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American Dream
By Marcus Armytage
Courtesy The Telegraph
Much has been made of the problems faced by those, like jockey Martin
Dwyer, trying to reach America towards the end of last week, in
Dwyer's case to ride in Chicago .
For
similar reasons there were mixed emotions among Richard Phillips'
staff at Adlestrop Stables, Moreton-in-Marsh, last Thursday but
to understand why you need some background.
Richard
may be progressive in his use of a sports psychologist and a riding
coach for staff but in some aspects he's positively Victorian. He
claims, for example, that his annual family holiday as a child,
if he was lucky, was a day trip to Littlehampton for a round of
crazy golf and a gritty sandwich before catching the bus home. This
austerity was reinforced when his first job in racing was for Graham
Thorner, another man who thinks more than one holiday every decade
is a waste of time and money. Frankly, it baffles Richard that stable
staff now take off to Majorca and Tenerife for a fortnight when
a few hours at Butlins should suffice.
So
when it was announced in the yard earlier this summer that he had
decided to take up an invitation from his childhood hero, Michael
Dickinson, and some owners to visit America - for the first time
- there was cause for much celebration as he'd be away for 10 days.
The
holiday was given a big build-up by trainer and staff alike. The
lads lined the drive to see him off (and to make sure he'd gone)
and then came the news that among the first casualties of the security
clampdown was Richard's flight to Philadelphia .
This
was a bitter-sweet moment for his lads, bitter in that the holiday
might now be abandoned, sweet in that the boss was among the thousands
being inconvenienced at the airport. Their worst fears, however,
were realised when he returned to Adlestrop. One lad even texted
the secretary saying he'd pay her to book him on the next available
flight out and another said he felt sorry for all the thousands
having to queue outside Heathrow - except the boss.
As
for the trainer, who had to endure the real hardship of waiting
six hours without the use of his mobile phone, which had been packed
in the hold of his re-booked flight on Friday, he has the last word.
"I can't believe it," he said. "The one day in 43
years I decide to go to America for the first time..."
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