Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

It is with great pleasure that I can recount how I starred in the remake of the 'Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory' on Tuesday. Or perhaps I should say 'Willie Wonka and the Winner Factory', because the chocolate factory to which I refer was Pond House, Nicholashayne, Somerset. My golden ticket came about because of Emma embarking on a feature for Horse & Hound which will focus on Tom Scudamore's appointment as stable jockey for David Pipe; eight years ago she wrote a similar feature about the pair mirroring in the point-to-point field their fathers' former all-conquering National Hunt partnership, so now that David is at the helm of the stable and Tom is the stable jockey, it is a case of double deja vu. Hence the feature. And hence my request to Emma to see if I could be smuggled along on her visit, because doing some industrial espionage in the best stable in the country would be just about my idea of heaven. Happily, when Emma asked David if I could come along he said that I'd be welcome - and how correct that statement proved to be! Much as I was looking forward to the visit, not in my wildest dreams could I have predicted what a special occasion it would be. And for that I have three people to thank: Martin, Carol and David Pipe, all of whom gave us a most overwhelming welcome. Martin and Carol didn't know we were coming, but they ended up arranging their whole morning around us!

One of the highlights, obviously, was seeing a string of horses exercise on the gallop. This was so impressive. The horses, who without exception looked superb, are unbelievably content, as was demonstrated by their conduct at exercise. As they filed through the gateway into the field and onto the gallop, the tractor was still on the gallop higher up, so all the horses just walked onto it and stood patiently in line waiting to be given the office to start work. There were probably about 16 horses in the string, and not one of them fidgetted or jibbed at all; it had to be seen to believed. And it wasn't just a string of older horses, because there was a good cross-section of the stable from experienced good horses (Abragante and Tamarin Blu came up together, as did lovely old Puntal and It Takes Time) to unraced bumper horses (eg Cricket Boy, who is Lady Cricket's first foal, by Alflora). The horses exercised in well-matched pairs, doing strong but unpressured work, and everything ran just so calmly and smoothly. Part of the key to this has to be the outstanding staff, as there is a great team of riders. Tom Scudamore and Timmy Murphy both evidently ride out frequently, and the array of regular riders is superb: three of them (Rodi Greene, Gerry Supple and Andrew Glassonbury) rode at Towcester that evening, while other race-riders include Tom Malone and Johnny Farrelly. The excellent ex-jockeys Jonathan Lower and Ned Buckley are both key members of the team, and all these, plus numerous other very good people such as my fellow Hawickman Craig Wylie mean that the stable is outstandingly staffed. And going there one can see why: there is such a good atmosphere there, of friendliness and efficiency which starts at the top and runs all the way through, that you can understand good people settling there.

We were shown everything: the feed room, the tack room, the laboratory, the office, some of the horses (eg lovely little Gaspara, right, who is about the same size as Lady Suffragette only slighter, and dear old Well Chief, he of the lovely kind face and friendly nature) and even followed in the footsteps of an astonishing array of visitors (from AP McCoy to Sir Clement Freud, via Andy Caddick, Sir Mark Prescott and Emlyn Hughes) by using the equiciser! And ate and drank in front of the famous bank of TV screens where Martin has kept abreast of the racing world and spotted potential stars in French claimers. We were introduced to everyone as we went around, and Martin was just so full of enthusiasm to show us, explain and discuss anything and everything. I've been very privileged to have visited some of the best stables in the world, but the treat I had on Tuesday knocks all other tours into a cocked hat. I could eulogise about the every aspect of the visit for another 10,000 words, but I think you've got the idea. We know that Martin Pipe has been the best trainer operating in Britain over the past thirty years and that the operation has passed seamlessly into David's safe hands; a visit to the stable lives up to expectations because one finds that it is instantly obvious that it is a place where things are done well, and comes with the added, but not suprising, bonus of confirming that Martin, Carol and David Pipe are as decent, generous and welcoming as they are successful.

The perfect way to round off this excellent day was with a trip to Towcester on the way home, and the icing on the cake was that the ever-reliable Lady Suffragette (pictured, with Tom Greenway up) ran another cracking race to finish second in the mares' novice hurdle. There is a real pattern to her jumping career so far: second to a 1/5 shot at Plumpton, third to a 2/11 shot at Towcester, and now second to a 2/11 shot at Towcester. She started the 14/1 second favourite, which is an unusual thing in an 11-runner set-weights race: you could maybe understand it in an 80-runner handicap. Between the third last and second last hurdles she actually looked like giving the favourite a race, but she had been shaken off by the time they jumped the second last, and the effort on such a stiff track meant that she finished a tired, but fortunately undamaged, horse. I feel that I ought to point out that, in my opinion, I haven't been stupid in finding a series of races which she can't win, but have done well to find a series of races she can be placed in: the horses who have beaten her have been such short prices not because they are champions, but because they are running in races with no depth at all. So all I need to do now is to find a race with no depth and no hot favourite (or one in which Lady Suffragette is the hot favourite!). I'll keep trying - and so will she, because she is a really honest little horse. May 22nd might be the next date in her diary. There are, funnily enough, two appealing races that day for her: a 45-50 two-miler on the flat at Lingfield (grass) and a conditional jockeys' mares' 0-95 two-mile handicap hurdle at Towcester. The latter sounds perfect, but the fly in the ointment might be 11 stone 12 lb, which wouldn't be ideal. It's bound to be a very weak race, but how she'd go round there with a stone and a half more than she's been carrying is a worry. Still, I've got plenty of time to mull it over.

Sadly, the day ended with a whimper rather than the hoped-for roar. As I told Jim McGrath on At The Races, we ran our entire National Hunt string at Towcester (although this isn't strictly true with Desiree threatening to come out of retirement, but one can't really count her as she can hardly be classified as a professional racehorse on the basis of the life of reilly which she has been pretending not to enjoy for yonks), because Mattie lined up for the bumper. He did everthing right before and after the race, but unfortunately during it he ran too slowly. It was a rough race and he got jostled a lot, which probably contributed to him losing most of his momentum and co-ordination in the final half-mile, but basically, although his homework looked to have improved for his debut and although he looked fitter, he seems to have outgrown his strength for the time being, and a nice spell over the summer while we wait for him to get a bit older is the obvious next step. I'm pleased to report that, while we failed to win the bumper, David Pipe succeded in doing so, his Kayf Tara (from an Ardross mare - lovely) David Johnston-owned debutant The Package winning in the style of a potentially top-class horse. He's a really nice horse who looked very special before the race as well as in it, and I'll be keeping a close eye on his future career. I remember Kayf Tara best for twice being too good for Largesse (in the Prix Kergorlay and the Yorkshire Cup), but I'm sure that the Pipes remember him best for nosing out Far Cry in a tremendous finish for the Ascot Gold Cup, so if he can now sire a really good horse for the stable that would be poetic justice. Thus ends the tale of a really special day.

Since then? Well, not a huge amount to report. We've probably had our second millimetre of rain for the month (well, almost) which one wouldn't have noticed if one had blinked. The Polish Precedent filly has settled back into the routine really well, having gone very sweetly at exercise yesterday with Hugh and today with David. Anis Etoile had her first canter this morning up Warren Hill under Martha, given an excellent lead by Cliff on Millyjean, so they are all taking little steps forward. Another good sight to see was Shane Kelly riding out for Paul Howling this morning. Inevitably, just about the first person we saw riding on the Heath on Saturday morning after Friday's verdicts from the HRA was Phil McEntee, with a broad grin on his face. (He seems to be having just as many runners since losing his license as he was while he still had it, but racing jurisdiction, as Robbie Fitzpatrick is proving, works in mysterious ways). Of those side-lined, Shane Kelly is the one for whom I do feel sorry because, if I'm any judge of character, he is an honest and decent guy who could only have got himself into trouble through naivety, stupidity and gullibility. Still, if he's done wrong, he's done wrong, and I'm sure he'll demonstrate his merit by taking his punishment on the chin. And it was so good today to see that he's going to keep his head on his shoulders and keep himself busy - so when he does return to action, I'll certainly be wishing him every success.