As those of you who have read previous
articles may already have gathered, before racing at Newbury on Thursday I was
fortunate enough to attend a stable tour at Barbury Castle, home of elite National
Hunt trainer Alan King. Having never been to a yard of that size before I wasn’t
sure what to expect, but on arrival was simply awestruck. To say that Mr King’s
yard and facilities are set in a beautiful area of the country is like saying
Jonny Wilkinson had a decent left boot – a massive understatement! From the moment we arrived
I loved the place! With such a fantastic view over the Point to Point track (pictured
below), the schooling field and the gallops, it is
hard not to be impressed.
As our tour began at 9am, we saw the likes of Choc Thornton and Wayne Hutchinson coming
back in from a previous lot as we made our way down to the area in which the
next horses to be worked were to complete a 15 minute trot to warm up before exercise
(pictured below).
After being organised into order by the boss in
relation to various factors (fitness, ability, optimum trip etc),
they were then worked accordingly. There are
3 gallops and we watched a number of horses (including Walkon pictured below
with Midnight Sail) being worked around the circular gallop next to the schooling
area, a gallop with a nice deep surface that really makes the horses think and
use themselves (so I’m told!).
The horses are generally ridden by the same rider
each day, though sometimes one of the jockeys will jump on to provide a fresh
perspective and get a grasp of where the horse is at. Schooling takes place twice
a week (when up to 20-40 are usually schooled each day) and there is an array
of both brush style and timber hurdles (pictured below) that can be used accordingly to help
tune up the horses’ hurdling technique. The usefully located Point to Point
course/fences are also used in the build up to bigger meetings like Cheltenham
and Aintree.
Having enjoyed the more practical element of
the tour, we then made our way back down to the stabling area. En route we
passed the horse walk which can hold up to 10 horses at a time and is often used by around 30 horses each morning. The horses use this fairly labour free (though I'm sure the horses may beg to differ!) piece of equipment for around
45 minutes, with the horse walk itself changing direction every 10
minutes. The centre area is also perfectly sized for breaking in young horses and
so would it seem an invaluable training appliance.
Our very informative and friendly host then
showed us into the stables, talking us through a great number of their horses.
As a keen racing fan it was fascinating hearing a far more informed opinion of
each and the aspirations held for many of the inmates. At all times able to
take photos and give them a stroke (though I chose rapid note taking on my
phone over getting friendly with the nags!), it was great to get close to some
very exciting racehorses such as multiple big race winner Raya Star, West End
Rocker (pictured above) who runs in this weekend’s Becher Chase having won
last year’s renewal, Harry Redknapp's chaser in the making Hot Whisky (pictured below) and the promising
JP McManus owned Gone Too Far who was then transported to Newbury and finished a
close fought 2nd to an equally smart rival in the bumper that day.
For anyone who is even remotely interested in
National Hunt racing, I would highly recommend booking yourself a trip to
Barbury Castle (which can be done at: http://alankingracing.co.uk/stabletours.htm
) as it really is a brilliant morning. Alan boasts a strong pool of talented
older horses and a very promising bunch of youngsters, both of which bode well
for the short and long term future. A very professional operation, the Barbury
Castle team will, as always, be well worth following over the next few months
(and years!).
5 horses to follow:
Valdez – a smart 5yo who will surely progress
over hurdles
Gone Too Far – 2nd at Newbury on
debut and will certainly be a nice horse in time
Fair Trade – highly rated flat horse who has
the potential to go on over hurdles
Handazan – should continue progression since
being gelded (pictured below)
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