On Tuesday, Taunton celebrated the sport of horse racing and showcased all aspects of racehorse ownership with their ‘Behind the Scenes’ raceday, writes Martin Higgs.
An exclusive racecourse tour was held pre-racing, along with their Retraining of Racehorses horse, Frodon, parading in front of the crowd.
For a horse who was a real terrier on the track, he has taken to retirement admirably and happily stayed around the stables by the saddling boxes for a ‘meet and greet’ session.
He wasn’t short of visitors and accepted copious amounts of Polos from them.
It was then time for the racing to begin, and the first six races were sponsored by syndicates and racing clubs, highlighting the wide variety of ways to get involved in the sport and have a genuine interest in a horse.
The first race was the Join the Johnson White Racing Syndicate Novices’ Hurdle, and regular readers will have been on the winner, Falls Of Acharn.
He was ridden by Freddie Gingell and, of course, trained by Paul Nicholls.
As mentioned before, you can follow Team Nicholls in maiden and novice hurdles at Taunton almost blindly and still make a profit—sometimes we make it all too complicated.
The second race, the Experience the Thrill with Hottotrot Racing Mares’ Hurdle, was won by Lady Caro under Cameron Johnstone-Baker for trainer Emma Lavelle.
She sauntered clear of her rivals over the extended three-mile trip.
The third race was the 4Racing Owners Club Charitable Syndicates Handicap Hurdle, and it produced an impressive win from Victory Shout for trainer Syd Hosie and jockey Paddy Hanlon.
The fourth race was the Kayley Woollacott Syndicates and Blackmore Racing Club Chase, which was won by Ede’iffs Rock under Darren Andrews for trainer Kathy Turner.
On to the fifth race, the Racehorse Ownership From £25 at racingclub.com Hurdle, which saw Khafre complete a double on the day for trainer Syd Hosie and jockey Paddy Hanlon—well done to them.
Race six was the Crest Racing Mares’ Chase and featured a dominant display from Bobbi’s Beauty for trainer Martin Keighley, ridden by his son Freddie.
The final race of the day, supported by South West Rail Solutions, went to the Cath Williams trained Arms Park, ridden by James Bowen.
It was a superb afternoon, highlighting everything that is good about the sport and promoting the many avenues into racehorse ownership.
Come along and join the party—it really is great fun.
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