Richard's Blog


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Eastwell Smiles

Eastwell Smiles triumphed last night at Bangor under an inspired ride by Richard Johnson. Making all, he outstayed and out galloped his rivals in what was not the most competitive of races. The rains beforehand probably played in his favour and brought his stamina to the fore. We will see what the handicapper does with him and hopefully he will be competitive again in a few weeks time if up against the right opposition.

We were all delighted, especially for his owners Martin and Sue Harvey. As you know they sponsor our yard and Martin made the trip in the horse box with Gordy. It was certainly a different experience for our owner and one he will never forget - having to put up with Gordy's singing on the way home.

We have declared Great Hero for tomorrow in the bumper at Uttoxeter. He had one run last year when he was very weak and the ground was very soft. Hopefully he is a stronger horse this time and as long as they don't have too much rain, he should show promise.

21st July, 2010

Tattersalls Visit

Yesterday was the Adlestrop Club's visit to Tattersalls Sales. A dozen members of the Club attended the impressive sales complex and were treated to a guided tour in the morning and a picnic at lunchtime. We had the pleasure of having the company of Sharron Murgatroyd and Elaine Mellor for our picnic. I stay with Sharron when in Newmarket . She has now been in a wheelchair for twenty years and is a remarkable human being and she entertained us magnificently during lunch.

The sales finished this morning and we still have orders to fill, which is always good. The sales is always an entertaining time with lots of stories being told including a line this morning from one trainer who said “if I win the lottery this week, I will put it on a 10-1 chance and I might get myself out of trouble.”

9th July, 2010

Eastwell Smiles

Eastwell Smiles ran a good race at Worcester on Wednesday night. Making the running until the last, the first time blinkers helped him concentrate but he was passed in the last hundred yards and finished third. Hopefully we will get a win out of him soon and he is entered up next week. Ocheekobee needs slower ground and will now be sold for point to pointing.

We have ended up with one new horse from the Newmarket sales this week. A very attractive, rangy filly called Najlaa whom we purchased for 13,000 from William Haggas. She has shown promise and looks great value and anyone interested in her, please let us know.

9th July, 2010


Fun Dog Show

The fun dog show was once again a great success with around a hundred dogs turning up to compete for the eight classes judged by Jilly Cooper.

To view the photo gallery please click below:

PHOTO GALLERY



Adlestrop Village Open Day

Yesterday was the Adlestrop Village Open day which is always a fun occasion. The gardens open, stalls, teas, raffle and fun dog show are always well supported. The stables were also open for visitors although there are very few inmates at present.

Jilly Cooper judged our fun dog show and I entertained Jilly, Marcia MacLeod and Tot Calver to a Marks and Spencer's lunch before the show. Next year there may well not be a dog show, as Beanie did not win a rosette, however this could well be put down to the fact that Barnsy lead her up in the ‘prettiest bitch' class. As one of my owners said, the day was mix of ‘Midsomer Murders' and ‘The Vicar of Dibley' and we are lucky to live in such a lovely village.


21st June, 2010

Cartmel Trip

On Sunday evening, some twenty members of The Adlestrop Club converged in the Riverside Hotel in Kendall for drinks for our Cartmel trip. A great time was had by all, despite the picnic, and the racecourse looked after us in exemplary fashion. If you have not been, it is a unique place and comes highly recommended.

Amazingly on Sunday night in true Adlestrop Club fashion, Club members visited a club called Bootleggers where Barnsy was easily the eldest person in attendance. Much amusement was had when Davina Heginbotham, persuaded any attractive girl that walked past, that it was Barnsy's birthday and asked would they pose for a picture with him. Typically Barnsy joined in the fun, there is much photographic evidence of Barnsy's fake birthday and he was delighted to get so many birthday kisses.

I doubt if Cartmel has ever seen The Adlestrop Club's tribute band to Abba, ‘Bjorn's Belief'. Once again Barnsy was at the forefront, wearing Davina's new white hat which she had purchased with her winnings on the Placepot, whilst the girls of The Adlestrop Club made a frighteningly impressive Abba like dance routine, pictures will follow soon. Thanks go to all the Club members that attended.

2nd June, 2010


Adlestrop Literary Festival


Following the great success of the inaugural Adlestrop Literary Festival in June 2008, the trustees of The Adlestrop Literary Festival are delighted to announce a ‘Midsummer Day’ with Joanna Trollope to be held at Adlestrop House, Adlestrop, Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire on Thursday 24 June 2010 at 11.00 am.

The day will start with a champagne reception, followed by Joanna Trollope speaking about her new best seller, The Other Family before a sumptuous summer lunch including wine. A book stall is kindly being provided by Jaffé and Neale Bookshop, Chipping Norton and Joanna Trollope will be signing books after lunch.

Funds raised from The Adlestrop Literary Festival will go to two local charities, Helen and Douglas House, and St Mary Magdalene Church, Adlestrop.

Tickets at £55.00 are available from Ernest Johnson, Leigh Cottage, Adlestrop, Moreton in Marsh, Gloucestershire GL56 OUN. For more information, please telephone 01608 658617 or email ernest.johnson@btopenworld .com.





Adlestrop Village Open Day & Fun Dog Show


The Adlestrop Village Open day this year is on Sunday 20th June from midday until 5pm. 

Please do come along if you can to see our wonderful village at its best.  Please click HERE to view brochure of the day.

Once again this year, we are having a Fun Dog Show in the paddock at the stables. 

Jilly Cooper has kindly agreed to be our judge again this year so please bring your dog along. 

If you would be interested in sponsoring a class in our fun dog show, please let us know as soon as possible. The cost is £25 and the classes will be as follows:


Cutest Puppy (under 12 months)

Prettiest Bitch

Most Handsome Dog

Veteran (over 7 years old)

Waggiest Tail

Best Cross Breed

Best Fancy Dress

Best Biscuit Catcher

Best in Show

It is £1 per dog per class and there will be rosettes and edible prizes (for the dogs) for the first three in each class.

Entry to the village open day is £4 per person.




New Season


Out with the old, in with the new. A frustrating season in as much as the ground was heavy for most of it which did not suit most of our runners. However the horses showed a consistent level of form.

The winner of the five to follow competition is Colin Pocock who is generously donating his winning prize to charity. Whilst second came Kath Dunbar and joint third went to Colin Pocock once again and Adrian Wright.

Normally we have a few winners in May and June and hopefully there are a few ready to run once we have some decent ground, which has been so rare over the winter.

A relaxed day watching polo at Cirencester Park Polo Club is being organised by St Richard's Hospice on Sunday, 20th June.

There is a choice of being a guest in a private marquee with Pimms on arrival and a two course summer lunch, or taking your own car and picnic to enjoy the day at the famous polo ground.

Tricia Cavell, St Richard's Hospice Fundraising Manager said, “We held our first polo day at Cirencester last year and it was a great success. We had a very entertaining and knowledgeable polo host who explained the game so all the guests had an idea of the rules. Going out and treading the divots in between games was great fun too.”

She added, “We are giving people a choice of coming into the marquee or bringing their own cars and picnics to enjoy the day. It's also Father's Day so would be a lovely treat for dads.”

Tickets for the day cost £40 each to include lunch in the marquee, a polo programme, polo host  and parking or bring your own picnic and pay £5 for a day pass (children under 15 free) and a £15 car pass.

Anyone who would like to buy a ticket can download the booking form on www.strichards.org.uk/polo or contact the Fundraising Department on 01905 763963.

St Richard's Hospice provides free specialist palliative care for patients living with cancer and other life-threatening illnesses and supports their families. Each year the hospice team supports over 2,100 patients and family members in Worcestershire.

Patients are cared for in Day Hospice, the 16-bed In-patient Unit or in their own homes by a specialist professional team as well as many trained volunteers.

In the In-patient Unit specialist staff are on hand 24 hours a day to manage patients' symptoms and where, if they so choose, patients may spend the last few days of life in comfort and dignity. St Richard's is grateful for all donations towards the £5m they need to raise this year to continue their work.

For more information please visit www.strichards.org.uk

Runners



Yesterday we schooled Pak Jack over fences before his trip to Aintree for the Topham tomorrow. He appears in good form. He has a great record over those fences and let's hope he can run another cracker tomorrow. We have booked Graham Lee to ride who won the Grand National on Amberleigh House.

We have Mr Mackay running today at Taunton but I feel the track will be too sharp for him, but let's hope his wind is better on the better ground.

We run three in the same race at Kempton tomorrow, something I hate to do. However there are very few three mile handicap chases on good ground and all three, Ballykelly, Petroupetrov and Departed have been hanging on for a run for a while. Three miles around Kempton in a handicap is far from ideal first time over fences but Petroupetrov and Departed have schooled well at home whilst Ballykelly jumped well on his chasing debut at Uttoxeter.

8th April, 2010





Cheltenham Preview


Monday evening, was The Adlestrop Club's Cheltenham Preview. This was a huge success with the hall being packed to listen to the views of John Francome, Richard Pitman and Choc Thornton. We are so lucky to be supported by so many good people who give up their time for zilch. Along with regulars Gordon Clarkson and Rick Allen providing information from Ireland and some fascinating statistics, the crowd were thoroughly entertained. In the audience we were privileged to have senior handicapper Phil Smith, who although he had the night off, was happy to share his wealth of knowledge. Whilst Racing Post writer Peter Thomas, a regular to Adlestrop sat on his hands in frustration, knowing that he couldn't release all information on offer to the outside world. Thanks to everyone's generosity around £750 was raised for Cancer Research.

10th March, 2010



Tori Sponsorship Launch

Sunday was our yard sponsorship launch. Thanks to our owners Martin and Sue Harvey, their company Tori Global have agreed to sponsor the yard. They put on a presentation in our village hall for the relevant owners. A fun afternoon was had by all thanks to some excellent champagne and food and we look forward to a successful partnership together.

www.toriglobal.com

Captain Tidds

Everyone was delighted to see Captain Tidds win at Warwick today. This was for several reasons including the patience of his owner Colin Pocock who has been a loyal client for many years and owned Peachy with us previously. Also that it was the Roscoe Harvey Memorial race, named in honour of a fantastic character who we all admired and owned Relkeel amongst other good horses.

Given a fine ride by Sean Quinlan, Captain Tidds has now learned to settle and jumped superbly to an impressive success now that he has stepped up to three miles. We will see what the handicapper does before deciding on his next race.

Good to see the string in such fine form and we are looking forward to a successful spring.

26th February, 2010


Question Of Sport


Last night's Question Of Sport evening was a great success. Thanks to the excellent questions set by Adlestrop Club member Eric Painting. Following the first round, the Inverdale team which included the loyal trainer, got exactly zero points on football. However they recovered to be just ten points off the winning team hosted by Mark Pougatch.

Of the twenty guest teams, the winners unfrotuantely once again included Gordy Clarkson, rick Allen, John Dykoskwi and Jon Dadswell. A great evening was had by all thanks to Chipping Norton Golf Club and we look forward to next year.

26th February, 2010

Winners


Yesterday's trip to Huntingdon was certainly worthwhile with a double thanks to King Jack and Good For Blue. Mr Mackay running for The Adlestrop Club, narrowly missed out on a treble when running a gallant third in the first race.

King Jack appears to be on his way back. He travelled and jumped well throughout and stayed on well to out gallop his rivals. Better ground and a further trip will certainly suit so hopefully the handicapper will give him a chance of following up. The owners have been very patient with him and hopefully that will be rewarded this spring as he certainly has talent.

Good For Blue got off the mark on his handicap debut. Settling at the rear early on, he came through with smooth progress to challenge at the second last under a fine ride from Sean Quinlan. Sean reported that he would certainly stay further and again the handicapper will determine where we go from here. His owners Eustace, Carol and Karen were unable to be present having flown over from America last week to see him run, only for the meeting to be abandoned. Hopefully next time they will be able to see him win. Costing only 3000 guineas as a store horse at Doncaster , having shown promise in bumpers this son of Beneficial may not be the biggest but certainly has ability.

All did not go to plan in the handicap chase when Khumbu failed to get his landing gear out at the first fence on his chasing debut. Luckily he appears fine and I am sure he will be winning.

12th February, 2010

Giovanna

Giovanna ran an excellent race to finish third under top weight in the mares handicap hurdle at Ludlow yesterday. She is as tough as teak and Richard Johnson was very keen to finish in the first three as it helps pay his petrol back to Hereford.

Giovanna was purchased at the Tattersalls Foal sales by her trainer for 4500 guineas. She was bred by Colin Smith's (owner of Jackdaws Castle ) daughter, Emma. She has won seven races for us including two bumpers and has been an example of consistency throughout her career. These days she likes good ground and a trip as far as possible and although the handicapper does not relent, she hopefully will be winning again now spring is on the way. She is owned by our first ever partnership, The Dozen Dreamers who are an enthusiastic bunch who have had many winners along the way.

11th February, 2010


A Winters Evening


Many thanks to everyone from the Adlestrop Club who attended last night's Winters Evening.  On behalf of everyone, a big thank you to Richard Pitman, John Francome and Brian Delany for giving up their time.  I think all will agree it was a special night where conversation flowed about the great times with F.T.Winter.  There were many memorable stories and much laughter. 

Once again it emphasises how lucky we are in the Adlestrop Club to have these opportunities thanks to the genuine kindness of some good people.

We also raised some money for the Bob Champion Cancer Trust, so many thanks to all.

18th January, 2010





Cheltenham Festival Preview



We are delighted to announce that this year's Cheltenham Festival Preview will be at 7pm on Monday 8 th March in Adlestrop Village Hall. 

The panel will once again include John Francome, Robert Thornton, Rick ‘Statto' Allen and Gordon ‘Paddy Power' Clarkson.

After last year's fiercely accurate predictions, this year is sure to be very popular so please book your places as soon as possible and by no later than 22 nd February.

Tickets are free of charge to Adlestrop Club members and non members will be charged £20 a head to include refreshments. 

Look forward to hearing from you.

11th January, 2010




Question Of Sport

The Adlestrop Club's February event will be the Question Of Sport Evening at Chipping Norton Golf Club on the 25 th February at 7.30pm. 

The quiz master will be Robert Cooper once again, whilst team captains will be John Inverdale and Mark Pougatch.  Teams of four are invited to compete. 

There will be a cash bar and sandwiches will be provided.  Costs to non members of the Adlestrop Club will be £15 per person. 

Please let us know if you are able to attend no later than Monday 8 th February as it is sure to be a very popular event.

7th January, 2010




Snow

As you can imagine, the Cotswolds look beautiful but unfortunately it is not very practical for training racehorses. We have over a foot of snow at Adlestrop and we are working hard on the gallop at present but are only able to trot the horses in the outdoor school.

At least we are able to keep them on the move and often these snow breaks mean that the horses come back fresher when racing resumes. However we could do with getting some cantering into them soon to hold their fitness.

As ever, there has been a great war effort by all the staff to keep the show on the road and hopefully all their efforts will be rewarded once we are back on the racecourse.

7th January, 2010






Carol Service

Adlestrop's Carol Service was a great success this year. Thank you to all of you that sponsored a pew cushion, they are now in place in Adlestrop Church . This year's service had the added bonus of BBC's chorister of the year, Lawrence Kilsby singing a solo and all those present were able to hear that Lawrence certainly does have the x factor.

With the wintry weather we have been lucky enough to keep our gallop open thanks to much hard work from our staff. With more wintry weather on the way it is very frustrating, however hopefully there will be some racing over the next few weeks and we will hopefully continue to keep the horses running well.

28th December, 2009




A Winters Evening

We are delighted to announce details of our January event.  On Sunday 17 th January, entitled ‘A Winters Evening,' John Francome and Richard Pitman have agreed to reminisce over the great days of their time with the great Fred Winter.  The evening promises to be a very special night which will begin at 7pm and will have an interval where cheese and pate will be served, along with alcohol refreshments.

Tickets will be limited and therefore please let us know as soon as possible if you are able to attend no later than Monday 4 th January.  Adlestrop Club members have free entry, whilst guests will be charged £15 each with profits going to a charity of Francome and Pitman's choice.

23rd December, 2009

Lucky Sunny


The horses continue to be in great form and Lucky Sunny was the most impressive winner of his bumper at Uttoxeter on Friday. Travelling smoothly three out, he approached the leaders cantering with two to run and Jonjo O'Neill's conditional, Richie McLernon only had to let out an inch of rain, for him to win impressively by eight lengths.

Lucky Sunny purchased by Richard at the Cheltenham sales as an unbroken four year old looks to be a bright prospect.

21st December, 2009





Go Harvey Go Needs A Home

Go Harvey Go, a stalwart for the yard is now looking for a good home. Unfortunately he has had a mild repetition of his old tendon injury, which means his racing career must end. However, he would make a great hack and riding horse for someone, please contact the office if you know of anyone who would be keen on having him on permanent loan.

17th December, 2009






Runners

The horses appear to still be in excellent form with both Captain Tidds and Mr Mackay going very close to victory at the weekend. Captain Tidds was unlucky to be defeated at Lingfield with a fist time visor wearer failing to come back to the field, whilst Mr Mackay put up a great effort, only to be beaten half a length in the staying handicap hurdle at Hereford yesterday. He looks like a horse that will provide a lot of fun for the Adlestrop Club.

Pak Jack put up an excellent performance n the cross country race at Cheltenham , but the 3 mile 7 furlongs in soft ground stretched his stamina. However he jumped brilliantly and this now gives us an option to go back there for the Cheltenham Festival.

Giovanna put up a game display in the very competitive handicap hurdle at Cheltenham on Friday, travelling up with the leaders until three out when again the soft ground was against her. She jumped and travelled beautifully and will now be aimed at Kempton on the 27 th in a valuable mares only handicap.

14th December, 2009







Temoin

Temoin enjoyed himself at Sandown on Friday, gaining victory in the three mile handicap chase. Starting at a ridiculously generous 40-1, Temoin travelled and jumped well under a fine ride from Wayne Hutchinson before taking it up turning for home and jumping the two in the straight spectacularly to stay on for a length and a half success.

Although a bit of a character, Temoin appears in good form at the moment and loved the soft ground at the Esher track. He has rewarded the patience of his owner Tamsin Styles and hopefully this will have given him a bit of confidence and let's hope he can strike again with the rains still about.

8th December, 2009

New Yard Sponsor - Tori Limited



Stable sponsorship is essential for owners to claim back their VAT and we are delighted to announce our new sponsorship deal with our owners Sue and Martin Harvey's company, Tori Limited.

Sue and Martin currently own Go Harvey Go, Penshurst Lad and Father Martin with us at Adlestrop and are great supporters of the yard. Tori have offices in London and New York and specialise in organisational assessment and development, IT service management and business process improvement.

Tori logos will be placed onto jockeys silks, paddock sheets and grooms clothing at the races and we look forward to this partnership blossoming.

www.toriglobal.com

1st December, 2009







Pak Jack

Pak Jack ran a stormer at Aintree on Sunday when just failing to get up to win the Grand Sefton. Choosing to run him over the shorter trip of 2 miles 5 instead of the 3 ¼ of the Becher Chase due to the soft ground, Pak Jack jumped impeccably for Richard Johnson. Closing on the leader all the way up the straight, Pak Jack looked as though he might catch Dev at the elbow, but the winner was just idling and went on again in the final fifty yards. Pak Jack's Aintree record is remarkable as he has now been placed in four of his five attempts round the course. He will return there for the spring for either the Topham or the Grand National should he go up in the weights.

The Pak Jack partnership have been very patient with him since he jarred himself up in the Betfred at Sandown last year and hopefully this season he will provide them with a great deal of fun.

26th November, 2009

Call My Wine Bluff



The third annual Call My Wine Bluff went as well as ever on Friday night in Adlestrop Village hall.  With the panel, Neil Gladding of the Oxford Wine Company, Charles Allan and Richard Phillips fooling the teams over a selection of seven wines.  Teams of eight were asked to guess which of the panellists were telling the truth about each wine and despite a room of experts, many were thrown off the scent thanks to a few tall stories from each of the panellists.

The winning team included Club members Rick Allen, Mick Barnes, Gordon Clarkson and Theresa Ingarfield.  A good time was had by all and many were able to walk out unaided. 

24th November, 2009

Gentle Guru


Gentle Guru put up a cracking display to win at Kempton last night. She has been running consistently all season but had not had her favoured soft ground. However Kempton all weather track suited her and she came off the pace to win nicely. That is her fifth win for us and she has been ultra consistent her whole career. We will now look for another race on the all weather to follow up and she should be competitive getting her soft ground in the early part of the next turf season. Not many horses are owned, trained and bred by the same person, and Richard was delighted with her success.

We are very much looking forward to her half sister Fair Breeze, who is owned by the Flying Tiger Partnership and who owned Gentle Guru for most of her career.

12th November, 2009

Runners


Our runners continue to run well. Captain Tidds put up a fine performance in the 2 mile chase yesterday at Chepstow finishing 3 rd to a well fancied runner. He jumped and travelled well and this will hopefully put him right for a similar event in a few weeks time. Mr Mackay a new addition to the Adlestrop Club, ran well in the handicap hurdle and hopefully will come on for this race. The string seem to be running right up to expectations and we are looking forward to having more runners over the next few weeks.

5th November, 2009


Pak Jack

The horses continue to run very well and Pak Jack put up an excellent run in the novice hurdle at Kempton on Monday. Using it as a prep run before the Becher Chase on the 22 nd November, Choc thornton had him nicely placed in third, down the inner all the way round and despite needing the race slightly, he stayed on well for second beaten ten lengths by a very decent horse of Paul Nicholls.

He appears to have come out of the race well and looks on target for his run around the Aintree fences in a race he has run so well in previously.

With the rains coming, we have now been able to school most of the horses on the grass and there should be a fair few runners over the next few weeks from Adlestrop Stables. Let us hope they stay in good form and that we have a few winners on the run up to Christmas.

4th November, 2009


Whenever

All at Adlestrop Stables are delighted that we have begun the season with the perfect start. Whenever was the very impressive winner of his first hurdle race at Plumpton on Monday winning by ten lengths from a useful field. The five year old has taken some time to get over his gelding operation last winter but ran with promise on his last flat race at Salisbury . Enjoying his hurdling, he was given a fine ride by Wayne Hutchinson and went in many peoples notebooks.

The string appear in rude health and hopefully with the rains coming we will now be able to school them on the grass in the very near future and with some ease in the ground, we should have a number of runners at the beginning of November.

20th October, 2009


Call My Wine Bluff

We are delighted to announce the Adlestrop Club's next function will be the very popular Call My Wine Bluff at Adlestrop Village Hall at 7.30pm on Friday 20th November.  Teams of eight are given unlabelled wines for tasting and the team has to decide which of the three connoisseurs, Neil Gladding from the Oxford Wine Company, club member Charles Allan and Richard Phillips is telling the truth. 

Cheese and pate will be served during the evening and if you are not able to get up a team we will put you in one on the night. 

As ever Adlestrop Club members are invited to come free of charge, whilst guests are most welcome at £20 a head to include the wine, pate and cheese.   

Places will be limited so please do book early to avoid disappointment and by no later than Tuesday 10th November. 

For any more information, please do not hesitate to be in contact.

Email: info@richardphillipsracing.com or Tel: 01608 658710

13th October, 2009