It's All In A Name

Names are very important to us for the horses, we like strong positive racing names but stable names that reflect the character and personality of the horse, that the guys handling the horse can relate to.  Nothing worse than hearing 'move over you' or 'his stable name is Sh*t Face'.  In the same way as it is with us, it is hard to say a name with anything other than the emotion you are feeling, "Morning Maisey" with a smile in your voice and the horse will know you are pleased to see them, they will be even more happy if you are carrying their breakfast at the same time.  The last few weeks for us have all been about names which has been quite funny, but also a little frustrating.

When John and I bought Onedin Line (Oh-Knee-Din Line) we never for one minute thought this was a difficult name.  I don't know about John but in my house growing up, the quieter you were in the living room, the longer you got to stay up, consequently I spent the 70's watching a variety of drama series that I probably wasn't that interested in, many of which had links to boats, The Onedin Line, When The Boats Come In and if dad was out and it was just me and mum, The Love Boat and Triangle.  I have to thank my parents for this early education because it means I know how to pronounce Onedin Line, and given enough alcohol, may even be able to hum the theme tune.

We have been keeping a list of our favourite mis-pronounciations of Onedin Line, so far we have:

In third place - Simon Earle, Wan-Din Line (stable name of Wanda).

In second place - Jamie Snowdon One-Din Line (when I told Jamie that he was obviously too young to remember the 70's TV show he said he wasn't born until 1979 which is quite frankly ridiculous),

First place however goes to Wally Irvine our excellent racehorse transporter, a recent invoice for transporting Onedin came through in the name of On-Lynne Bin-Line (stable name of Bin Laden?).

Onedin Line is now at Venetia Williams yard, Simon had threatened to tell the yard his stable name was Wanda rather than Odin but I'm not sure he did.  We haven't yet found out what they are calling him (hopefully not Sh*t Face) but we will, it is going to be even more exciting to hear what the course announcers call him when he starts his racing career in earnest with us.

Not content with struggles with Onedin Line's name, we have also in the last couple of weeks announced the winning name from our 'name Poppy our unraced/unamed racehorse competition'.  We had lots of entries some of which were very clever and people had tried to take inspiration from her breeding (Strategic Prince and Haiti Dancer).  The Judging Panel liked the name Mezile (Meh-zee-lah) who is the current Minister for Women's Affairs in Haiti, we duly checked that it was available and sent all the forms off to register the name.  We were a bit concerned however for it to be rejected on the grounds that it was too similar to a horse in racing called Mezel, we therefore took the only course of action available to us, and put a prefix on it making Poppy now Loxley Mezile.  This is not such a big deal as having 'our' prefix means that we can use it as part of Maisey's foals name, eg Loxley Explorer (or something like that) out of Lisellan Amazon.  Hopefully all the paperwork will go through and we will actually have a horse with a name for her first race in a couple of weeks.  Whatever she is called on the course, she will always be Poppy to us (or Pops, Popsy, Poppies - definitely not Sh*t Face).

And finally this blog entry is bought to you by our new Blog identity EPDS Equine, I eventually got around to setting myself up with a more business like blog name rather than using my personal account.  It's still me doing the blogs, I am just called EPDS Equine, that is E-P-D-S Equine, or just Sh*t Face(d)!!

F F F Freezing But Fun Yard Visit

Yesterday EPDS Racing and friends visited the yard at Simon Earle Racing to see all our horses in training, it was a good day to pick, not least because the sun was shining (although it was very cold) but also because work with the horses is going well and a couple were due to work on the all weather gallop at Horses First that day.

We arrived in good time, despite the holiday traffic on the A303 - for anyone that regularly drives that route I can recommend turning right at Stonehenge and driving through Shrewton, if for no other reason than you get to see men in uniform, plus the odd tank.

A quick restorative hot drink and some cookies warmed us up and we said hello to all the horses whilst the team were tacking up, three horses were working that session, two of ours, Shilpa and Poppy, and Headly's Bridge owned by Mrs P Bridel who was also there to see her horse work.  All three horses are fully barefoot, Poppy and Headly hacked up to the yard on the roads which takes 10-15 minutes, and Shilpa was popped in the lorry and driven up by Simon and Luke.

It was a beautiful day to be at Horses First, the whole area seems to be designed with the training of racehorses in mind, fantastic hills to work up and a natural bowl that has been turned in to a circular mile of all weather surface perfect to warm up on.  When you get there you can park right at the start of the gallop.

You then ride part way up the gallop and can drop in to the bowl on the left hand side.  Cars can get right up alongside the gallop up to the top, although I have to say we wouldn't have wanted the ground much wetter to have got three cars up to the very top (John - buy a 4x4!!).

Shilpa warmed up around the bowl and waited for the other two horses to join her.  The plan was for them each to do one steady up the hill and then a second gallop slightly faster.  Simon hopped on to Headly for his second gallop, Shilpa was ridden by Luke and Poppy by Sam.

The picture above is their first gallop, Shilpa in front and Poppy behind, you can really see the gradient of the hill in this picture and from where I was standing it continues to climb.

Then they hack back down the gallop again to the bottom ready to come up for the second time.  Here I think Sam is admiring Luke's new riding gear, he has recently been sponsored by Ray Thomas Limited and was immaculately turned out.  Once back to the bottom it was time to come up again, this time a bit faster.

Here we have Poppy nearest the camera and Shilpa on the far side.  Shilpa will always be my special girl but I have to say I am getting quite excited about Poppy, she is maturing all the time, really loves working and I think is going to be pretty quick.  Once they were all at the top then they hacked back down again on a long rein to give them a chance to get their breath back and cool off.

Poppy and Headly hacked back to the yard and Shilpa popped back on to the lorry to be driven home.  Once back at the yard she was showered off and then had a wicking sweat rug put on her and was put back in the stable to dry off.  She decided to help this process by getting down on her nice clean straw bed and having a good roll.

Poppy was untacked and also showered off, she doesn't like the 'dragged through a hedge backwards' look quite as much as Shilpa though.

The other horses were all in good spirits, Benni had forgiven John for his recent visit to the vets and enjoyed getting some fuss from him and Elli.

And surrogate son Homer Run also got in on the act as well.

Onedin Line was out in the paddock looking very happy and nice and muddy, we have been having conversations about how to pronounce his name, it should be pronounced Oh-knee-din Line, after the 70's TV show, his stable name is Odin (after the Norse god).  Simon then had to confess that he has been pronouncing it Wan-din Line, so his stable name has become Wanda (after the goldfish), he's a big butch chestnut, probably going to fill out to about 17hh's, with a girls name, he's probably the laughing stock of the paddock.

Maisey has been moved to her new ancestral home of Heytesbury Park, this is fantastic land, all old turf rolling parkland and very Capability Brown, she's not going to want to come back home once the foal is born.

We then retired to the Angel Inn in Heytesbury for an excellent lunch and a warm up in front of their wood burning stove.  

Plans will be made for the theme of our next yard visit and we look forward to seeing everyone on a racecourse in November/December when hopefully we will have three horses running, think the New Year will be very busy, lets hope we have better weather than last year!

Many thanks to Simon, Katie and all the staff at Simon Earle Racing for their excellent hospitality and time, we are always made to feel very welcome at the yard and it is lovely to see how happy and chilled out all our horses are.

Tracey

Uttoxeter Yesterday

Had a great evening yesterday at Uttoxeter with seven of the partnership members and friends and family, we had never been to the course before and I would describe it as charming (the original buildings are all built in the style of cricket pavilions) but testing (big galloping track with a rise and fall and dog leg then a long finish).

We had travelled up after work so missed the first three races but meet Simon in the owners and trainers bar (free teas, coffees and biscuits) for a quick catch up where he reported that the journey there had taken about 4 hours but Shilpa had travelled well and was chilling out in her box waiting for her race which was the last one on the card at 8.50pm.  We then went off to watch some races and found and owners and trainers box with an excellent view of the course (free teas, coffee and biscuits, wine and soft drinks), out makes you feel good when you have an almost access all areas pass and the first  words you hear when entering the prime box are 'would you like a drink madam'. Suffice to say two glasses of wine on top of a large gin and tonic meant I felt a lot happier being in the paddock for Shilpa's race rather than hiding behind the bike sheds like I usually do.

Shilpa looked very relaxed in the paddock, the light was quite bad so it was a bit hard to take lots of photos without using a flash but I got some and we will post them up to the website.

I wasn't brave enough to watch the race (small steps) but did listen to the race commentary and the others reported that for the first 1.5 miles she was travelling really well, she was sat in about fifth place and with the leading group, she was also jumping really well, then the stiffness of the track and her slight lack of fitness showed and she started to tire the fences out from home. Gerard gave her a very considerate ride and she cleared the last three well, just couldn't find any more to quicken so he bought her home safe and sound ready for another day. We knew that she needed a run and she is entered in three weeks time so she will be all the better for it.

Simon rang us on the way home to say she had recovered well after the race and she was tucked up in the horse box on the way back to Wiltshire, they probably got home about 2am. She will be out in the paddock today stretching her legs and then back on with the work ready for three weeks time.

A good evening was had by all, I think we all backed a few winners and the pork rolls were excellent, feeling very tired this morning though!

Yard Visit And Racing Tomorrow

Me and my friend Trudee had a quick whizz over to Simon's yesterday to see Shilpa school and look at a horse that is being retired from racing and that the owner would like a good home for.  We had a great morning and I'm pleased to report that Shilpa looked great and was probably going as well as I have ever seen her.  We also saw Poppy and Benny who are really loved up, well Benny is gazing at her in a slightly pathetic way, Poppy obviously is playing it cool and keeping her options open should something better appear over the horizon.


Shilpa is running tomorrow at Uttoexeter in the last race at 8.50pm.  There is a group of us going and it should be a fun evening.  As I said Shilpa is looking great, probably in need of the run and Simon has radically changed the way he has been working her recently so it's going to be interesting to see how this has changed her way of going.  There are 20 declared for it which is a big field but means the bookies will be paying out to fourth place.


Tracey


A video from yesterday, Simon is on Shilpa.

Apologies And A Sad Day

Firstly apologies that we have not blogged for a while, things have been a little exciting in EPDS Towers to say the least and we have lots of news to share with you.  I also apologise that what has driven me to blog today is the sad news about the death of Campbell Gillies.

I personally had never met Campbell although I had seen him ride many times, John met him at Hexham a week or so ago and described him as a lovely lad whose passion for what he did came through very clearly. We had spoken to his agent a couple of times about potential opportunities if our horses ran north and it was clear that at some point in the future Campbell would ride for us.

Sadly that day was never to come and our thoughts go out to Campbell's family and friends at this very difficult time.  Having spent time around racing yards we also know how much of a family they are, especially to young jockeys whose family may be many miles away.  In many cases we see the young jockeys treated as surrogate sons and daughters and our thoughts are also with Lucinda Russell and her team who must be devastated by the news today.

Shilpa is due to run at Uttoxeter on Sunday (going permitting) with the agreement of the syndicate members we are going to donate any winnings that we may have to the Injured Jockey Fund.  The IJF are supporting Campbell's family and friends who were on holiday with him, when tragic events occur you are reminded of the excellent work that the IJF do, and we are pleased to support them in any way we can.

Shilpa Running At Hereford

Shilpa runs tomorrow in the 5.20pm at Hereford, we have been hampered by the wet weather after being hampered by the snow and frozen weather over Christmas, good job we decided to give her a holiday and bring her back out when the weather improved.


So first race back after her holiday and first race barefoot, she looked great when we saw her at the open day on Saturday, will give a full report tomorrow evening.  I won't be making the trip myself which means I will be in one of the bookies near work, shouting at the screens, jumping up and down whilst hiding my face with a scarf.  It's not a good look so anyone in the central Reading area please avoid the Paddy Power bookies on Broad Street.

EPDS Racing Welfare BTO Results - 3

Today was the third leg of the EPDS Racing Welfare best turned out series at Carlisle, it was also mothers day so the clever chaps at Racing Welfare were asking people to nominate their mum to help judge the competition.  This apparently proved very popular and although I don't yet know the name of the mum in question she did a very good job by all accounts.


The results were as follows:


1st Chrissi Cameron - Barry Murtagh's yard
2nd - Venetia Williams yard
3rd - Dianne Sayer's yard


We are trying to get the name of the grooms that came second and third and as soon as we have that we will update the blog.  A photo of the winning groom Chrissi:

As you can see from the photo the weather was beautiful at Carlisle today if a little cold.


The league table is now:

15pts - C E Longsdon

15pts - R Dickin

15pts - B Murtagh

15pts - V Williams

10pts - W Greatrex

10pts - K Bishop

 5pts - M Appleby

 5pts - D Sayer


Venetia Williams' yard moves up to joint first place with 15 points after their second place today, they are so far the only yard to place in more than one of the legs so they are the one to watch next time at Ludlow on 5th April.  The remaining dates in the series are:


Ludlow- April 5th, Fakenham- May 27th, Stratford- June 2nd, Worcester- July 31st, Bangor on Dee- August 31st, Market Rasen- September 29th, Fontwell- October 6th, Wetherby- November 17th,Wincanton – December 6th (Finale)