I really enjoyed the trip yesterday to that most rurally English of all tracks, Towcester. The weather was good, even if the wind, being strong, was chilly enough on an otherwise mild and benign day. Gus (seen before the race) did too, as did Asterisk, who is really thriving on her National Hunt racing. She ran a good race to finish third. She was beaten a fair way and wasn't as good as the two mares who finished a reasonable distance ahead of her, but that's no disgrace. And, because of the course's stiff finish, the margins
tend to be quite exaggerated there anyway. Asterisk (seen before the race, during the final furlong, in the unsaddling enclosure, and then doing today what she loves best, ie rolling in the mud) is a different horse now that she is running over jumps and away from tape starts, rather than out of starting stalls. She was really content and relaxed both before and after the race, and during it she jumped well and tried hard. And you can't ask for more than that. As we were in an early race, we were off home before the best races were run elsewhere, but I watched
them in the evening and really enjoyed the Hennessy. There's not really a lot that can be said about that splendid result which has not already been said, but even so it would be wrong to touch upon yesterday's racing without mentioning how lovely it was to see that splendid horse Carruthers winning for his owner/breeder, the hugely respected Lord Oaksey. It is probably fair to say that, in truth, there are very few participants in any sport who give more to their sport than they take from it - but I'd say that Lord Oaksey has
been the exception to this rule, as he has hugely enhanced racing, and National Hunt racing in particular, by his presence in it in various roles over the past sixty years. If you haven't read his book 'Mince Pie for starters', then you should do so - and that's a rare piece of good advice handed out on this blog. It's lovely; and it ends with him remarking that he has a home-bred yearling by Kayf Tara from his old steeplechasing mare Plaid Maid who will in time join the stable of his son-in-law Mark Bradstock with the aim of giving him one last shot at the big steeplechases in the twilight of
his life. That horse, of course, is Carruthers, who has now won the Hennessy aged eight, giving his owner/breeder victory in the race which he won as an amateur rider in 1958. Lord Oaksey clearly is in bad health and could not be there yesterday, but I hope that he will have been able to learn of the horse's victory and to rejoice in it, because the rest of the racing community is certainly rejoicing in it on his behalf. So that was grand - as was the fact that Carruthers was (extremely well) ridden by the excellent Mattie
Batchelor, one of our several grossly under-rated jockeys. That was only Mattie's third win of the season, which is remarkable as the season is now seven months old. He's as popular as he is effective, so that was grand. I can't help recalling and chuckling over his response when a journalist, when Paul Nicholls was going to have several runners in one big steeplechase and might have been looking for a jockey, asked him whether he thought that he might be in line to get the ride on Denman: "Ride him? I'd be 33/1 to lead him up!". With self-effacing humour like that, it's no wonder that the fact that Mattie (pictured on Douchkette at Uttoxeter early last year) was the jockey made a special win even more special.
I really enjoyed the trip yesterday to that most rurally English of all tracks, Towcester. The weather was good, even if the wind, being strong, was chilly enough on an otherwise mild and benign day. Gus (seen before the race) did too, as did Asterisk, who is really thriving on her National Hunt racing. She ran a good race to finish third. She was beaten a fair way and wasn't as good as the two mares who finished a reasonable distance ahead of her, but that's no disgrace. And, because of the course's stiff finish, the margins
tend to be quite exaggerated there anyway. Asterisk (seen before the race, during the final furlong, in the unsaddling enclosure, and then doing today what she loves best, ie rolling in the mud) is a different horse now that she is running over jumps and away from tape starts, rather than out of starting stalls. She was really content and relaxed both before and after the race, and during it she jumped well and tried hard. And you can't ask for more than that. As we were in an early race, we were off home before the best races were run elsewhere, but I watched 
them in the evening and really enjoyed the Hennessy. There's not really a lot that can be said about that splendid result which has not already been said, but even so it would be wrong to touch upon yesterday's racing without mentioning how lovely it was to see that splendid horse Carruthers winning for his owner/breeder, the hugely respected Lord Oaksey. It is probably fair to say that, in truth, there are very few participants in any sport who give more to their sport than they take from it - but I'd say that Lord Oaksey has 
been the exception to this rule, as he has hugely enhanced racing, and National Hunt racing in particular, by his presence in it in various roles over the past sixty years. If you haven't read his book 'Mince Pie for starters', then you should do so - and that's a rare piece of good advice handed out on this blog. It's lovely; and it ends with him remarking that he has a home-bred yearling by Kayf Tara from his old steeplechasing mare Plaid Maid who will in time join the stable of his son-in-law Mark Bradstock with the aim of giving him one last shot at the big steeplechases in the twilight of 
his life. That horse, of course, is Carruthers, who has now won the Hennessy aged eight, giving his owner/breeder victory in the race which he won as an amateur rider in 1958. Lord Oaksey clearly is in bad health and could not be there yesterday, but I hope that he will have been able to learn of the horse's victory and to rejoice in it, because the rest of the racing community is certainly rejoicing in it on his behalf. So that was grand - as was the fact that Carruthers was (extremely well) ridden by the excellent Mattie 
Batchelor, one of our several grossly under-rated jockeys. That was only Mattie's third win of the season, which is remarkable as the season is now seven months old. He's as popular as he is effective, so that was grand. I can't help recalling and chuckling over his response when a journalist, when Paul Nicholls was going to have several runners in one big steeplechase and might have been looking for a jockey, asked him whether he thought that he might be in line to get the ride on Denman: "Ride him? I'd be 33/1 to lead him up!". With self-effacing humour like that, it's no wonder that the fact that Mattie (pictured on Douchkette at Uttoxeter early last year) was the jockey made a special win even more special.
1 comment:
The Hennessey was one of those races where you don't mind losing your money because the victors were so thoroughly deserving.Could it be that Carruthers goes on to lay the ghost of Carrickbeg for Lord Oaksey at Aintree next April?
And I can't think of an occasion where the winning jockey won the congratulations of so many colleagues.Marvellous!!
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