MEMBERS’ ENCLOSURE The Newsletter of the West Racing Club

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Founded in 1982 Edition No. 271 August 2015 Acting Editor: Stewart Nash

CONTENTS WBRC Ten to Follow - Flat Season 2015 2 Future events 3 Reports of recent events 4 Making a weekend of it! 5 Racing at Cartmel 6 Racing in France an Introduction 7 Booking Forms 9

WELCOME We extend a warm welcome to Mr. W. A. Alcock, of Wickham, Mr. & Mrs. David Carter of Newbury, Mr. J. Gregory of Highclere and Mr. Brian Hague of Winchester, who have joined the Club since the last newsletter was published. We hope they enjoy their membership and we look forward to meeting them at future events.

FORTHCOMING CLUB PROGRAMME There are three events planned in September and October starting with a stable visit to Clive Cox’s Beechdown Farm Stables in Lambourn on Tuesday, 8 September. This is followed on 2 October with a visit to Andrew Balding’s stables at Park House Kingsclere and then on 19 October there is a visit to Plumpton Races by coach for their Moorcroft Racehorse Rehabilitation Centre Charity Day which will include a visit to Suzy Smith’s stables at the former Lewes Racecourse. More details of all the above and booking arrangements on page 3.

PAPER COPIES OF NEWSLETTER – DO YOU NEED ONE IT’S ON THE WEBSITE! The West Berkshire Racing Club has 55 members who are currently receiving hard copies of the Newsletter. The Club’s printing and stationery costs are therefore high and considerable voluntary member time is involved too. We would like to minimise the number of people who require a paper copy, though we recognise that not everyone has a computer at home. We send an email to all members who have given us an email address so that you are notified of the publication of the newsletter immediately and of course you will also receive advance news of events being arranged by the Club, before the next Newsletter. So it should be a win/win situation. Even without your own computer or email address you can still access the Club website through a public computer terminal at your local library although there may be a charge for printing out booking forms and other pages you wish to keep.

NEXT NEWSLETTER The next Newsletter will be published in mid/late-September. As always the Editor welcomes contributions from members and these should be sent to him by no later than 10 September. TEN TO FOLLOW – 2015 FLAT SEASON The defeat of Golden Horn in the International Stakes at York brought to an, at least temporary, halt to his points scoring and this may prove crucial to the result of this competition as we move towards the conclusion over the next seven weeks. As things currently stand Nick Goodwin still has a healthy lead over Roger Emberley in second with Ken Unsworth moving into third and narrowly edging Phyllis Carter into fourth. The competition ends on Ascot’s Champions Day on 17 October. SCORES AS AT 23 AUGUST 2015

Position Name Points 1 Nick Goodwin 520 2 Roger Emberley 435 3 Ken Unsworth 425 4 Phyllis Carter 415 5= Ken Unsworth (2nd list) 375 5= Mark Wellsteed 375 7 Colin Mackie 370 8 Roger Emberley (2nd list) 365 9 John Nash 355 10 Roger Emberley (3rd list) 350 11 Alan Wellsteed 340 12= Dru Nicholson 335 12= Ken Unsworth (3rd list) 335 14= Alan Wellsteed (2nd list) 330 14= Colin Mackie (2nd list) 330 16 Alan Wellsteed (3rd list) 320 17 Maureen Chilton 300 18 John Toner 290 19 John Toner (2nd list) 285 20 Tina Mitchell 275

POINTS SCORED BY LEADING HORSES

Horse Points Horse Points Golden Horn 125 Postponed 50 Gleneagles 110 Qualify 50 Muhaarar 90 Snow Sky 50 Arabian Queen 70 Star of Seville 50 Treve 55 Storm The Stars 40 Highland Reel 50 30 Muthmir 50 Free Eagle 30 50 Toormore 25

ADDRESSES TO CONTACT Chairman Maurice Stringer – 07729 600180 email:[email protected] Treasurer: David Lees - 17 Boathouse Reach, Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire RG9 1TJ (07855 275588 or 01491 571299) email: [email protected] Secretary: Bernard Mills - 39 Highfield Drive, Ewell, Epsom, Surrey KT19 0AU (020 8394 1107) (email: [email protected]) Membership Secretary: Barbara Allen, Pilgrims Lodge, Baker Street, Aston Tirrold, Oxfordshire OX11 9DD. (01235 850318) (e-mail: [email protected]) Stable visits and event bookings: Robert Watson - 1 The Courtway, Bone Mill Lane, Enborne, Newbury, Berkshire RG20 0EU (01635 42948 - Mobile 07979 460555) (e-mail [email protected]) Website and social media: Patrick Fagan – 07796263762 e-mail [email protected] Social events organisers Caroline Springfield - 01672 520086, Acting Newsletter Editor: Stewart Nash - 14 Elland Road, Walton on Thames, Surrey KT12 3JT (01932 880211) email: [email protected]

Page 2 FORTHCOMING EVENTS

VISIT TO CLIVE COX’S Beechdown Farm Stables, Lambourn on Tuesday 8 September at 9.00am Clive cox has built a very successful yard at Beechdown and we are very grateful to Clive for allowing us to visit. The start time is designed to allow us to watch third lot on the gallops as well as a tour of the yard and other facilities. The visit will be followed by brunch at the Sheep Drove Eco Centre and Farm just up the road from the stables. The cost of the visit is £5 per person and bookings should be sent to Robert Watson using the form at the end of this newsletter. Payment for lunch will be made in person on the day. HOW TO GET THERE: From Newbury travel west on the M4. Leave the M4 at junction 14 signed Hungerford, Wantage. At the roundabout take the third exit towards Wantage (A338) and after half a mile turn left onto B4000. Follow this road for approx. 5.5miles and then turn right towards Lambourn Village. On reaching Lambourn go through the village high street and then north towards Wantage. After passing Oaksey House; turn right up Sheep Drove Road; continue to a fork in the road where you bear right, and the yard is a little further along, on right hand side. [RG17 7UN]

VISIT TO ANDREW BALDINGS Park House Stables, Kingsclere on Friday 2 October at 10.15am Ever since Sir Joseph Hawley installed John Porter as his private trainer in the newly built Park House Stables at Kingsclere in 1867 it has played an important part in racing in West Berkshire. Porter himself was responsible for advising on the layout of Newbury Racecourse which opened in 1905 and successive trainers at Park House, William Waugh, Fred Butters, Evan Williams, Peter Hastings Bass, and now Andrew Balding have ensured the yard remains one which is held in the highest regard. We are therefore delighted that Andrew has agreed to a visit and we look forward to an excellent visit. Brunch will be arranged in a local public house after the visit. The cost of the visit is £5 per person and bookings should be sent to Robert Watson using the form at the end of this newsletter. Payment for lunch will be made in person on the day. HOW TO GET THERE: From Newbury go south on the A339 towards Basingstoke. After Headley pass The Star Public House on the right and at the next roundabout turn right towards Kingsclere village. Follow the road to Kingsclere Parish Church and then turn right into Swan Street (signed towards Overton). After approximately a mile you will reach Park House Stables on the left. [RG20 5PY]

VISIT TO PLUMPTON RACES (by coach only) including a visit to Suzy Smith’s Lewes Stables on Monday 19 October. Departing from Newbury Racecourse promptly at 8.30am (note earlier than previously advertised start time). This meeting is a reciprocal day for Newbury Members and therefore this is an ideal time to pay a return visit to Plumpton. The meeting is also a fund raising day for the Moorcroft Racehorse Rehabilitation Centre and deserves our support. On the way to the meeting we will be visiting Suzy Smith stables situated at the former Lewes Racecourse about 5 miles from Plumpton. Suzy trains around 20 horses and has great success with her runners especially at the Sussex jumping meetings. The cost of the visit is £28 per person to include coach travel, driver’s gratuity, trainers and stable staff donation. Bookings should be sent to Robert Watson using the form at the end of this newsletter. Those who are not members can gain admission to the racecourse on the day or purchase tickets in advance via the website. Due to the Moorcroft event places in the racecourse restaurant are likely to be sold out before the day but there are a variety of food outlets available. Note: Lewes Racecourse is a privately owned estate and there is no public vehicle access. Anyone who lives locally and wishes to travel by their own car MUST ring Robert Watson to book and confirm arrangements.

Other Club events. The programme of Club social events has not yet been confirmed and will be notified to members as soon as possible. Page 3 DIRECTIONS Please note that directions for stable visits and other events are provided based on the information available to us but cannot be guaranteed to be correct. Similarly post codes provided for navigation purposes cannot be certain to pin point the precise location of the stables. Members are advised to leave ample time for their journey and be prepared to locally for directions.

NEWSLETTER DISCLAIMER This newsletter and the information it contains are intended only for the personal use of those to whom it is addressed. Unauthorised use, copying or disclosure of any of it without the permission of the West Berkshire Racing Club Committee is not permitted. The WBRC does not accept any liability for the accuracy of articles contained in this newsletter. Any advertisements carried in the newsletter are included on the basis that we believe they may be of interest to our members. The West Berkshire Racing Club does not accept any liability for any injury, damage or loss, financial or of any kind arising from such advertisements.

A BIRTHDAY AND A RETIREMENT Pictured right is WBRC Member Mike "Chunky" Allen (left) celebrating his birthday outside the weighing room at Glorious Goodwood with Richard and Lizzie Hughes, on the day ‘Hughsie’ retired as a jockey.

REPORTS OF RECENT EVENTS Salisbury Picnic and Races – August by Maurice Stringer The Salisbury picnic race-day did not go exactly as planned owing to the vagaries of this most inconsistent and overall rather coolest of British Summers. The two day meeting held at Salisbury is undoubtedly the highlight of their racing season with a Listed fillies race on the first day and the Group 3 Sovereign stakes held on day 2 of the meeting, which for many years has also been a reciprocal day for Newbury annual members. We therefore decided to hold an informal club picnic in the car park at what is a most beautiful setting for

an English rural racetrack on this day. As I sat in my Wiltshire back garden some 35 miles North of the track on a lovely Summer day on day one of the Salisbury fixture I thought if only the picnic could have been that day as I had seen the advanced weather forecast for day two of the meeting which indicated that WBRC members would be enjoying a rather soggy picnic with a few thunderstorms and bolts of lightning thrown in for good measure, therefore after numerous telephone calls and emails, we decided to re-route to a pub called The Victoria &Albert in the lovely little village Suitably dressed WBRC Committee members of Netherhampton, whose main claim to fame before Robert Watson and Caroline Springfield brave the arrival of the WBRC, was the discovery of the the weather at Salisbury Races Salisbury hoard in 1988 which was the largest collection of Bronze Age artefacts ever recovered. The pub is ideally situated for the races at this charming Wiltshire racetrack as it is barely a mile away from the course. After being suitably refreshed during which some heavy rain had fallen outside our band of members made their way to the racecourse in plenty of time for the first which also coincided with an upturn in the weather which although for the rest of the afternoon was rather overcast but was at least dry and mild. Page 4 The highlight of the afternoons racing was a double for top French jockey Gerald Mosse on two of Clive Cox's runners Bobby Wheeler (pictured right) in the first and stable star Kodi Bear in the big race, despite Mosse taking a rather erratic course on the latter by first of all steering a lone course on the far side before coming across the track to join the other runners and swerving violently to his left before drawing well clear in the last furlong and a half. There was also an easy win for the Brendan Powell trained Stockhill Diva and a victory for the Laura Mongan trained Hipz very capably ridden by Megan Nicholls (pictured left). Hopefully we can order the weather a bit better next time but keep a copy of the good pub guide just in case! (Pictures for the above article provided by Barbara Allen) MAKING A WEEKEND OF IT! By Stewart Nash Regular readers of the Sunday Edition of the Racing Post will be familiar with the ‘Making a Day of It Feature’ in the Sunday Supplement. Combining racing with other activities, places to visit and places to stay is an ideal way of making a lengthy journey to a race meeting worthwhile. The problem is that a race meeting takes up the best part of four to five hours and that combined with travelling to and from the course leaves little time so I am suggesting that perhaps the Post’s article ought to be titled ‘Making a Weekend of It’ or for those lucky enough to have free time ‘Making a Mid-Week Break of It’. As Members of the National Trust we are able to visit their properties for ‘free’ which helps to reduce the cost of your weekend break. Membership of the English Heritage offers the same benefits and membership of both widens the options even further. In the last newsletter my point to point diary included mention of two point to points we had not been to before so we decided to ‘Make a Weekend of It’! First the Ystrad Taf Fechan meeting at Ystradowen which is 12 miles west of Cardiff in the Vale of Glamorgan. Day 1 Saturday – travel via the M4 across the Severn Bridge and arrive at the course in good time for racing. Return via Cardiff for dinner and overnight stop. Day 2 -Sunday. After breakfast west again out of Cardiff to the National Trusts’ DyffrynGardens This property only came under the National Trust’s care in 2012 and is very much a ‘work in progress’ but well worth a visit. Lunch in the Garden Cafe before travelling home. Second the North Ledbury meeting at the former . So Day 1 – Saturday. Travel to Gloucester to arrive in time to look around the rejuvenated docks area, take a cruise on the Sharpness Canal, a short walk along the meadows of the River Severn and after a cup of coffee pop into Gloucester Cathedral to see the tomb of King Edward II. Dinner and overnight stop near Gloucester. Day 2 – Sunday. Travel from Gloucester to Swainswick and visit the National Trust’s small but very picturesque garden ‘The Weir’ on the banks of the River Wye (above). Short journey to Hereford Racecourse then journey home.

The possibilities are endless! Page 5 CARTMEL RACES by Maurice Stringer At the start of this year there were still a good handful of racecourses that I needed to tick off my bucket list of racecourses " to do". One of which was the picturesque Cumbrian National Hunt course of Cartmel. I had originally visited the village in the early 1980's whilst on holiday in the Lake District area curious to see the racetrack which is situated just beyond the village square, however due to their being very few meetings held their each season at that time I was not lucky enough to be there on a raceday So had been waiting to attend a meeting ever since. I set off very early on a Sunday morning at the end of June on what was the racetracks first ever Sunday meeting (the last track in the country to hold Sunday racing). Having set out very early I arrived at a very wet Cartmel at 10.30 am. Which was ideal for me as I planned to have a good look around this very beautiful village before racing began with the first race not due to start till 2.10 pm. Cartmel is dominated by the 12th century priory which is situated close to the village square. Priory at one end Racecourse at the other end with some nice eateries, shops and pubs in between, a perfect venue. There is also a lovely little micro-brewery and cheese shop just round the corner along with the Cartmel village post office (pictured right as racegoers head towards the course) which also doubles as a delicatessen and is home to the world famous Cartmel Sticky Toffee Pudding, a trap for any tourist or racegoer visiting the area, although I found selection was not that simplistic as there was also on offer sticky rhubarb and ginger pudding, sticky chocolate

pudding and many others, so in the end I decided to stick with the traditional as it made life easier. After a good look round the village and a few samples in the micro-brewery and tasters of the cheese I decided to dry out in one of the fine hostelries in the village square a short canter away from the racecourse which also gave me time to sort out the day’s runners with the aid of my Racing Post. Spending time in the pub proved to be a good move as by the time I left the forecast afternoon sunshine had broken through leaving the rest of the day bathed in lovely sun, the backdrop to a lovely day in this most beautiful of settings. Cartmel still only hold eight fixtures this season all held in the summer months amid a carnival atmosphere with all manner of different stalls and marquees in the centre of the Racecourse. Upon entering the racecourse and showing my Newbury reciprocal racecourse badge and acknowledging the comment "we don't see many of those" I was first directed to the middle of the course being told to cross by the green gazebo then walk along for a few hundred yards and re cross the course by the next green gazebo to the main grandstand, strange instructions but it obviously

works for them at this most idiosyncratic of racecourse venues. The grandstand at Cartmel is very old fashioned with not the most ideal viewing, no bars or catering contained therein, just a corporate level at the top and toilets and a Tote in the bottom alcoves (it has to be seen to be fully understood) as it's unusually set up. The Cartmel track is quite a tight circuit of about nine furlongs with an unusually long run in of about half a mile so fortunes can change quite dramatically on the run for home, it is also very much a horses for courses track so it pays to follow course specialists. (Picture left shows the view of the finishing straight from the Grandstand) Page 6 Left: Rachael McDonald who won the third race on the Alistair Whillans trained Pena Dorada. had made the long trek up to the North and duly obliged on his first ride in the second race with an easy victory on Miss Dinamic for leading Irish trainer Gordon Elliott. Like all winning riders at the track he was presented with a bottle of the sponsors Louis Roederer's champagne and you've guessed it a family sized Cartmel Sticky Toffee Pudding which he probably gave away to his old rival A.P. who was probably not calorie counting at the time. There was a thrilling finish to race four as the all the way leader Toledo Gold was almost reeled in by course specialist Carter's Rest who was carrying my money as I frequent a pub in the village I live of the same name, and who's lady riders father I was speaking to by the paddock before the race who said he thought it would run well. Leading NH trainer John Ferguson had sent up his only runner of the day from his base near Newmarket and the hint was clearly taken as I avoided a blank day by napping his commissioned who absolutely dotted up in race six in the extremely capable hands of 5lb claimer Mikey Ennis. Posh, clearly isn't what Cartmel is, but for scenery, excitement and atmosphere it probably is hard to better. If you haven't yet been you are clearly missing out on an amazing racing venue! I can't believe I waited all those years to return. [Pictures provided by the author]

RACING IN FRANCE – An Introduction by Stewart Nash I understand that during the brunch following a stable visit some months ago there was a discussion about racing in France and how to tackle the challenge of going racing in France. Having just returned from my fourth annual visit to Pompadour, arguably a contender for the top 10 most scenic racecourses (picture right), I have braced myself for trying to provide a simple guide whilst not stating the bl**dy

obvious. I am also aware that there are several members of the WBRC who have raced in France who will have different opinions to mine and would be equally well qualified to write this introduction. So where to start? Well of course the basic principle is the same a number of horses ridden by jockeys trying to get from the tart A to the winning post B quicker than all their opponents. There are however some fundamental differences, language being one of them. I imagine most people have seen French racing on TV either on Channel 4 or AttheRaces / Racing UK. Most of the races shown are from the four central Paris Tracks, Longchamp, Maisons Lafitte, Saint Cloud and Auteuil plus Chantilly, the home of the French Derby and Oaks, and the Summer Holiday venue of Deauville. This however is only a small part of the French racing scene and there some 260 racecourses, including three in Corsica. There is therefore plenty of choice and you can usually plan a holiday around one of more meetings (see making a weekend of it earlier in this newsletter!). It is however a good place to clarify one bit of potential confusion. ATR and RUK take their feed from the French Racing Channel Equidia. At the bottom left hand side of the screen it will usually have something like this R2 – C5. The French for meeting is ‘Reunion’ so R2” means Reunion Two i.e. the second meeting being televised by Equidia that day. The French for race is ‘Course’. So C5 means Race 5. It is quite usual for the order of the horses in running to be shown as a series of saddle cloth numbers. If T or Tombe appears it means that number has fallen / been brought down or unseated rider. Similarly, if A or Arrete is shown it means Pulled up. So how do you choose where to go? This is the first ! Unlike Britain where races are either on the flat or over jumps in France there is a third type of racing Trotting. Now I have nothing against Page 7 trotting but it is something that has never been practiced widely in the UK and I suspect most British racegoers would be turned off by a whole card of trotting races. When picking a meeting from the fixture list meetings will be either shows as Galop (i.e. flat or jumping) or Trot (trotting) or Mixte (i.e. a meeting involving both flat and/or jumping and trot races). The later falls into my tolerable category if the ‘mix’ isn’t too heavily weighted to trotting. Just to add that Galop meetings may also be shown as Plat i.e. all flat racing or Obstacle is all jumping. To take that one stage further there are three types of jump racing Haies are hurdle races, Steeplechases are as the names say run over a regular course but with a greater variety of types of jump than in the UK and Cross again fairly obvious Cross Country Races run over steeplechase type jumps but with a wider variety and a much more irregular course. There are far more Cross Country races in France than the UK, which only has the course at Cheltenham, and are far more popular than here. A personal observation is that cross country races in France are run over a variety of distances from 2¼ miles to 4 miles but with the majority 3 miles or less. This seems entirely sensible and provides races for horses of varying stamina. So why Cheltenham persist in running all their cross country races over 3miles 7 furlongs when there are a relatively small number of true stayers is beyond me. The 260 odd racecourses are scattered all over France but Normandy and Brittany are ‘real horse country’ and there is virtually no town without a racecourse many of which only race a handful of days a year. To find out more about where racecourse are and when they are racing the best reference is the ‘Les Courses Hippiques’ website www.lescourseshippiques.com. That site gives you details of each racecourse (Hippodrome) and the fixture list (Calendrier). Under the column headed Horaire a bright yellow sun indicates a day time (Journée) meeting, a half sun and half grey moon an early evening meeting (Semi Nocturne) and a fully grey moon an evening meeting (Nocturne). The last is usually under floodlights. The start time shown as usually the ‘Debut des Operations’ and is usually approximately half an hour before the first race is due to be run Another good reference is the France-Galop website www.france-galop.com (the Equivalent of our BHA) which gives details of all meeting with the details of races to be run, entries, runners and results. IN the website there is a English version (click on the Union Jack symbol) and go into the section ‘Racing Professionals and Owners Department’ and then click on the picture shown as ‘accessible to all’. This will bring up lots of statistics and information. Go to the heading Races for details of meetings and races. Be warned however that this website is only fully up to date a few weeks before the meeting so the best reference when booking a holiday in advance is Les Courses Hippiques. Admission to most French Racecourses is no more than €6 approx. (£4) and nearly always includes a free racecard. Sometimes admission is also free. There is generally only one enclosure so you can go anywhere except areas ‘Reservée aux Professionals’ i.e. Officials, Trainers and Jockeys. So where to visit? As I have said there is a wide choice and we have carried reports on a number of courses in this newsletter over the years. Immediately across the English Channel there is Le Touquet down the coast from Calais and further on there is Dieppe which a nicely appointed course. Although Deauville is well known its official name is Deauville-La Toques as there is another racecourse less than a mile away called Deauville-Clairefontaine (usually shown as just Clairefontaine). Inland towards Paris there is Compiegne which stages both flat and jumping and attracts runners from the big stables at Chantilly and Maisons Laffitte. In Brittany there is Craon and Lion d’Angers (picture right) both of which stage major cross country races. On the Brittany coast Pornichet-La Baule has undergone a major makeover in the last few years. In the South West Dax and Pau are well worth a visit, the latter holding most of its meetings in the winter. The choice is yours and there are some real gems. I hope that you have found this brief introduction of some help. Page 8 BOOKING FORMS

VISIT TO CLIVE COX’S STABLES – 8 September 2015

I wish to reserve ____ places for the visit to Clive Cox’s. This application is in respect of the following members:

1______2 ______

3 ______4 ______

I enclose a cheque for £ ____ (£5 per person) made payable to West Berkshire Racing Club.

I/we wish to have brunch after the visit - YES /NO

Please send this application to Robert Watson at 1 The Courtway, Bone Mill Lane, Enborne, Newbury, Berkshire RG20 0EU Contact details in case we need to contact you to advise of a change to the visit arrangements:

Telephone (home)______and Mobile ______

E-mail ______(please write clearly)

VISIT TO ANDREW BALDING’S STABLES – 2 October 2015

I wish to reserve ____ places for the visit to Andrew Balding's. This application is in respect of the following members:

1______2 ______

3 ______4 ______

I enclose a cheque for £ ____ (£5 per person) made payable to West Berkshire Racing Club.

I/we wish to have brunch after the visit - YES /NO

Please send this application to Robert Watson at 1 The Courtway, Bone Mill Lane, Enborne, Newbury, Berkshire RG20 0EU Contact details in case we need to contact you to advise of a change to the visit arrangements:

Telephone (home)______and Mobile ______

E-mail ______(please write clearly)

VISIT TO PLUMPTON RACES BY COACH (including visit to Suzy Smith’s) – 19 OCTOBER 2015 I wish to reserve ____ places for the visit to Plumpton Races. This application is in respect of the following members:

1______2 ______

3 ______4 ______

I enclose a cheque for £ ____ (£28 per person) made payable to West Berkshire Racing Club.

Please send this application to Robert Watson at 1 The Courtway, Bone Mill Lane, Enborne, Newbury, Berkshire RG20 0EU Contact details in case we need to contact you to advise of a change to the visit arrangements:

Telephone (home)______and Mobile ______

E-mail ______(please write clearly) Page 9