2:04pm Thursday 2nd April 2009
By Sam Daniels - Storrington jockey
Hello all, its just two days now until my big ride at Aintree in the John Smiths Peoples Race.
As you are all aware during my training for the big race and big day I have to ride out and also do my day job, so I thought I’d just fill you all in a bit more about who I am and what I’m doing .
It’s 6 am starts everyday. I wake up to the racing post newspaper everyday to read all about the news in racing, what horses are entered from the yard and potential horses to look out for the future. It looks a nice day outside this morning, but I’m sure to be fooled quite quickly - the car needs to be defrosted, and another layer of clothes is put on and a spare fleece in thrown into the car. I drive the short journey through the village to Ashley House racing stables. It’s five minutes up the road, so being so close has a huge benefit for me. It’s now 6.50am and the day’s routine begins again. I find out from the assistant trainer Paul Hacking who I’m riding - no change, it’s Giggles again or as I like to know him the bull, he is built like a little bull.
I go and sort out all my tack for the day, making sure everything is okay from the day before. All the stitching is okay and nothing is broken, the tack is all clean, and the bucket’s already under the tap for my hot water. I collect my sweat sheet from the racing room and am greeted with a bright hello from a very happy and smiling Jenna, who is mucking out on the other side of the yard. I’ve given the bull a good groom and he is tacked up. He is then put on the walker for 15 minutes so his muscles loosen up. Just like a human, horses must be comfortable and fully stretched off before exercise, otherwise muscles can be pulled.
We are one member of the team down today as a work rider Lizzie is taken ill before she is due to ride so, its me, Luke and the guvnor Richard. A brisk good morning from Richard as we make our way towards the church at the top of the lane. Richard asks to see if I have a replacement horse for the big day as Uncle Eli who I was due to ride had a small set back in training. I made sure that I gave Richard all the relative information about my new horse and the form of the horse and Richard was very, very keen to offer his advice and ideas on how to ride the horse and Aintree. I take the advice on board and am very grateful for this as race horse trainers have a million and one different things to be thinking of each day!
Whilst walking up the winding road, the birds are whistling in the trees and the dew is starting to come off the grass. There’s a few pheasants in the fields opposite the road, walking around we all pray they don’t scare the horses, they can be a beautiful bird to admire but they can also play havoc with horses especially as race horses are so fine tuned. Walking through the farm is great, we can see all the new born calves with there mums in the field as we walk through the fields to the gallop, there’s a few pheasants strutting about and there’s a few rabbits in the distance running about as well. This for me is a great time of year as we have such a beautiful countryside to ride in and amazing views and see, the mist has started to lift off the hill the South Downs look like they’re in a movie scene, there’s so much happening. We walk onto the gallop and we are instructed that we are going to do a nice steady canter to begin with. It goes very well, Giggles is very relaxed as are the other two horses, having such a calm environment helps the horses to be relaxed and it also creates a great working atmosphere for the staff.
We continue to do two more canters, a bit quicker each time. Richard is very quick to assess the horses and ask me and Luke how they felt how they worked and how they felt, all very important in placing a horse.
After we have completed the third canter it’s a mist of steam coming off the horses. They are very hot and looking forward to a nice hot bath back at the yard. Whilst walking down we see a buzzard looking for its breakfast, but as we continue on our journey home the buzzard is luckless in his venture. There’s a bit of chat between Richard and Luke but I’m content to sit in behind and just let my horse walk off home nice and relaxed.
Back in the yard we have our hot water and head collars all ready for us. We un tack, me and luke just having a bit of banter between ourselves about how well we have ridden, and we both ask each other what our days have in store.
After a nice hot bath, the horses are led up to the top paddocks in their coolers to have a nice pick off fresh grass and a nice roll. The bull has a couple of rolls and gets covered in mud so I’ll be hard at work cleaning him up before we go in today! Me and Luke share a joke or two about Aintree as the day approaches but we both know that it’s a huge day and everything has to go right if I’m in with a chance of winning the race.
Richard is also on hand to offer more advice and tips. I really appreciate Richard’s time and advice as he has ridden around Aintree as a jockey so all the small points can make a huge difference.
I take Giggles back for a groom and make sure he is comfortable before putting his rugs on and making sure he is ok before leaving him to put my tack away. I say goodbye to the lads in the yard. This is the last time I will see them before my big day. There’s friends banter between me, Luke and Jenna, they all want to have a few pounds on me, and I’m being told I’m not allowed too lose! So I hope everything goes to plan. Richard and Paul offer me the best of luck and hope I have an enjoyable experience. The work must continue for the yard and also me as I head off to my job at Hurston Lane.
I bring one of the horses in from the paddock and also have one to get ready to ride myself so it’s a busy morning. The sun’s finally come out now, so it’s warmed up. It’s great working with the sun behind you, it really lifts the sprits.
I’m ready to ride out and so is Melza, my boss. We head off for a nice hack to Parham park, winding our way through the woods of Wiggonholt seeing such amazing sights along the way a few pheasants fighting along the way and there’s a few dogs too chasing after sticks and footballs.
We hack through Parham, it’s so peaceful and there’s not a soul in sight. It’s a great hack as there’s no cars and it’s also very relaxing. We head back along the same route we took to begin with, me and Melza have a good chat about Aintree and all the events leading up to it. It’s been a busy three months training and hard work too put in by everybody. I’ve a horse to muck out now and horses to turn out - the work never stops, but I guess I’m a very lucky person because I work doing a job I love in the fresh clean air of the countryside, roaming through woods and going fast up the gallops where else could you do this.
Tomorrow is an early start, up at 2am to leave for Aintree for 3am, so I’ll see you all tomorrow and will keep you posted for all of my amazing journey.
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