I've ever won in one day and a sportsman's bet, all in one go.

You'll possibly never have seen anything like it, but you can watch both races here.

Winner Winner!
In other news throughout September, Mayfellden Hetty netted the Laidlers yet another final at Wolsingham Show, one of the greatest meetings of the season and the one I am touting to become the Little Brown Jug of the United Kingdom, and at Haugh Field it was the Laidlers with Rhyds Sapphire and Karen Kennedy with Evenwood Ruthless who took home the spoils, winning heat and final of the low grade handicap and high grade handicap respectively.  A week later we were back at Tir Prince for the Crock of Gold Final and Le Trot trotting finals; this year Evenwood Sonofagun was able to keep all the glory to himself as he was an outright winner of the country's top FFA (having dead-heated with long-time rival Miraculous in 2017).  Team Nicholson & Ronnie Ralph landed the £10,000 Gold Final with their French trotter, Diamant De Godrel, with Emmanuelle Morvilliers from Le Trot present on the evening to celebrate with all the final winners.  On the same day, the Foody's and Lee Fletcher were entertaining the crowds at Stanhope Show when winning the final there with Porterstown Jimmy - a few of us managed to catch the race via Facebook Live, although we couldn't see who was in front and just had to rely on the commentary.

Back on Scottish soil, the major weekend at Corbiewood, the Murdock Weekend, was one for the Cullens and Gilvears.  Lyons Nant Hall took out the Dark Rum FFA on the Saturday with Grant Cullen in the bike, and Puissant Hanover landed the Bob Kennedy Memorial for Gordon Gilvear.  On Sunday they dominated in the feature events again, with VDM Colts winner Northern Pride easing to an impressive win in the SHRC 2YO Futurity for GG, and Tyler Camden a popular winner of the Joe Murdock Memorial Final for Grant.

The last meeting that I attended in 2018 was at Dunstall Park, Wolverhampton on 29th September.  Acting as official photographer once again, it was an enjoyable day of racing with Rhyds Mystique winning the STAGBI Future Broodmares race, Wellfield Earl and Roy Sheedy showing the young ones how it's done in the C Class race and Evenwood Sonofagun holding off rivals in a thrilling 4-horse high grade handicap which saw all four coming to the line together.

Smarty ventured to Corbiewood the following day but I found myself at home packing for our two week trip to America which was due to begin in less than 24 hours...

Stay tuned for Part 3 (unless you did Ohio in the 90's, in which case you'll not find anything of interest in the next instalment).

Over and out,

#1 Groom

Friday, 25 January 2019

2018: A Year In Review - Part 1

Let me first start with a grovelling apology.  Firstly, because it's now well into 2019 which seems a bit rubbish that I'm only now getting around to my review of 2018.  Secondly, because you will notice by looking at my previous post that I basically dropped massively off the radar after July.  The second half of 2018 saw no new posts whatsoever from me, which is probably my worst record since I began blogging.  No excuses, I fell off the wagon big style.  I was still active on other social media platforms throughout that period, but with so many different things to juggle in life this blog was the first ball to get dropped.  Nobody is more disappointed about that than me, trust me, as I love sharing news, views and personal achievements right here.  I'm sorry to the handful of people who read these posts religiously, and the larger audience who dip in and out for some light-hearted entertainment!

On that note, my New Year's resolution is to keep this blog going for 2019.  I can't promise weekly updates, but I can promise that I won't go AWOL half way through the season!!

Now to look back at 2018.  I figured the easiest and best way to do that would be to break the year down into the 12 months, before announcing my annual 'alternative' award winners (note: as with previous years, there are no prizes, monetary or otherwise, and don't be expecting a trophy.  Just know that to have one of my awards bestowed upon you is enough).

Here goes...

January

Taking into consideration that the harness racing season only stretches from May to October, there isn't much happening during these 'off-season' months.  However, in January 2018 the Scottish Harness Racing Club staged its annual awards event at the Golden Lion Hotel in Stirling.  This was the first year that I was able to attend since moving to Scotland in 2014, and Smarty and I were keen to do so as our good friend George Carson was to receive the 'Horse of the Month - July' award for his successes with Valentine Camden (owned by George's father, Gilmour, and trained by George himself).  The highlight of Val's July [2017] campaign had been his heat win in the Hurricane Pace at Musselburgh followed up with a second placed finish in the final behind BHRC Mare of the Year Rhyds Passion.  Along with the O'Neil family, we wanted to support George on the night, and in addition to this I had also convinced the committee to allow me to compile and show presentation videos for each of the winners (which was a great success, in my opinion at least).

Trainer George Carson, currently at Pompano Park in Florida

February

The awards season rolled on and before I knew it the BHRC & STAGBI awards evening was upon us.  For the first time Trot Britain joined in with the celebrations and added their awards to proceedings.  Another first was host Darren Owen sharing the stage for the evening...with yours truly.  This was my first 'gig' on stage, and I was terrified.  It didn't help that we had major technical issues regarding the audio for the videos that I had spent weeks preparing and I was running around like a headless chicken trying to fix things whilst also introducing the awards I was responsible for.  I made a few errors, I fluffed my lines a couple of times and I definitely announced the coveted 'Horse of the Year' winner before the official envelope was opened (I had to know in advance for the purposes of preparing the video, and I think in my desperation for the whole experience of being on stage to be over I rushed it...FAIL).  BUT, everyone enjoyed themselves, the videos were posted online after the event for people to enjoy fully and in their own time and a few people tried to rebuild my dented confidence by reassuring me that I wasn't the total disaster that I had convinced myself I was.  At the end of the day, we celebrated and we had fun.  That's a win in my eyes.

Making my hosting debut at the BHRC & STAGBI awards in Haydock

March

Upon consultation with Smarty, we have decided nothing happened in March.  Well, except it snowed, really, really bad.  That caused a lot of interruption to many people's training regime as a large number of horses were already back in training for the 2018 season (our horses included) so for a week to 10 days a lot of horses were kept off their work due to weather conditions.  Not the champion stable though; the Laidlers cleared their track and kept on trucking through it from their base in County Durham, and this dedication at the roughest point of the year weatherwise really paid dividends once the season was finally upon us.

April

Qualifiers and workout days started up at Tir Prince.  I didn't go to any as they were mid-week events but Smarty disappeared down south a couple of times (much to other people's bewilderment when they saw him).  Nothing else to report!

May

FINALLY the harness racing season was upon us, with proceedings kicking off at Tir Prince for their only fixture of the season where handicap races were the feature.  Commentator Darren Owen suggested we give a Facebook Live preview and post-racing review for the first time, and this spawned the beginning of many similar videos throughout the season both together as a double act, and separately when we were at opposite ends of the country.  We managed to get a wide variety of different people involved in these videos as the season marched on, and I've received a huge amount of positive feedback about them so expect more in 2019!

Team Haythornthwaite took out the first handicap final of the year (Anto Russell Memorial Final @ Tir Prince) with Plan B; the three-year-old Merrington Movinup landed the Camden Stud Spring Final @ Tregaron quite effortlessly for the Laidlers; Live In Star recorded his second final win in pitch darkness at Corbiewood for the Cullen stable; Team Laidler took home their second handicap final win with Easy Company at Presteigne; and not to be outdone the Haythornthwaites took their second final with Oaks Telstar at Corbiewood.  The first of the four 'crown jewel' events at Appleby saw the Laidlers dominate, with Springhill Ruby landing the Group 2 Sunday final and Jack Swagger (driven by 'Super Sub' William Greenhorn, co-owner of the horse and husband of the breeder, Joyce) taking out the Group 1 Monday final.  From a Scottish perspective, brothers Keir and Grant Cullen had to be commended for their training and driving performances respectively, finishing second in both finals (Springhill Catch - Sunday; Live In Star - Monday).

The two day meeting was also the platform upon which I launched my post-race interviewing 'career'.  The usual host was unavailable so Darren [Owen] asked if I would step into the breach.  Not one to say no to anything I duly obliged.  Terrified and completely clueless, but aided by copious amounts of fruit cider and gin & tonic (thanks to my BFF and my mother) it all went rather well.  Well, until I asked the crowd to ' please give a massive round of applause for the Appleby Monday Final winner JACK SWAGGER, and your winning driver ROCKER LAIDLER...'*turns mic off*...*looks over at William Greenhorn walking back to the paddock*...*realises he was the winning driver*...*turns mic back on* '...your winning driver WILLIAM GREENHORN!'.  People knew what I meant.

William Greenhorn & Jack Swagger (Sarah Thomas photo)
Breeder Joyce Greenhorn with Jack Swagger (Sarah Thomas photo)

On a personal level we welcomed a Hasty Hall colt into the world (Crosshill Diablo, aka Denver); re-qualified Young Stephen (aka Stevie) and raced him for the first time in 2 years; and won a qualifying leg of the inaugural Star Makers Series with David Lowther's Al Jolson (who taught me very quickly the pitfalls of training a grey horse - borderline impossible to keep clean!).  Sadly we also had to say goodbye to a very good friend of ours, Gilmour Carson, after a lengthy battle with cancer, and this hit all of us in our group hard.  Gilmour would do anything for anyone and in the short time that I knew him he came to my rescue on more than one occasion.  Racing hasn't been the same without him as part of the crew, but we have all ralled around his son, George, to make sure that he's never stuck.  Much like his father, George has come to my rescue a few times since then as well so I'm not really sure anymore who's helping who.

Probably spotted a speck of dirt on Al's face...
Crosshill Diablo (c, Hasty Hall-Vain In Spain-Artsplace)
June

Only a week after the Laidler domination at the Appleby two day festival racegoers in the northern half of the country returned to the track for the New Fair meeting.  Clearly on a roll, the champion trainer made it 3 finals from 3 when Blackwell Tiana, owned by Wilf Burton & Jonjo McMeekin, narrowly defeated our very own Young Stephen in a nail biting final.  Although disappointed that Stevie was once again denied his day in the sun, and this time by the narrowest of margins, I was delighted for connections of the winner.  We had after all won our heat with Hugh Menzies driving Stevie for the first time, so I knew there was life in the old dog yet (Stevie, not Hugh...).  Social media erupted later on that day with claims that the sport was being unfairly dominated by the Laidler camp, but to keep this short I shall simply refer you back to 'March'.  I had even stated in the preview with Darren on FB Live that whilst I had big hopes for Stevie in his heat, he was short of a workout (the snow had delayed us somewhat earlier in the spring).

Young Stephen & Hugh Menzies head to victory at the New Fair meeting (Bill Cardno photo)
The Laidler train kept on rolling as Teatime Preacher set a new track record for her age & sex when becoming the fastest maiden winner in Tir Prince's history on a night that saw multiple track records fall.  Rockin Mambo had his first taste of FFA success in the first of the Crock of Gold heats, although connections still held hopes of winning a major handicap with the son of Rocknroll Hanover before switching to FFA events exclusively.

The Fletcher and Haythornthwaite combo dominated the SHRC 3YOs at Corbiewood when Casimir Royal Flush and Crack A Smile took out the fillies and colts/geldings divisions respectively.  James [Haythornthwaite] was on somewhat of a roll himself, landing the £5000 Cumberland Show Final with a catch drive onboard Jimmy Winter's Midnight Diamond.  Unfortunately the meeting was marred by multiple incidents on, off and inside the track and such was the threat to the reputation of the sport at the venue and the total lack of impartiality from officials present that I was compelled to submit an independent report of events to the governing body.  To date not all parties have been formally dealt with, which is disappointing, but not entirely surprising.  I hope never to find myself in a position where I am apologising on behalf of my fellow horsemen for their conduct again.

The fortunes of the 'smaller' stables continued following Winter's success at Carlisle, with all 7 races at Hellifield won by stables outwith the typical 'professional' stables.  Team Foody landed heat and final with All Good Hanover, as well as a maiden with Rodney Camden, and were denied a fourth victory following a stewards enquiry involving Jack Sparrow (first past the post, but placings altered due to interference with the eventual winner, GDs Hurricane).

The field lines up at the picturesque Hellifield (Sarah Thomas photo)
The month of June was rounded off with Rockin Mambo recording another FFA win at Tir Prince when beating 2017 Horse of the Year Evenwood Sonofagun in the British Pacing Classic over 1m 2f.

At home with the Smart squad, I decided to take Dark Velvet, dam of Young Stephen and Wild Bill Hickok, back to the stallion after having been in the wilderness since her last foal in 2011.  I had purchased a service to first-season stallion Matador Hall as part of a fundraiser stallion auction and Smarty's late grandfather had once told me I could take a foal off the mare if I wanted to.  So that's what I'm doing.  We also bade farewell to big elephant features Cassius Clay as he was sold as part of a deal which saw (the famous on Facebook) Elmo Hanover join the ranks.  Now you know we're just warming up...

Fear not dear readers, part 2 (and indeed, possibly parts 3 and 4) will be posted imminently.  Let me just get myself another G & T....

Interviewing my driver at Appleby New Fair, after he won on my horse...


Over and out,

#1 Scottish Groom