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Retired Horses Obviously we like to hear news of all our horses once they’ve left the yard. Here is an update on some of our ex-residents. Alderbrook (Champion Hurdle winner) Alderbrook now stands at Anngrove Stud in Ireland (Mountmellick, Portlaoise, Co Laois, Tel 00353 502 24122) where he is looked after by David and Alastair Pim. He looks like being a hugely successful stallion and is already the sire of Trained By The Best, Perouse, Ollie Magern, Gold Brook, just to name a few. It’s great to know that we’ll hear the name of Alderbrook time and time again when they shout home his winners up that famous hill at Cheltenham. Master Oats “Master Oats will hopefully celebrate his 21st birthday in the modern day Heythrop Hunting Field on January 1st. He was given to us at Adlestrop in 1999, the year after injury enforced his retirement from racing. Until a minor leg problem this spring, which means that he is still enjoying the autumn sunshine in a field, he had never taken a lame step at his second home and he was widely admired when opening the Southrop Village Fete in July! Invitations to parade at the scene of his greatest triumph have been few and far between but no doubt his fan club would be delighted to see him back at Cheltenham in March 2007.” Chris Leigh Docklands Express Since retiring from racing Docklands Express (Bertie) has taken to hunting with unrivalled enthusiasm. Partnered by former Master of the Meynell Hounds, Marek Kwiatkowski, he has had over seventy days hunting (more than he had racing) and hunted with no fewer than 17 different packs. He has been most regularly been seen with the Mendip Farmers and latterly the South Shropshire Hounds, but his presence has been seen as far afield as the Bedale in Yorkshire and the Mid Devon in the south. He is stabled with a great hunting farmer, Chris Everall, who rides him regularly on his daily rounds of the farm. Still in superb nick, he has plenty of hunting left in him and is a favourite with hunt followers wherever he goes. Terminology "Rebecca has done a fantastic job with him and having seen him, I suspect he much prefers his new life where he is very spoiled as well as doing lots of interesting new things." John Perriss "As well as hunting with the Vale of Aylesbury, Terminology (Tommy) has also started eventing in 2007. He had a superb week in March and exceeded all expectations. He was a dressage horse on Tuesday and finished 9th out of 25 against some very posh competition at Addington. We were then back there again today for one of there all weather event days and he did a superb dressage (4th out of 21 after this phase), had a run out at the last fence cross country and rolled 2 show jumps. It was also his first proper show with loud speakers and music playing and he behaved as well as ever. The cross country was a real test for him, as it was much bigger than I expected and I thought it was a big question for him at this stage. (He finished 10th overall). I hope that you will be as proud of him as I am." Rebecca Brown Veneguera “Veneguera (Vinnie) was retired in April 2004 when he was 12 years old. I looked after him and rode him most days for 4 years and had a great bond with him, even though he was a cheeky monkey when he ran his races - you never knew whether he was going to win or pull himself up! When the owners decided to retire him, they asked whether I would like to take care of him, obviously I couldn’t let anyone else have him so I said yes. “Vinnie is really enjoying himself now and he had a couple of days hunting last season with the Grafton Hunt which he seemed to enjoy and hopefully we shall both be going again.” Teresa Malin Top Buck “Top Buck is a handsome brown gelding of 12 years whom I have had now for nearly two years. He had colic surgery two years ago, so after that the owners decided to retire him from National Hunt racing. He was also nearly 11 and he was highly handicapped so there wasn’t much point in keeping him in training. At the time I was looking for a horse to go Point to Pointing on and I was asked if I knew anyone that would like to have him, so I decided to have him as he is a brilliant jumper. “He ran in two point to points in the spring of 2006 and the plan is to point to point him again in 2007. I will bring him back in at the end of August so that I can give him plenty of time to get ready for the pointing next season. Hopefully we shall get plenty of hunting as he really enjoyed his first experience with the Grafton. “After next season he will probably be retired from racing but I will continue to do some show jumping with him and cross country.” Louisa Dixon Lussino “Lussino or Louie as he is now known came to us in January 2005 having retired from racing. Straight away we turned him out and removed his shoes so that he could join our other barefoot horses. “Louie is a highly intelligent horse with a very sweet gentle nature. He loves human company and will always be first in line for fuss and scratches and is always happiest when he is the centre of attention. He has grown very attached to his new friends and spends a good part of his time playing with them but he is quite the disciplinarian and is quick to let them know when they have overstepped the mark. “You won't see us at Olympia this year or even next but you may see us enjoying a gentle hack in the countryside or perhaps at a local show one day. We shall see where Louie's new talents lie before making any firm plans. “We feel lucky to have him and are grateful to Kim Bailey for allowing us to take him on and let him enjoy his retirement.” Alex Hunt Supreme Charm “When Supreme Charm retired from racing after such a hugely successful career, his owners Paul and Ruth Vogt asked me to find a good home for Supreme Charm so that he could enjoy an active retirement with somebody who would love and cherish him as much as they did. “Supreme Charm had already collected a huge fan club as we used to take him out hunting with our local pack, the Pytchley, he had gained a reputation of fearless jumping and is still remembered for jumping the biggest hedge in the area with Des Flavin on top; so finding a home was never going to be difficult. “I suggested to Paul that we allowed Bloodstock agent Charlie Gordon Watson the pleasure of enjoying and having Supreme Charm in retirement. Charlie was then joint master of the Cottesmore Hunt, so Charm would certainly have an active home in retirement. But after a year off which Charm needed Charlie felt he was too small and suggested that perhaps he would not be a suitable person to have him. This is where Ashley and Annabel Bealby stepped in; I have known Ashley a very long time, He has been involved in racing for ages and is currently a Stipendiary Steward and Field Master to the Quorn Hunt. His wife Annabel is a renowned horse woman, so we knew that Charm would have a great home and life with them. “Supreme Charm is now Team Chasing and Field Mastering with Ashley on Mondays. In the spring of 2005 he gave Annabel her greatest moment when winning the Quorn Members Point to Point. He also was 4th in the fearsome Melton Hunt Club ride; followed up with a 2nd in the Inter Hunt Team Chase Finals. He has given the Bealbys some of their greatest and most memorable moments. He is hugely spoilt and loved. What is also very special is that they keep Paul and Ruth Vogt very much involved with what their old boy is up to and they have been up to see him perform on several occasions. Ashley finished on a note to me and Paul by saying. "Many thanks for a wonderful horse!."
Kim Bailey
“Supreme Flyer is now 16. He has been very well looked after by Katrina Deronal since his retirement six years ago. Katrina has been working with horses most of her life and was delighted at the opportunity to give a home to an ex-racehorse. He was our first venture into racehorse ownership - a good start as he was placed in five out of seven runs with two wins. He was retired when he showed that he had lost his zest for racing after two years off with a bad tendon injury. “Fly’ now lives very comfortably near King’s Lynn with a pony for companionship. Katrina’s work with him on dressage and showjumping has resulted in rosettes at small local shows. He has taken very enthusiastically to learning these new skills and has miles and miles of grass tracks along the dykes to explore when being ridden out. It is lovely to see him so content and relaxed in well earned retirement.” Elizabeth Kellar |
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