Sunday 11 April 2021

Light At The End Of The Tunnel

The other night I was messaging a friend (virtual interaction is basically all that life has become over the past 4 months) and I paraphrased a famous Game Of Thrones line when I said:

"Summer is coming."

And it is.  Spring has officially sprung: foals are arriving, a trickle at first but soon the floodgates will open and social media will be awash with photos of the next generation of harness racing superstars; racehorses are well into their 2021 training regimes and as soon as this weekend the first of the qualifier and workout days is scheduled to take place at Amman Valley, with York, Tir Prince and Corbiewood all due to open their doors for organised pre-season preparation shortly after.

The light at the end of the tunnel is Saturday 24th April, the planned season opener at York Harness Raceway, followed by Tir Prince the following weekend on May 1st and then before we know it, we're fully back into the swing of things and closer to something resembling normality than we'll have seen in what feels like a very long time.

OK, so the world may not have returned to normal by the end of this month, but my world will almost have.  Because for the best part of six months each year, I live for the weekends.  Not, as some may think, because I like to go mad on a Friday and/or Saturday night on the drink, but because I am graced with the opportunity to travel up and down the country doing and being around something I love: racing.

I make no secret of the fact that I find the winter notoriously difficult, even pre-Covid.  For the past few years I've suffered with SAD, which year-on-year has become increasingly worse.  I voiced my concerns to my parents heading into this winter that it was going to be the worst one yet for me, basing my fears on past winters but also the added factor of working from home.  On top of the reduced hours of daylight, and starting and finishing my work day in darkness, this winter I also had to face the reality of little to no face-to-face human interaction for extended periods of time, save obviously the person I live with.

I am by nature a sociable person; even though I work with people who have absolutely no interest in the things that I am obsessed with, working from home through most of 2020 made me realise that actually I had a better personal relationship with my colleagues than I had accounted for.  I missed them.  What got me through that from June to November was going racing every single weekend (bar the one I missed to go yurting in Aberdeenshire).  Racing, and the people within it, literally kept me sane in 2020.

Driving home after the last meeting of the season on November 8th I tried to focus my attention on all of the moments I had so thoroughly enjoyed from the summer; during the month of December avid followers of my photography Facebook page will have noticed that I did a photo advent calendar - a photo posted every day from December 1st through to Christmas Eve with an explanation as to why it meant something to me.  This was simply a tactic to distract myself from the fact that the 2021 season felt like an eternity away.

And then, with Christmas only a few days away, we were plunged into national lockdown once again.  Plans I had tentatively made for my weekends in January and February were suddenly off the cards.  I operate by a system of borderline obsessive planning and having things to look forward to. I count down the days to whatever I have marked in my diary first.  All of these small milestones fill the time until before I know it, the new season has started.  But 2021 got off on the wrong foot, and May could not have felt further away.

Fear not dear readers, this post isn't all doom and gloom.  It is however the chance for me to give you some of the relevant background information to assist you in understanding why I am the way I am when you see me during the summer.  I know I'm over the top, I know I take extra to the next level, I know it sometimes seems like the things I say and the posts I write can't possibly be genuine because who really gets that excited about watching other people's horses race around an oval for a couple of laps?  Trust me, I'm not the 'try hard' some of you might have me pegged as - it really is just the way I am.  I could bottle it up and try to behave in a slightly more socially acceptable manner instead of acting like a cheerleader on ecstasy but at some point along my journey within this sport I decided to take the risk of revealing who I really am in the hope that the acceptance and welcome I had received from the first day I set foot in a paddock as a groom would be extended again once people realised I was a little bit weirder than I first let on.  So far, so good....I think.

Speaking of welcomes, despite having to scrap most of my planned stable visits this year, I have been able to get out a couple of times along with my camera to visit my sponsored drivers (whilst observing social distancing rules and regs).  The first visit of 2021 was to Ayr Standardbreds when I dropped off one of my squad for the season with the O'Neil family.  AFAN EJO (or Joe as he's known) was my 'bargain buy' at the Brightwells Sale back in 2018, and after cutting his training short last year due to the uncertainty surrounding racing going ahead, this year we decided to entrust him to our friend Hugh O'Neil Jnr for his first season of racing.  I was able to visit again 8 weeks later to see how he was progressing and catch up with everyone, as well as meet their entire team which in addition to Joe, consists of dual STAGBI Future Broodmares winner last year AYR EMPRESS, Junior Welsh Dragoness winner AYR AMBITION, AYR BEACH and a horse Elizabeth [O'Neil] won in a raffle, EASY TIGER.

Ayr Empress & Hugh O'Neil Jnr

Ayr Empress

Ayr Beach & Michael O'Neil

Ayr Beach

Afan EJO & Hugh O'Neil Jnr

Afan EJO

Easy Tiger & Hugh O'Neil

Easy Tiger

I also managed to fit in my first ever visit to Dreamgait Stables, home to Evenwood Stud and the Nicholson family.  At the turn of the year I announced that Hugh O'Neil Jnr and Joseph Riley would be joining the ranks of Sarah Thomas Equine Photography as sponsored drivers, alongside the original: John Henry Nicholson.  So this visit was long overdue to see my little sidekick in his natural habitat.  We rather cleverly managed to arrange it to land on his sister, Savannah's, birthday so she was treated to a photoshoot with her special boy, DIAMANT DE GODREL as well.


Now if you've followed my blog for the past few years, you'll have noticed that as time has gone on the posts have become less and less frequent until, in 2020, there was only one post which acted as a full season review featuring my personal highlights.  Gone are the days when I would post a weekly roundup of the previous weekend's race meetings from across the country.  I'm sure I touched upon the reasons for this in that sole post last autumn, but to recap it is largely due to the fact that in this day and age, people want to watch rather than read.  It isn't so much that the art of writing is dying, but that as someone wanting to share my views, opinions and experiences I have to move with the times.  Video is where it's at.  Through the live stream reviews, The Sulky Show and The Chico & Sarah Show I've been able to tick all the boxes that I needed to, in far less time than it takes to sit and compose an appropriate and well thought out update on here.  Writing has, for the largest part, become an obsolete activity.

However, following my day trip to see the Nicholson's, I felt compelled to write again.  I'm rarely short of words to describe anything but even though three weeks have passed since my visit, I'm still struggling to sum up exactly how much I enjoyed myself.  The combination of the first warm, sunny day of the year, a barn full of racehorses to be introduced (or in some cases, reintroduced) to, and the opportunity to photograph people working at something they love made for the perfect day.  Add to that the stories that were shared over the course of the day and I wouldn't be exaggerating if I said I could have spent the remainder of the weekend there.

First and foremost, this is a family which absolutely loves what they do.  From the moment I arrived it was clear to see how much pride they take in the horses they breed and train and the place from which they ply their trade.  I mentioned to Georgina later on in the afternoon how it hadn't gone unnoticed that during my initial tour of the barn, as we stopped at each stable to meet its inhabitant I wasn't given a rundown of pedigree or race records but a quick synopsis of personality traits.  People who don't have insider access to the horse racing industry (Thoroughbred or Standardbred) often have this misconceived idea that it's a numbers game, that the horses involved are nothing more than cogs in a machine.  It couldn't be further from the truth.  The people who work with racehorses know them inside out; their likes and dislikes, their quirks and differences, all of the things that make them individuals.

I work with my own horses and I love it.  Yet watching others working with their horses is still as interesting to me as it would be had I never experienced it myself.  Not only do I count myself as incredibly lucky to be able to spend so much of my free time around horses, but even more so that people are so willing to let me into their lives to enjoy what they themselves enjoy.  Smarty often tells me that I 'would get a piece at anybody's door', which is a Scottish saying loosely meaning (in reference to me, at least) that I can talk my way in anywhere.  I like to think it's not the talking I do that yields such good relationships with people, but the listening.  People want to tell their stories, and I want to hear them.

One story in particular that has been alluded to in conversations with Savannah over the years is that of the stable's star trotter, DIAMANT DE GODREL.  Allocated to the family through the Trot Britain/Le Trot raffle scheme, Godrel came from France with a pretty lacklustre race record (his highest placed finish to that point being a third) and worse still, upon arrival was struck down with an illness that nearly cost him his life.  Through the dedicated care provided by his new owners, he overcame that and as time has gone on he has progressed to become arguably the country's leading Trotteur Francais (he has already been granted this title after the 2018 season and again for 2020).  In his first season of racing in 2018, he progressed up through the ranks to win the £10,000 Gold Final at Tir Prince, having never finished out of the first two up to that point, and in 2020 he not only landed the Triple Crown and the inaugural Trot of Gold Final, but also set a new British record over a mile and a half when winning the George Button Snr Memorial at York in October.  To date he is a winner of 11 races in the UK with earnings of nearly £30,000 on British soil.  Savannah told me the family felt incredibly lucky to be able to own and train a horse as good as he is, and yet I felt I had to remind her that from the outside looking in it looked a lot less like luck and a lot more like hard work, patience, perseverance and skill that had led to their success.  People don't necessarily want to own their success, being humble is the norm, but sometimes you have got to give yourself a pat on the back and say 'you know what, we did that'.

BHRC Trotter of the Year 2020

Godrel, John Henry & Rosie during their workout

The stable is more than just that one horse though.  Fan favourite Blason may live in the shadow somewhat of his stablemate but remains one of the most consistently competitive trotters to have come into the UK, racing at the highest level since his arrival in 2019.  New faces were in abundance also, with the three year old homebred pacer Evenwood Enforcer catching my eye, as well as new trotters Ebony Star and Hermione De Godrel (half sister to Diamant De Godrel).

Evenwood Enforcer

Hermione De Godrel

Ebony Star

Through all of the stories told, by John, Georgina, John Henry and Savannah, the one constant was the passion and enthusiasm they have for this sport.  It's almost impossible not to be lifted by that, and as I drove away at the end of a long day knowing fine well I was going to be home really late, I was on a total high.  Summer was coming; a summer full of promise, stories of success, triumph over adversity, potential being reached.

That day the light at the end of the tunnel got even brighter.

Now, with seven days to go to the first time I set foot on a racetrack this calendar year, I'm excited. Will the stars of 2020, aided by the penalty free season last year, shine as bright in 2021?  Will there be new faces amongst them setting the track alight?  How will my own horses fare?!  So many questions, so many possibilities, so many miles to travel and photos to edit.

The only thing I know for certain is this: I have missed you and I have missed racing.  Be prepared for how that manifests itself when I see you all for the first time.

Extra just got a little bit more extra.

Over and out,

#1 Scottish Groom

Sunday 22 November 2020

2020: A Year in Review

Wow.

Logging on to my blogger.com account for the first time in over 12 months and realising that my last posts were a three-part review of the 2018 season (published in March 2019):


Missed me?  Somehow I doubt it, but a lack of willing audience has never stopped me from offloading my thoughts and opinions on the world so here I am, back with a not quite a bang but more of a fizzle, to talk you through some of my personal highlights of the 2020 harness racing season in the UK.

TWENTY TWENTY.

OK, so maybe it's not going to go down as a vintage year but it's certainly going to be a year that we'll never forget, even if it wasn't always for the right reasons.

I am, however, in my heart an optimist and as we look forward to waving goodbye to a year that has tested us, I find myself looking back at some of the positive moments of 2020 that at times kept my head up.  Sometimes when the world feels like a very bleak place, those moments become like glimmers of light which I have clung to, and magnified, so that more than ever I have felt compelled to celebrate people's success with the same enthusiasm that I would celebrate my own (if not more).

Although it was a shorter than normal season (starting in June with qualifiers, and July with racing; and finishing in early November), we managed to cram plenty in to the 46 meetings staged exclusively across the 4 hard tracks.  As promised by the powers that be, stakes races were honoured for 2, 3 and 4 year olds; STAGBI fulfilled its commitment to stage the Future Broodmares Series and Golden Girls Final and people from within our wonderful sport dug deeper than ever to fundraise and sponsor to ensure racing could happen.

I can't talk about it all.  And I know that by selecting my favourite moments I run the risk of knocking some noses out of joint but I assure everyone who reads this that week after week I have endeavoured to let the world know of your achievements.  No win has gone unnoticed by me, and I have tried my best to congratulate as many of you as possible as and when those wins arise.  Be proud of what you have achieved.

So here goes.

Oakwood Anabella

Who can forget the emergence of one of, if not the, best two year old fillies this country has ever seen?  Late to the party, with her first start coming on 15th August (some 4 weeks after the first 2YO events of the season at Tir Prince), Anabella had impressed in qualifiers from the get go.  It wasn't the times that she posted in those qualifiers that had caught the eye of many, but the manner in which she went about her work and the improvement that she found so effortlessly each time she stepped onto the track.  Early doors the 2YO Fillies division looked to be a wide open, with Said To Be Sweet, Ayr Contessa, Imperial Attitude, Ayr Ambition and Showtime Im A Lady all making their way to the winner's circle in various stakes events.

Like a bowling ball with the perfect spin, Anabella sent the pins flying.  A 10 length winner on her first start at York in mixed 2YO company, she followed this up two weeks later with a convincing win at Tir Prince to land the £4000 Breeders Crown.  Upon her return to York a week later she blew away her competition and secured her place in the inaugural British & IHRA Juvenile Final at Portmarnock with a 15L win.  Her last start on British soil saw her break the 2 minute barrier and set a new track and British record for 2YO Fillies in 1.58.3 - and it was this performance in particular that I have to mark as one of the most memorable parts of the 2020 season.

Anabella's season didn't finish there, and she twice raced on her home soil in Ireland (at Portmarnock), winning the British & IHRA Juvenile 2YO Fillies Final and the IHRA Sire Stakes where in the former she set a new track and Irish record in 1.58.6.  I firmly believe it's going to be a very long time before we see another of her ilk again.



Shes Treacherous

This may have gone slightly under the radar across the wider harness racing community, as Corbiewood often does, but one of my stand out moments of the season was the richest final of the season (at that point) - the Alistair & Helen Allan Memorial Final on 4th October.  The 'crowd', largely made up of connections of horses racing on the day, was split in their allegiance between two of the heat winners - Shes Treacherous and Cash All, the latter coming into the meeting off the back of his first sub-2 minute mile at York the week before when finishing second, with the former recording 3 wins from her last 4 starts.  Corbiewood is known for its atmosphere and the lack of spectators each week was a noticeable absence no matter how those of us allowed to attend tried to pretend things were 'normal'.

The reason this race will stay in my memory for a long time is for one reason, and one reason alone: the eruption of noise as Shes Treacherous, the long time leader who had been all but cleared down the back straight in the final quarter by Cash All, rallied to regain her lead and ultimately win by open lengths.  As stand-in commentator Alan Greenhorn called it, "Shes Treacherous not giving in on the inside and begins to come back" - at which point the members of the former 'vanstand' made enough noise that I thought everyone racing at Tir Prince that day could hear them cheering.  That, that was a moment.  Finals do funny things to people.  Which is why you'll never hear me calling for them to be scrapped...

Bill Cardno photo

Ayr Regal & Stephen Lees

Don't call me out for having seasonal highlights that I wasn't present for, this is my blog and I can do what I like.  Nobody needs reminded of how much I think of this young man, or indeed this plucky little horse.  If 2019 was enjoyable watching the rejuvenation of a former stakes star under the guidance of Steve Lees culminating in the Pacer of the Year title, watching his young trainer sit his tests and get his licence was even better.  They are nothing short of a match made in heaven, and shrewdly placed in the Tir Prince Star Makers Series when meeting the conditions, albeit leaving Stephen with the worst draw each week.  On the third attempt of asking, being drawn 8 of 8 wasn't going to stop them and the duo romped home 9 lengths clear of their nearest competitor to record Stephen's first driving win aged just 15.

Not being there for that moment would be my biggest regret of the season, having opted to attend Corbiewood on my doorstep that day instead; although I huddled around someone's phone to watch the live stream with 5 or 6 others, cheering them on all the way down the home straight.  The win itself was memorable, but so was the outpouring of congratulations on social media in the aftermath.  The participants of our sport did not let themselves down on that front, making sure Stephen knew how much we all celebrated his success that day.  Well done kiddo.

                              
                                              

Beryl De Bercy & Ryan Askwith

A bittersweet memory now in light of the tragic death of 'Beryl' in the past week, but a memory that was always going to be included in my seasonal highlights regardless.  Like Stephen, Ryan sat and passed his driving tests this year at York although almost exclusively on trotters.  For a very long time I was convinced Ryan was either a mute or terrified of me, having never directly said a word to me since we met in Paris in January where he proved to be very good at going to the bar to bring the drinks over, but not much of a conversationalist.  Although he does like a photo, even if he slags me for not sending them when in fact I send them before posting them on my page...*turn on your data Ryan*.

Despite this lack of verbal connection which I usually strike up with people, every week that Beryl and Ryan raced (and usually led), I was cheering them on from my little corner of the track.  They came close twice when finishing second behind Diamant De Godrel (1st August) and Universal Cat (9th August), on both occasions being the proverbial sitting duck in front with truly class animals chasing them down.  I knew it couldn't be long before we got the first win, and on 5th September everything fell into place in the Prix Sans Victoire (non winners race, for those non-French speakers amongst you) as they ran out 1 1/2 length winners over Cimmino & Rocker Laidler.  Truly the greatest moment of all was Ryan cheering as he approached the line and crossed it in front; I knew how much that must have meant from his reaction.  As Jason Podmore said after the race, that IS what it's all about.  The photo doesn't quite do the volume of that cheer justice, because it was loud enough to set me off laughing hysterically - I didn't know at first if he was shouting at the horse or just shouting because he had won.  Turns out it was the latter.  I love reactions like that.

And FYI, after a particularly uncomfortable incident involving a decorative plant Ryan and I are now friends for life.  Some things can't be unseen.



Miraculous

Comeback stories.  They're pretty high up there for me as the overly-emotional, overly-romantic soul that I am.  Crying connections also work very well for me, until I'm accidentally crying too.  So thanks to the team behind this fella for ticking all the boxes for me in 2020.

Having not won on British soil since 2017 (with only one win in 2019 at Portmarnock, where he lowered his lifetime mark to 1.54.6), a lot of people had Miraculous written off.  Coming in to the Star Makers Final on 25th October, he hadn't been out of the first 4 in 2020 and was regularly racing around the 2 minute marker at Tir Prince and York, but victory eluded him.  Going by the name of the series you wouldn't think it was designed for horses like him, however he met the conditions and, like Ayr Regal, this was something of a shrewd decision by connections to enter him.

Drawn 5 in the ballot, Richard Haythornthwaite wasted no time in going forward and making the competition come after him.  Some felt this wouldn't be the game plan, having employed the same tactic in previous starts only to get beaten in the closing strides.  Well it worked this time alright, and Miraculous tasted victory again.

I still feel as though this win flicked a switch in the horse's head.  I know I'm the guiltiest of anthropomorphising (check me out); but I just think that win, that leading out and not being headed, that old familiar feeling of returning to the winner's circle reminded Miraculous of what this game was all about.  The following week he lined up against the stiffest competition the country had to offer in the Crock of Gold and he went about his work the way you would expect an experienced free for aller to.  He was driven completely differently by Richard, they bided their time and when the door opened for them to make their move up the inside of Ayr Paparazzi in the stretch, the horse didn't need to be asked twice to go forward.

To see Miraculous win his second Crock of Gold, for the first time outright without sharing the honours as he did back in 2017 with Evenwood Sonofagun, to see him back at the top of his game, that was a moment worth remembering.  This was a major race for Richard to tick off his bucket list and you could see how much it meant to him (there were nearly tears); thankfully owner Alan Dickinson wasn't quite so disciplined with his emotions and when I turned around to see him stood, alone and away from the hustle and bustle of the horse and driver and trainer and stewards, tears streaming down his face with the biggest smile to go with them, that's when it hit me.  Winning races of that calibre can make grown men cry.  Money simply cannot buy that feeling.




Univers De Crennes

What was I saying about comeback stories?  Oh yes that's right, I love them.  I first met this horse back in July when I was asked to do a surprise photoshoot for trainer Kayla Morris' birthday by her husband, driver Lee.  I'd finally visited my parents in Wales after 5 months of not seeing them and managed to fit the shoot in on my journey up to York for the racing later that day.  I was very nearly late for the first qualifier because time genuinely flies when I'm having fun and I literally could have stayed talking to Kayla and Lee all day long. 'Pig', as he is affectionately known, was such a character.  I had to employ some creative Photoshop skills during the editing process as he has a tendency to display his bits freely and with reckless abandon and naturally when someone has got a camera stuck in your face you want to get your willy out.  Thank GOD the drivers don't share in this mindset because I'm not ready for that.  This is a family show after all.

Anyway the back story of Pig is that he sustained a shoulder injury which vets suggested would signal the end of his racing career.  Kayla showed me the indentation in his shoulder, which was fairly large, and explained some of the rehab treatment he was going through.  We tastefully staged the photos so that the shoulder damage couldn't really be seen and generally aimed for his 'best' side.

Over 12 months since his last start, Pig made his seasonal debut on 4th October finishing 5th; a week later he improved to land a 3rd.  I missed the first of his wins on 18th October and upon my return on the 25th likely jinxed him as he finished 4th.  However, that win was not a fluke and I was not a bad luck charm either as he followed up in his last two starts with resounding wins over a mile and then a mile and a quarter.  Three wins from his last four starts isn't bad going for a horse that professional experts believed earlier that year would never set foot on a racetrack again.

It's not just a comeback, it's a story of belief and patience and perseverance and turning around to those who say 'give up' and replying with 'not today'.  And it's doing it with this quiet confidence that the decisions you have made to get you to where you are were the right ones and then doing a little victory dance when you think nobody is watching (I'm always watching guys) and refusing to take the credit on the mic in the post-race interview even though you truly deserve to stand in front of a camera and say 'I was right'.  Kayla, and of course Lee as well, I take my hat off to you.



And that's probably where I should draw this to a close.  Of course there are races and horses and moments that are burned into my memory forever (or at least until the 2021 season starts, because then all the new races and horses and moments fill my brain).  There are people reading this who will wonder why I didn't mention their horse, or a race they won, when at the time I was seemingly so made up for them.  Know this:  I was, and still am, made up for you.  What you see post-race when I'm joining you in that victory dance, or hugging you, or doing that weird elbow bump thing that apparently is Covid-safe but is actually just really weird, is genuine.  I maybe don't feel the exact same emotions you do when your horses are racing but I tell you what, I'm not far away.  I simply cannot take you through them all because this is already on the verge of War & Peace as it is.  Go to my photography page on Facebook and take a look back at the photos.  I saw you, I saw what you achieved and I loved every second of being a part of it, no matter how small.  And I wanted the world to see that too.

I look forward now to the 2021 season; to seeing old faces and new, to starting fresh stories and continuing others where we left off.  Let's all hope that the world has, as far as it can, returned to something close to normal because for all that 2020 was, some things were missing.  Everyone pulled together as best they could and I think we can give ourselves a pretty big pat on the back for doing what we did.  I said it on Facebook and I'll say it again:  THANK YOU TO YOU ALL.

I want to sign off on this, but I have this niggling feeling in the back of my mind that I've forgotten something.  What moment of 2020 that I possibly enjoyed more than any other could I have neglected to mention?  What...could...it...be...


Ohhhhhh, yep that's right.


AYR PAPARAZZI
100% rattled connections as they trawled through all of the above looking for their mention.  Unless they just scrolled through the photos until they saw their little superstar and then started reading (in which case my ploy failed).  So HI GUYS :)

I am forever grateful to the people in harness racing who let me in to their worlds to enjoy the sport with them, but rarely does someone throw open the door and say 'come on in, join us on this journey wherever it takes us, be part of our team and enjoy it with us' the way that Joseph Riley and, possibly because they had no choice, his family, did this year.  I don't know if it's because I looked a bit lost having no horses of my own racing (I was), or if they thought it would result in a higher number of photos of them (it did), but I'm glad they did.

There isn't a stand out moment, it was simply a stand out season and an incredible journey.  It began at the rescheduled season opener at Corbiewood, where 'Big Red' was a noticeable strong finishing 4th; followed up a week later with an even more eye-catching strong finish to land a 2nd.  Then the winning started.  Hailed as 'The English Raider' by track announcer Charles 'Chico' Inglis Jnr, the first win came in a race fittingly sponsored by Chico & myself.  From there we headed to the grand arena of racing at Tir Prince and I know I'm not the only person who was surprised at the performance Joseph & Paparazzi put in that night.  Led out from the 5 hole, let Mick Lord & Ayr Pioneer take up the running at the quarter, passed the leader with alarming ease at the three quarters (at which point I turned around to the people stood behind me and said 'he's actually going to win this, isn't he?!') and was only headed right at the line by the massively in form Frankie B & Rocker Laidler.  This was the horse's first sub-2 minute performance and people sat up and took notice after that night.

Returning to Corbiewood, he posted back to back wins in the fastest times of the respective days (2.03.9 - 30th Aug; 2.03.7 - 6th Sept) before taking a week off in preparation for another bite at the cherry at Tir Prince on Crock of Gold night in the Anto Russell Memorial.  If you pushed me, this would probably go down as my favourite win.  I spoke highly of the duo on the Sulky Show that week and put my money where my mouth was at the track when betting them at a ridiculous 7/1 on the night.  The moment they left the gate, in my mind at least, the race was over.  It didn't mean that I didn't suffer the usual nerves through the race, but I think deep down I knew that everything was going according to plan.

Until the lights went out.  For anyone reading this who wasn't there/hasn't seen the replays, the floodlights literally went out mid-race on the final turn.  I remember thinking 'OK that shouldn't be happening' as I watched my favourite horse in the country charge into the darkness lengths clear of the horses making efforts to chase him down.  I don't know if anyone else held their breath waiting to see who would emerge from the shadows in front (although my brother said he could see the flashing red light of my GoPro on Joseph so he knew where Paparazzi was, even if he couldn't see the rest of the field) - but I did.  Immediate relief, followed by remembering that I was meant to be taking photos, whilst also half trying to keep an eye on how close the next horse to step into the light was.  Not close enough.  They ran out 6 length winners, with another 6 1/2 lengths between second and third; they had them stretched.  And a new lifetime mark of 1.58.1.  Wow.  If people didn't rate the two of them before that night, they had to after.  If you haven't watched the GoPro footage of that race, go and find it.  Watch it.  Firstly because the whole lights out thing is mad, but secondly because I personally think it's a superb drive, getting everything from a horse without, in any way, knocking him about.


The abandonment of the last race on the card, the Crock of Gold, due to the floodlight failure only left one decision to be made: should Paparazzi head for the rescheduled new event, whenever that may be?  The answer was yes.

And then things started to go slightly wrong.  The next start at Corbiewood saw the horse pulled up due to a tack malfunction after he was impeded by a breaking horse in front; an attempt at a second Anto Russell Memorial, this time at Corbiewood, resulted in a third placed finish after setting strong fractions in the first half of the mile.  People started to think that Joseph was maybe aiming too high with the Crock of Gold, now scheduled for November 1st.  I wasn't one of them.

October 25th was the final prep run before the Crock of Gold; 11 runners meant this was the biggest field Paparazzi had faced and by virtue of his handicap mark he was drawn worst of all.  Joseph drove a peach of a start to get away mid field, parked but with cover and sat so patiently for the best part of the first half before mounting a bold three wide challenge on the leading horses; the move injected pace into the next quarter but the horses he was clearing couldn't go with him because he showed an incredible turn of foot to hit the front heading into the back straight.  He was as comfortable a winner that day as he was the night he won in the dark: Paparazzi was back, and smack bang at the perfect time as the Crock of Gold was just one week away.


It was at this point that Darren [Owen] suggested that should he win the season's premier Free For All the following week, that I write the story.  Who better after all than someone who has too much to say about most things, and who had basically lived the story alongside the connections?

We all know by now that I didn't get to write that story.  The fairytale ending didn't quite happen.  But for the full week leading up to it and for seven and a half furlongs on the day, the dream was alive and kicking.  Joseph and Paparazzi went into that race as underdogs; once again the betting market suggested they didn't have much of a chance.  The logical thinkers picked experienced Free For Allers with better draws.  And yet, I spoke to an alarming number of people from all over the country that wanted Ayr Paparazzi to win.  Logic left the equation for so many of us because there, amongst Free For All horses with faster personal bests and more prize money and higher handicap marks trained by public trainers and driven by A Class drivers, lined up a horse that started the season as a Grade 3, trained and driven by a father and son that a lot of people up to that point had only known by name, the only horse in their stable.  They represented every small stable that ever dreamed of racing in a major Group 1 Free For All.

They didn't win.  But they were as gracious in that defeat as they had been in every other, and in every success too.  I watched the GoPro footage back from that race, which has never been shared publicly, and I waited to see if Joseph told his horse that he was a good lad even though he was swarmed at the finish to ultimately get 4th.  And he did.  The most genuine of horses gave his all and he took Joseph, Joe, Philip and Louis (you don't need to know about Louis, there are some hidden gems in this world that I am simply not prepared to share) on one of the greatest journeys I have ever witnessed.  To hell with that, Ayr Paparazzi took me on the greatest journey too.  I loved every second of it.


I have said on plenty of occasions that Evenwood Sonofagun is my favourite horse of all time, and that the dream for people like me is to own a horse just like him.  A horse that can take you to the highest level and win everything there is to win, over and over.  The chances of that ever happening are slim to none, but the fact that he did it keeps the embers of that dream burning.  Ayr Paparazzi now, for me at least, represents a more realistic dream.  A dream which blazes.  A dream so tangible that it could become reality for any one of us, if only we set our minds to it.  For that, as much as everything else, I thank those four delightful human beings and, of course, their horse.

Maybe I didn't get to write the story I wanted to, but I did get to write this story.  And the best part is, it isn't finished yet.


"Find the good. It's all around you. Find it, showcase it, and you'll start believing in it."

Sarah

Sunday 3 March 2019

2018: A Year In Review - Part 3

We'll settle for making the review a three-parter and cover the final 3 months of 2018 in this last post.  Not forgetting my 'alternative' awards for last season!

October

On October 1st Smarty and I boarded a plane and headed for Cleveland, Ohio (via Iceland), to start a 12-day road trip which would see us finish up in Nashville, Tennessee.  The plan for the first 9 days was to take in as much harness racing as possible before spending the last part of our holiday relaxing and getting our fill of country music (Smarty was totally converted by the time we flew back to the UK, as evidenced by the fact that recently when I came home from work he was sat listening to 'Total Country' on the telly).

Cleveland may have seemed like a strange place to start a road trip (the guy at the Border Control desk thought it was weird that of all the places in America we could visit, we chose Cleveland) but there was method to the madness: for those who don't realise, Cleveland is the 'home of the flying turns' aka Northfield Park.


Our first adventure took us to Sahbra Farms, a training centre situated about 16 miles away from the racetrack.  It came by way of recommendation from Steve Wolf, whose friend Paul Holzman has his training base there, and it was there that we were able to meet the legendary Southwind Amazon (USA leading horse by wins in 2018 [22 wins at close of the year]).  It was very good of Paul to take time out of his day to show us the superstar, as well as answer Smarty's endless list of questions about different training methods!

Southwind Amazon on a turn out day
We also bumped into Kelly O'Donnell, former trainer of Dragon Again - this bore some relevance at the time as I had my very own 'dragon' back home in the shape of the mighty Elmo - who was a great host and spent ages talking us through all of the photos of the horses in his office.  As we headed out of the place we popped in to Jessica Roegner's barn where we came across a familiar face - Godiva Seelster, who we met in February 2016 at Pompano when in the care of Dan and Wally Hennessy.  Jessica was another one who was good enough to let us disrupt her day with question after question!

That night we made our first visit to Northfield Park.  Heather Vitale had put me in contact with the Horsemen's Rep, Amy Hollar, with the simple disclaimer that I would love her and that she's hysterical.  I can confirm that I do, and she is.  Amy gave us the grand tour of the paddock, leaving Smarty in the drivers' room discussing the various aspects of bookmaking whilst I landed in the start car for what was meant to be one race and ended up as three-in-a-row.  Ronnie Wrenn Jr was forced to sign a pair of his gloves for his #1 UK fan, Watson Harrop Jr; and Keith Kash Jr somehow got railroaded into giving me his rain jacket (if you don't ask, you don't get).  We finally tracked down Aaron Merriman (remember when I did that driver interview in the back of the lorry at Portmarnock?  No?  You can read it here in that case...) and in between his many drives, he asked if we had plans the following day.  We didn't, and that is how the epic road trip to The Meadows began!

Personalised souvenirs for friends back home!
Good job Ronnie had a spare pair of gloves...
My view from the start car
Keith Kash, who gave me his jacket because everyone else was giving me stuff!
The next day we met Aaron in the car park at Northfield Park's casino (and were verbally abused by a passing vehicle as Amy Hollar shouted at us to ask if we were hookers) and headed to Pennsylvania.  It was great to see behind-the-scenes how Aaron operates - and it was even better to survive the road trip (JK, he's not a bad driver, I'm just a nervous passenger).  We discussed everything from politics to pigeon racing and pretty much everything in between and felt like it was one of the shortest journeys I've ever been on!

Upon arrival at the track we were met by Dawnelle Mock, PR guru at The Meadows, who gave us the guided tour of the paddock and owner/trainer/driver facilities.  She then handed us over to the inimitable Heather Wilder (minus Mike, who was holidaying in Vegas) who gave us a further guided tour of the grandstand area, before whisking us up to the commentary booth to see Roger Huston.  Roger has been travelling to the UK and Ireland to announce races for a number of years and I had the pleasure of meeting him for the first time at the VDM weekend at Portmarnock earlier in 2018, as well as Heather.  Anyway, without warning I was shimmied into a chair and before I knew it I was being interviewed by Roger on the live Meadows simulcast commentary, which according to Roger is beamed out to around one million listeners.  No preparation, just me waffling on about how awesome our trip was and the differences between the UK and USA harness racing scenes (that list is endless).






















Cue another start car trip (or 3) for Sarah, then an introduction to track photographer (and in my eyes absolute hero) Chris Gooden, before Smarty wandered off to give young Irish driver Jack Killeen some 'advice' before he went out for the first of his two drives of the afternoon.  Jack met Heather and Mike [Wilder] at the VDM meeting in Portmarnock in the August, and by the autumn had landed himself somewhere to stay in order to give driving a go in the USA.  Heather and I settled trackside to watch the racing, and after Jack's first drive landed him a second place (on what he felt was his better chance of the two), we thought maybe we should give him some vocal support for his second drive.  Bearing in mind that Smarty and I hadn't planned to be at The Meadows on this day but for Aaron's very kind offer, it was absolutely out of this world for us to be there for Jack's first win on American soil!  Pretty sure Heather and I screamed the full last half before running like two crazy people to the golf buggy to meet Smarty and head over to photobomb the winner's photo (whilst I was FB Live for the whole thing).  The full day was absolutely surreal and wouldn't have been half the experience it was if it wasn't for the people named above (and everyone else who made us feel so welcome).

View from the start car
Caught on camera, on camera, by Chris Gooden
With harness racing's winning-most driver of all time, Dave Palone (>18,000 wins)
Jack Killeen on board Late Night Delight
Before Heather & I started screaming...
So much love for Heather W!!
Photobombing winner's photos since 2008
We had a BLAST!
You'd think after the day we had had, we'd be ready to crash out.  But no, we were living a day in the life of...Aaron Merriman, so we met back up with him and whizzed our way back over the state border into Ohio to make the meeting at Northfield Park that night.  This was the crazy part...even though this was only our second night at Northfield, having been away for the day it genuinely felt like we were coming home.  I likened the atmosphere amongst the horsemen and women to Corbiewood, our local track in Scotland.  We were being greeted by people like old friends - including Smarty's new BFF Dakota Jackson, who happened to have a twin brother [Zach], both of whom may or may not be coming to the UK at some point in the future (after watching the race footage of Elmo's final win at Longnor they were desperate to come here and try it out for themselves!).  I was spreading the word as best I could at The Meadows, and here was Smarty spreading the word...well, with videos of Longnor.

The day didn't end after the last race...from the track we headed to a bar and met some of Aaron's friends, including my new Canadian friend Darrell (who had better be reading this, even if it's like 3 months after I've posted it).  He was responsible for the jagerbombs...inside my head I was reciting the mantra of my late teens - "No more J'bombs for the S Thom"; alas, it didn't stop me.

In my defence I had his share of the jagerbombs too
Day three and it was time to hit the road.  We were winding our way down to Lexington slowly, with a pit stop for ice cream in Mt Hope (mainly because I wanted to see Amish people going about their daily business) and another pit stop at Delaware County Fairgrounds where I gatecrashed the (completely deserted) track to see what it felt like coming down the home straight where the Little Brown Jug is staged.  I even climbed in amongst the topiary spelling out the name of one of the world's most iconic races.  I think the drink from the night before was playing havoc with me.

Before I tried to complete a lap of the track...
From there we called in at Sugar Valley Farm to visit the resting place of Dragon Again (obsessed).  There we met 'Uncle Billy', who was more than happy to show us two of the stallions who were currently residing at the farm - Mr Wiggles and My MVP.  Before we left he told us a story about a trotting filly his nephew [Joe McLead] had purchased after being explicitly told not to 'buy any trotters'.  Said filly went on to win multiple times at the highest level, and indeed did so again in a World Record-equalling time at the Red Mile two days later.  Her name was Im Pink Too, half-sister to Hambletonian winner, Pinkman. But before we get to that, Smarty and I left Sugar Valley and headed to Midland Acres.  Here we met Sheila.  Now I don't know how I'm ever going to get in touch with Sheila again, but if anybody is ever visiting Ohio, please go and meet this woman.  We intended this to be a flying visit, which became over two hours, and quite frankly could have been the remainder of our holiday because Sheila was a delight.

Between those two trees rests a legend
Sheila introduced us to some of the stallions - Art Official; Big Bad John; Yankee Cruiser and first-season sire Long Tom, who she treated with a level of affection many would reserve for their children alone.  After that she took us through to the office, and upon learning that we were heading to the sales at Lexington, showed us the catalogue and her pick of the sale - none other than Im Pink Too.  Her exact words were 'she's the one to buy!' - and she must have said them at least 10 times.  By this time we were well-versed in Im Pink Too's story and we may have been accidentally giving off vibes that we were maybe interested in purchasing her.  Who knows, but we left that place with the biggest smiles on our faces.  Sheila was one of those people in the world who gets supreme job satisfaction and I found her enthusiasm absolutely infectious.


On the Friday we landed in Lexington for three days of racing at the world famous Red Mile.  Smarty had basically died and gone to heaven and spent much of his time over the course of the three days sat high in the grandstand studying the horses warming up and ultimately enjoying the highest standard of racing.  Me on the other hand...I was milling around 'celeb-spotting' and bumping into familiar faces.  Oh, and some casual photobombing in the winner's circle as well.  Standard.  The first of these visits to the winner's circle came when Annie Hill won the third, a 2YO Fillies Pace for British owner Tom Hill and trainer Chris Oakes, who Smarty and I had been in semi-regular contact with since meeting in Florida two years earlier.  My thought process was 'I'm British, Tom's British, it doesn't matter that he doesn't know me, we know the same people, I'm going in'. It's a tenuous link but I've photobombed on lesser grounds before and I have zero shame.  After that I met up with Amy Hollar (her off of Northfield Park) who introduced me to her sister, Jennifer, and brother-in-law Brian Brown.  Somehow during this phase of enjoying the air con inside Joe Sbrocco joined the mix and before I knew what was happening I was drinking whisky sours and watching Joe jump the queue to get us drinks because apparently Joe Sbrocco doesn't queue.  He doesn't need to, because just like my Grampa in Builth on a Saturday night, everyone knows Joe.



Whilst hanging out with Amy we witnessed a new 2YO World Record for pacing fillies being set as Warrawee Ubeaut flew home in 1:48.3, before Amy took us on a tour of the place.  She was keen to introduce Smarty to the 'whales', and whilst I didn't really understand what was happening (I was quite merrily drinking my whiskey sour and nodding along), it was something to do with gambling, I'm guessing with rather a lot of money.  Smarty knew what was going on anyway. 

We'd spotted Dexter Dunn out on the track a couple of times and indeed he was driving in the last race on the card, so once the racing was over Amy took us through to the paddock to meet a few people and help us get our bearings before we tracked down Double D.  Dexter took us round to Brett and Stacey Miller's camper and we sat down for a few beers and a major catch up, having not seen Dexter since the VDM meeting at Portmarnock in 2016.  For anyone who hasn't read my blog for very long, I interviewed Dexter back in 2016 when he visited the UK to drive en route to Ireland.  Smarty and I drove Dexter and his cousin Tom from Edinburgh to Tir Prince in north Wales, during which time I interviewed him for my blog but also he and Smarty started the world's strangest bromance.  Anyway, whilst sitting at the camper reminiscing and finding out how Dexter was settling in to the North American racing scene, Yannick Gingras rocked up and joined the party.  During conversation, Dexter disappeared to find a pair of gloves he had offered to give me as a prize for a driving competition back in the UK and straight away Yannick wanted to know what the gloves were for.  A short conversation about fundraising ideas later, he offered to give me his set of colours on the condition that I returned after the last race on Sunday to get them from him.  I didn't need telling twice!


It was a shame to leave the track as we could literally have stayed there chatting all night but we had plans to head to the sales at Fasig-Tipton - I'll keep this section short as it wasn't really the highlight of my visit to Kentucky.  In my opinion, if you're not buying, the sales are a bit...boring.  I love the sales here in the UK because I know all the people so I'm the nosy one rubber-necking to see who's bidding and who holds their number up when the hammer falls.  I like to know who's bought what (and yes, I know the official sales results are published within 12 hours but I like to know as it's happening).  Whilst it was great to walk around the facilities and have a few horses Smarty had marked in his catalogue out to inspect, it is much of a muchness after a while.  There are only so many horses you can look at in the collection ring and in the sale ring itself without even raising your hand once before a girl gets a bit bored.  I did however track down Joann Looney King on the Saturday evening at the sales and introduced myself as 'Heather's friend, Sarah', which opened the door to me photobombing again at the track the following day...

On the Saturday morning we headed out of Lexington and into the country to Saga Farm, Georgetown, to find a horse we both adore - Blissful Hall.  Schare Adams, owner of the farm, was in Lexington however her friend Sue Shields was at home and was more than happy to take us to see the old boy (with some carrots, just to keep him sweet!).  Having been gelded since retiring from stud, Blissful is now living out his days as a field companion for youngsters and, I suspect, being spoilt rotten by anyone who comes into contact with him.  He's an absolute gentleman, as well as being a complete legend - and as we explained to Sue, we are currently expecting a foal by a half-brother to Blissful (Hasty Hall), and another foal by a son of Blissful (Matador Hall).  It was great to be able to see him in the flesh!

Just chillin' with Blissful Hall
From Saga Farm we ventured to the Kentucky Horse Park.  Whilst this is a venue that could take all day to explore, we didn't have all day and ultimately, we were only there for one reason: to find Won The West, who resides in the Hall of Champions. The reasoning behind this visit (and let's face it, there is always some sort of method to the madness) was because Won The West's full sister, Open Plains, is the dam of our broodmare Vain In Spain (dam of Crosshill Ace and Crosshill Diablo [Denver]).  With Denver being the first colt from the mare, we were keen to see 'W' in the flesh to see what we're aiming for.  If we could get one a fraction as good then we'd be onto a winner!

Won The West - basically family!
You'd think we'd have done enough for the day by now but it was only just past midday and we had a date with the Red Mile, and in particular had to keep an eye out for Im Pink Too in the first.  She didn't take much finding as she came home clear down the stretch in 1:49.4 (26.3 last quarter), which meant I was able to get a decent shot from the space I'd managed to stake out in the reserved seating section (just act like you're meant to be there...until someone who is actually meant to be there turns up and looks at you like you're not meant to be there and you scarper).  Im Pink Too was very impressive and it certainly added to the hype of her going into the sales ring on the Sunday night (she subsequently topped the inaugural Mixed Sale at $300,000).



Fast forward a few races and it was another trotter making the headlines - this time Homicide Hunter, trained by Chris Oakes.  We met HH at Pompano in 2016 shortly after he came into Chris' care and we were able to watch him qualify; little did we know he was on his way to setting a World Record: 1:48.4 with a blistering 26.0 last quarter (the quickest of the day across both gaits).  When you actually take into consideration the quality of the horses racing all day and the records that were falling...that's a phenomenal feat to be achieved, and by a trotter no less.

The other highlight of the second day for me was seeing McWicked and Lazarus N going head-to-head in the Open Pace.  Leading up to our visit to America I had been leaning towards the McWicked camp (just like when Always B Miki and Wiggle It Jiggleit used to race each other and although I appreciated the both of them equally, Always B Miki was the horse I wanted to win) - seeing him in the flesh warming up and during the race just confirmed it for me.  He has a great attitude to racing and a will to win, you can genuinely see that.




Sunday, our third and final day in Lexington featured the Kentucky Futurity for 3YO trotters  Whilst Smarty and I didn't commit ourselves strongly to the fillies' eliminations and final, we took a huge interest in the colts' races and after watching Tactical Landing (for Jimmy Takter) and Six Pack (for Ake Svanstedt) win their eliminations in very different manners (albeit the same time, for all the clock watchers), we nailed our colours to the mast of Tactical Landing.  On this occasion we got it wrong, as Six Pack held off all challengers to win the $434,000 race, however Tactical Landing subsequently went on to win the Breeders Crown for his division at Pocono Downs later that month and then the TVG Free For All Trot against aged trotters at The Meadowlands in the November before retiring to stud.  So we weren't far out with our judgment in the long run!

Having bumped into Joann Looney King the evening before at the sales, I made a beeline for the paddock to see if I could find her before Shartin N's race (and also to make sure Yannick hadn't forgotten his promise of the signed colours!).  I found Joann and husband Jim watching the racing and was able to see firsthand the preparation and nerves experienced before racing a horse at the highest level.  Joann admitted that she is a nervous wreck before a race and I witnessed that - she even asked Jim if maybe they should consider scratching the mare because she wasn't sure if she was showing signs of tying up after warming up.  Jim remained unruffled throughout, and as I left the paddock I told Joann I hoped I'd be seeing her in the winner's circle shortly, although her nerves had started to rub off on me and I felt that familiar feeling I get when I put my own horses on the track back home.  Joann nor me had any cause for worry, as Shartin N brought her A game and was driven to perfection by Tim Tetrick to win in 1:48.2.  Cue another winner's circle photobomb, and indeed a selfie with Joann while we were there!


The Red Mile was incredible: the facilities, the atmosphere, the quality of racing...it was second to none.  It was topped off by some brilliant company across the 3 days: in addition to everyone already mentioned, we also spent time with Donal Murphy off of Ireland, and I was able to finally meet Dean Hoffman, the man who described me as 'a truly remarkable woman...or [I've] got them all fooled!".  We had an absolute blast!


Whilst our departure from Lexington heralded the end of the racing segment of our road trip (we were destined for 3 days of live music and alcohol), we did manage to meet up with Ryan Macedonio and Kate Forry for food during our stay in Nashville.  I suspect Ryan now thinks I'm madder than he originally thought when he interviewed me for Trotcast earlier in the year!

Upon our return to the UK, we headed straight to the annual sales in Builth Wells.  We had marked a horse from the 'Horses in Training' section to fill the void that was going to be left by Elmo Hanover (who had been sold to Wales where the style of racing would suit him more) - however whilst in Nashville we found out the horse had been sold privately before the sale.  I had gone to the trouble of marking my catalogue on the flight with some of the yearlings I liked on paper which might not be too expensive, but the general consensus between Smarty and I was that we didn't need a long-term project (what with youngsters of our own at home due to come through in the next few years) so we went to the sale with no intention to buy.

Famous last words.

At the sale, I am jointly responsible for scanning microchips to ensure the horses presented are correct as per their paperwork.  One of the benefits of this task is that I get to be up close and personal with every horse at the sale, which means I'm able to check them all out before the sale begins.  Sometimes you haven't marked a horse because it hasn't necessarily caught your eye on paper and chances are you won't go to take a look at it, but I have no choice.  I have to check all of the horses - sometimes I'll leave a stall to read my catalogue thoroughly as I've liked the horse in the flesh.  In this instance, I was nearing the end of the list of horses to scan and as my co-worker and I headed out of one barn to search for any latecomers, we were passed by a very flashy colt being led in.  A quick check of the list revealed that he hadn't been scanned, so we waited for him to be taken into his stall before confirming his microchip details.  I liked him.  A lot.  I also knew that I had an asterisk next to his name in my catalogue.  I rang Smarty immediately (it had been too early a start for him to get to the sale when I left my parents' home) and told him to go and take a look at #56 when he arrived.

Smarty could find no major faults with the horse; a discussion ensued as to our bidding limit.  Eventually Smarty decided we didn't need another youngster, because we had no intention of racing a horse at 2 so it would be over 18 months until the horse would see the track.  His parting words to me were 'but if you want him, I'm not stopping you buying him yourself'.  So that's what I did.  I ran inside, asked my Dad if I could borrow his buyer's number and set about buying myself a horse.  I didn't think I'd get him as my budget had been halved with the removal of a partner from the equation, but as the auctioneer stalled and asked again for any further bids, here comes Smarty running up the stairs to where I was sitting (with me thinking 'oh no, I'm in for it now') to tell me to keep going if I needed to.  I didn't need to.  The hammer fell at £800.  I had my horse and thought he was an absolute steal*.  One out; one in - Elmo had been delivered the previous day, and now 'Joe' was coming home to Scotland with me.  Orphaned at 12 days old and successfully fostered on to a Welsh cob mare, his breeder had passed away before seeing the fruits of his endeavours.  Joe has a long way to go, but we are going to give it our best shot.  Also, Smarty wanted in as a partner in ownership before we'd even driven half way back up the country.

Lot 56 - Afan EJO (The Cammissioner-Bells Image-Armbro Harrier)
*to this day, I still think the same.

November

You thought this was nearly over, didn't you?!  Well fear not, it nearly is.

November brought with it the annual awards events and both the SHRC and the BHRC & STAGBI awards events were moved forward (having been in January and February of 2018) to fall into the correct year of racing.  This required multiple new dress purchases by me.

Smarty and I attended the SHRC awards dinner in Stirling to collect our Horse of the Month - July award for the mighty Elmo Hanover, which was a very proud moment for us both despite Elmo having flown the nest.  This horse has had a profound effect on Smarty and I, 'he is what he is' became 'it is what it is', our new motto in life.  Enjoy things for what they are, not what you want them to be.

At the end of the month I returned to co-hosting duties with Thoroughbred and harness racing announcer Darren Owen at the BHRC & STAGBI awards dinner, featuring TrotBritain award winners also.  As per usual I was stressed in the build up but once things got underway everything went smoothly.  Darren had encouraged a more relaxed approach to the hosting this year and this worked for me - sipping gin & tonic throughout the presentation helped settle my nerves!  Highlights of the evening for me were seeing the mare Rhyds Passion crowned Horse of the Year following the licence holders' vote, and introducing driver Steve Lees into the Hall of Fame - the standing ovation and cheers he received gave me goosebumps and his acceptance speech had me in stitches!



December

You'll be glad to hear there wasn't much to report in December.  Other than us quietly breaking in Joe at our own speed, December was very much a quiet month all round.  The drama on social media about the forthcoming season usually waits until the turn of the year to fire up so on the face of it all looked well on the UK harness racing scene.

We all know that doesn't last...

And that's it folks.  Three posts covering twelve months and as much of what I can remember crammed in to every single one of them.  Finally, to round things off, it's time to announce my 'alternative' award winners for the 2018 season.  Usually I go through each of the BHRC divisions and explain why I've chosen who I chose - although this year most of the award winners were actually the horses I voted for in the ballot so I'll only mention those who I would have alternatively awarded to.

2YO Colt of the Year - NORTHERN PRIDE - this horse didn't win the BHRC 2YO Colt of the Year award (the title went to Oakwoodinittowinit) however I felt 'wee Nigel's victories in the VDM Colts Final at Portmarnock and then the SHRC 2YO Futurity at Corbiewood were superb.  He was very impressive when running out an eight length winner of the latter and some in Scotland would say he may be the best they've seen of his age going around there.


Drive of the Year - OK, so the person I nominated for this actually won the award after a public vote but I wanted to explain why I nominated them to begin with: Lauren Moran & Vyrnwy Smoke.  Long story short, Lauren has sat in the pocket for most of the race, tracking two very good horses in front of her.  At the business end of things, she has a choice to make - stick to the rail, keep going forward and run the increasing risk of being stuck behind a horse that could become deadwood very quickly, or take back at a crucial moment, switch three wide and mount an almost impossible challenge on the last two bends.  It was clear to Smarty what she should do (he was standing on the bench shouting 'SHE'LL NEED TO GO THE HIGH ROAD!') but Smarty wasn't the one sitting behind the horse in a race, trying to make a split second judgment without seeing clearly what was happening in front of her.  She took the boldest option based on the fact that she felt she had a chance of winning if she went wide, but no chance of winning if she stayed where she was.  It was the right decision.  You could see from across the track the moment she asked her horse to slam the brakes on and switch out, and the crack she gave 'Smokey' to get him back going again was impressive from someone so petite.  Smokey answered the call anyway and the duo painted the stand rail as they stormed to victory in the closing strides.  From a 'pro' driver it would have been an impressive performance.  From someone who essentially only ever drives their own horse, surrounded by more experienced drivers, it was incredible.  The recipient of the Tim Tetrick-sponsored 'Drive of the Year' award, and now the #1 Scottish Groom-endorsed 'Drive of the Year' award is LAUREN MORAN!

Congratulations Lauren!
** NEW AWARD **
Introducing a new award for this year, the True Grit Award to be awarded to a horse that I feel showed consistent guts and determination througout the season.

After much deliberation at HQ, the recipient of this inaugural award is Bowriver, owned and trained by Alf & Joy Swinbank.  From 25 starts in 2018, starting on 12th May and finishing up on 7th October, Bowriver achieved 3 wins, 2 seconds and 3 thirds.  This could, and perhaps should have been 4 wins, however a disqualification at Wolverhampton due to numerous horses going through their mark at the start put paid to that.  In my humble opinion, and indeed probably many others, the horse would have won the race had things gone smoothly at the start as it was likely to have been his best performance all season.  Racing in Wales, England and Scotland, Bowriver showed up time and time again and gave his all and even after defeat, continued to bounce back for his next run.  Genuine, honest and full of true grit, congratulations to Bowriver and his connections!

Bowriver & Joy Swinbank
Finally we get to the main (human) award: the Astounding Supporter of the Year award.  For the past few seasons I have given out this award to the person or people who I feel capture the essence of what racing horses is all about - the sheer delight of winning races, that unbridled joy when a horse you are involved with crosses the line in front.  Sometimes it's a major event, other times it's a run-of-the-mill race at a bread-and-butter meeting.  It doesn't matter.  What matters is that in the moments immediately after the horse does what someone has hoped and dreamed about, the emotion of knowing all the blood, sweat, tears and hard work has finally paid off comes pouring out.  I don't take the bestowment of this award lightly, and after a lot of thought I have eventually settled on the winner for 2018.

Step forward please Miss Savannah Nicholson.  On September 8th at Tir Prince, the Nicholson and Ralph families' Diamant De Godrel stepped up to the plate as a 7-1 fancy for the £10,000 Gold Le Trot final.  This was simply the best of the best trotting horses in the UK and indeed Ireland (Ultimo D'Ouville had crossed the Irish Sea to take a crack at it also).  When young John Henry Nicholson, a lad who has truly made a name for himself in the few years that he has been driving, crossed the line three lengths clear of his nearest rival, his sister Savannah became hysterical.  I can't describe it any other way than that.  'D Godrel', as John Henry calls him in his frequent Snapchat posts, had been my nap of the meeting, although Savannah wasn't anywhere near as confident.  Having nearly lost the horse when he first arrived from France earlier in the year, connections had worked hard to get him to the level he was at towards the latter part of the season, with multiple wins under his belt.  His inclusion in the Gold Final had not initially been received well by them, as they thought they were destined for the Silver division where the competition may not have been as stiff for a horse who had already proven he could compete with the top tier trotters.  However their concerns were misplaced.  Immediately after the race Savannah couldn't speak for crying.  In fact, at one point it was only the embraces from friends that was keeping her from falling over!  That raw emotion...that's what this game is all about.  Congratulations Savannah, not only for winning my entirely made up award but also on the successes that your family have enjoyed in 2018.  Here's to more of the same for 2019!!

Savannah says 'D Godrel' is #1
Crying...again!

And that, my dear readers, is that.  From start to finish 2018 was full of ups and downs, highlights and low points.  This sport we all love is a rollercoaster but year after year we keep coming back for more.  The main thing is that we all enjoy what we do and strive to find those moments, like Savannah did, that make all the hard work worthwhile.  Be as good in defeat as you are in success.  Remember there is always another day.  If you achieve your goal, set a new one.  Keep trying and keep racing.

See you all in 2019.

Over and out,

#1 Scottish Groom