For the first time we welcomed members
of the British Horse Society to the Racecourse last week. The day was intended to help fundraise for the
very important equine welfare work undertaken annually by the charity, and also
to raise awareness of their safety campaign requesting drivers to pass horses
‘wide and slow’ and to kill their speed to 15 mph. This campaign has been sparked by a number
of fatal accidents on British roads in recent years.
Two of the supporters of the day
included first time Worcester race sponsors, Henry Oliver Racing and Hillgrove
Stud, both of whom depend on horses for their living. Hillgrove Stud is based near
Droitwich, and Liz Williams with her partner Max Young, breed and produce top
quality dressage horses. Henry Oliver, former national hunt
jockey turned trainer, is based at Abberley and runs a number of his horses at
Worcester during the season. The British Horse Society reported
that they raised over £1,500 through the generous donations of racegoers for
which they were extremely grateful.
The opening race of the day, the
Henry Oliver Racing Novice Chase was a very competitive affair, and included
representatives from the top yards of Paul Nicholls, David Pipe, Donald McCain,
Jonjo O’Neill and Phillip Hobbs.
McCain’s Dr Massini gelding, What
Happens Now (pictured above) was confidently steered to victory by Will Kennedy, seeing off the
challenges of Tom Scudamore aboard David Pipe’s For ‘N’ Against by three
quarters of a length. Kennedy, who began his
association with McCain last season, has a 21% strike rate when riding for the
Cheshire based trainer. What Happens Now, a former point
to point winner, has won three of his four starts over fences and it would be
no surprise to see him progress on from here, especially once the ground eases later
in the year.
The race date last week clashed
with a Stratford evening meeting. Whilst
the short hop from one course to another was ideal for the jockeys who were
riding at both Worcester and Stratford, it is far from ideal to have two
racecourses in such close proximity racing on the same day from a logistical
point of view. Not only does it split a
local crowd of jump racing supporters, but there are also a good number of
staff who make their living by working at several racecourses and they have to
make difficult decisions when there is a clash.
The only clash at the vintage
themed Ladies Evening race meeting tomorrow evening at Worcester, will be the
sound of the instruments of the 28 strong members of the Royal Signals Band who
will be welcoming racegoers from 3.30pm as they arrive at the course, as part
of the Help for Heroes race night. The
first race is due off at 5pm.
