DIARY – VISIT TO CHURN STABLES IN BLEWBURY
TO SEE MENACE, THE TWITTERATI SYNDICATE HORSE
SATURDAY 26 NOVEMBER 2016
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Menace and me |
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Useful Links: EPDS’ website: EPDS on twitter: https://twitter.com/EPDS_Racing EPDS on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EPDSRacingSyndicate Noel Williams Racing: http://www.noelwilliamsracing.co.uk/ Noel Williams on twitter: https://twitter.com/noelwilliams03 |
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Today was to
be a busy day; firstly a visit to Noel Williams’ yard in Blewbury,
followed by Hennessy Gold Cup day at Newbury, and finally I’d be dropping in
to see my friend Denise in Caversham on my way
home. Yard visits
to Noel’s usually start at 10:00 but, today, the time had been brought
forward to 09:00 to 09:15 to take into account that a number of EPDS Racing
syndicate members wanted to head to Newbury like myself. I had been in two minds about attending
but, as Hannah Bishop had kindly agreed to return the now retired Menace to
the yard for a special appearance, I thought I should head there first. I set my
alarm for 05:30 with the aim of setting off at 07:30; I’d set out my clothes
the previous evening – grey with black doves thermal T-shirt, violet thermal
T-shirt, cherry red polo-neck t-shirt, bright blue oversized cardigan, bright
purple fleece, black fleece gillet, and dark grey
tweed double-frill M & S skirt, together with burgundy-coloured jeggings. I took both my black snow-boots and my
black Hotter ‘Cannes’ boots; the
former for the stable visit and the latter for Newbury. Two coats – a burgundy jacket and my black
faux sheepskin long coat; again the former for the stable visit and the
latter for Newbury. I wore my pink
dragonfly/mauve butterfly Fired Creations earrings and took my violet loopy
scarf and neon pink Fab Big knitted hat to wear
once at the racecourse. The handbag I
chose was my capacious black and white Kipling shoulder bag. Having
showered and washed and dried my hair, I ate a breakfast of two Weetabix with blueberries, sultanas and banana; I only
had three sips of tea, as it was likely to be late morning before I could
spend a penny! And, of course, I’d
also consumed liquid with my cereal – Alpro Original
in fact. I don’t have a problem with
milk but tend to drink Alpro in my tea and coffee
too. I usually have a cup of warm milk
before I turn in each night. Having
applied my make-up, I actually set off at 07:42 … according to the clock in
my car. My route took me around the
ring-road to London Road and down to the London Colney
roundabout, after which I headed down the dual carriageway to reach Junction
22 of the M25. I joined the
anti-clockwise carriageway of the motorway and travelled to Junction 15, for
the M4. I then drove along the
westbound carriageway of the latter to reach Junction 12. I didn’t
notice Windsor Castle on this particular day, and there was still a brief
speed restriction approaching Junction 10 due to the possibility of a
tailback on the slip-road as a result of road-works. There was low lying mist in the surrounding
fields following the junction and this, intermittently, drifted across the
carriageway. I left the
motorway at Reading West and briefly headed westwards along the A4, before
taking the turning to Pangbourne. It had been overcast for most of my journey
but, at this point, the sun was trying to break through. Having reached the Berkshire village, I
headed under the railway bridge and along beside the Thames before passing
Beale Park wildlife centre. The traffic
lights prior to the narrow bridge over the railway changed just before I got
there and I continued through the village of Lower Basildon
and onwards to Streatley. I’d noticed warning signs along the route regarding
a road closure at Streatley Hill and, having seen
an arrow on a map of the area denoting a steep gradient, I surmised that it
would be the B4009. Upon reaching the
traffic lights in the centre of Streatley this was
confirmed, as workman were working at the entrance to the road, which is very
narrow and heads between buildings. Anyway, my
route continued along the A329 for a short distance before I bore off to the
left to head along the A417 to Blewbury. It’s strange, but instead of this section
of my route seeming to get shorter with familiarity, the opposite is
true! Having reached Blewbury I travelled through the village and turned left
opposite the garden centre to head up Boham
Road. After the first initial section
close to a sports club, the road heads uphill; as the thoroughfare is narrow,
a vehicle waited at the top for me to drive up the hill. I then pulled into the side of the road, at
an entrance driveway to a couple of houses, in order for a taxi which was
heading in the opposite direction to pass me. The road
eventually bears left and, shortly afterwards, I turned into the entrance
driveway to Churn Stables. Following the
road along, I turned right and headed between hedges until I reached a car
park area beside Noel’s main barn; this area, however, is for the residents
of the adjacent cottages, so I followed the road around to the right and
headed onto the grass to park within the second row of vehicles thereon. It was between 09:10 and 09:15 when I
arrived; there must have been a dozen cars already there, despite requests
that no-one arrive too early! Anyway, I
changed into my snow-boots and headed into the right-hand corridor of the barn. I think every box was full within the two
rows of stables; I didn’t recognise every horse,
but I did make a beeline for Chance Taken … no surprise there then! Shortly afterwards, John from EPDS
requested that everyone should head around to the other side of the barn, as
Menace was stabled in one of those boxes.
This also ensured that no-one obstructed the work-riders as they led
out Midnight Merlot, Midnight Jitterbug, Daliance
and the unnamed Delegator filly.
Menace was one of five horses occupying loose boxes in the other passageway
of the barn. Hannah had
put Menace in the stable and he’d already had a roll; this meant that his
blanket was covered in sawdust! He’s
infamous for rolling evidently. Hannah
greeted me with a hug and spoke to Menace’s gathered fans. Evidently when he’d first arrived at Mrs Prowting’s Buckinghamshire
yard, they’d turned him out in the field and he didn’t know what to do;
Menace just stood by the gate. Bless
him. This happened three days in a
row, so Hannah just took him out for a pick of grass instead; he’s accustomed
to his freedom now though. Hannah said
that Menace had seemed excited about going on a trip in the horsebox today! Hannah said,
initially, she’s been tasked with assessing his capabilities, following a
short holiday in the field. Being not
overly big, this will probably be something along the lines of Pony Club
activities with the most suitable rider being a teenager. Her son Toby, she said, is going to be too
tall, but Menace might be suited to her younger son Noah. Anyway, regardless, Hannah doesn’t think
they will be able to part with our Twitterati pony,
because he’s so sweet natured and both of her sons and Mrs
Prowting adore him already. Mrs P even lets
him go into her kitchen. I saw a photo
recently of Presenting Lisa at her kitchen door, having returned to the yard
prior to the commencement of her stud career.
Evidently Lisa and Menace have since become firm friends; previously
they’d had a problem finding an equine companion to suit her! The mare obviously has a discerning taste when
it comes to choosing a boyfriend! The horse
next door to Menace was named Balli Martine and was
very sweet too. Soon we were ushered
outside ahead of a drive to the gallops; Hannah stayed with Menace in order
to tidy him up again by dusting down the sawdust from his blanket, despite
the fact that both of Mrs Prowting’s
horses Midnight Merlot and Midnight Jitterbug were heading to the gallops
today. John had
requested that people with access to 4x4’s should bring them along, in order
that everyone could be transported to the top of the gallops. I was assigned to the back seat of possibly
a Nissan Navara?
Cars aren’t my specialty! Anyway,
a lady drove a number of us to the gallops, with her young son in the front
seat; her son’s comments were rather amusing.
A couple of blokes shared the back seat with me, and three guys hopped
into the open back too. We stopped at
the top of the hill and pulled off the track in order to alight and wait for
the horses to appear at the far end of the gallops; they’d already warmed up
before heading out of the yard. Merlot and
Jitterbug led, from Daliance and the Delegator
filly. Having reached the top of the
gallop, Noel asked the riders to circle around so that we could have a look
at the horses at close quarters. Noel
requested that the Delegator filly was returned to the yard after the first
gallop, as he didn’t wish to overwork her at such a young age. The work riders were David who’d worked for
Henrietta Knight for many years, Jan from the Czech Republic, a recently
arrived French guy who spoke English with an Irish accent having worked in
Ireland for a while, plus Noel’s new conditional jockey from the Czech
Republic. The latter’s English isn’t
brilliant, but they get by with Jan translating where necessary. The trainer
said he liked the Delegator filly; she was sassy but nice natured and ‘threw some shapes’ when ridden in the
barn a week or two ago. Noel had been
surprised that the rider managed to stay aboard her on that occasion. I wonder if EPDS will be requesting name suggestions
for the filly in the near future? Her dam is named
Cecily Parsley, so I have a couple of names in mind, Beatrix Potter related! Noel
mentioned that the Stewards had called him in when Daliance
won at Fakenham recently: The Stewards considered the apparent improvement in
form of the winner, DALIANCE (IRE), ridden by William Featherstone and
trained by Noel Williams, compared with its previous run at Ffos Las on 15 October 2016 where the gelding finished
ninth of twelve, beaten 24˝ lengths. They noted the trainer could offer no
explanation, other than the gelding had appreciated returning to a track
where has always run well in the past. They ordered DALIANCE (IRE) to be
routine tested. Of course he
couldn’t explain it, because Daliance is Daliance and you just never know when he’s going to put
his best hoof forward – it just depends what kind of a mood he is in on that
particular day! Noel also
spoke about something similar happening to Alan King, at Huntingdon I think, when
the trainer was quizzed following the apparent improvement of one of his
charges which surprisingly won. Alan
pointed out that this was the horse’s first run since transferring to his
yard and that his charge was now under to tutelage of a good trainer! The stewards checked their records and then
apologised! Only one of
the guys shared the back seat on the way back, with his colleague deciding to
hop into the open backed vehicle with his mates this time. We chatted on the way back, he was from
Birmingham and had originally intended to head to Newbury like myself;
however, alternative plans had been made for him so he had to forego a day at
the races. It was difficult climbing
into the vehicle because it was so high, it probably didn’t help that I had
worn a skirt too; we spoke about the issues of getting old, and especially about
not realizing that we could no longer do those things which we could as a
youngster, although he was a spritely 71.
Noel had
suggested the three remaining horses return to the yard via the back route;
this meant we didn’t have to worry about encountering them on the track as we
returned. Having
arrived back, everyone headed into the main barn once more. I stopped off to see Chance Taken, although
she wasn’t feeling particularly friendly and remained at the back of her
box. I also stroked Authorized Too
(aka ‘Arthur’) who had run in a
Novices’ Chase at Newbury the previous day, finishing 6th. I took a photo of the injury sidelined Kincora Fort (aka ‘Brian’)
and also Bingo D’Olivate; I stroked the latter’s
face rather than his nose, so that he couldn’t lick my hand as he was wearing
the bib contraption again. I then headed
around the corner to enter the other side of the barn to see Menace once
more. Whilst we’d been on the gallops,
Hannah had dusted him down so his rug was pristine again. Our Twitterati
pony had been trace-clipped but she said he’d broken out in a bit of a heat
rash whilst we’d been gone. Menace had
recently sustained a small cut to his left cheek – evidently one of Hannah’s
ponies had bitten him. Hannah asked me
if I’d like to go into the stable, so she put a head-collar on him (a new one
with name plate) and I followed her in.
She also took three photos of Menace and me whilst I held the rope of
his head-collar, although I was on his right-hand side rather than his left
as should have been the case. Mindful that
time was getting on, and at least two people had already left for Newbury, I
thanked Hannah for bringing Menace along and walked back to my car in
preparation for my subsequent trip to the races. She also mentioned that Menace might make
another guest appearance at the yard once he’s being ridden again. Click here to read my Newbury Hennessy Gold Cup Day diary Click here to view my photographs taken on
the gallops and of other horses at Noel’s yard Click here to view my photographs of today’s special guest star
Menace |
