RACING POST THURSDAY JANUARY 24th 2013
WEEK MONDAY JANUARY 21st to SUNDAY JANUARY 27th 2013
REVIEW YESTERDAY'S RESULTS
PREVIEW TODAY'S CARDS
http://www.racingpost.com/news/live.sd
"Action men and women
forced to reach for their shovels again
NEWS EQUUS ZONE SPECIAL FOCUS
COPING WITH THE FREEZE
Rodney Master-mind's the action at Windsor House Lambourn with pen in hand he sketches in the activity as it unfolds before him. His in-tune writing skills sparkle through the falling snow, to bring us this latest update.
Rodney Master-mind's the action at Windsor House Lambourn with pen in hand he sketches in the activity as it unfolds before him. His in-tune writing skills sparkle through the falling snow, to bring us this latest update.
Rodney Masters "In the final instalment of his three-part series, the snow returns to
Lambourn with a photograph to compliment this focus of Grace Green: fluent in French and a vigorous snow-sweeper, at work with her tack and tool kit in hand in Lambourn.
"JUST
to spice up the series, on our final day at Harry Dunlop's yard there is an
action replay of Friday's intense snowfall - again verging on a blizzard.
"At
8.15am staff strive like dervishes to keep Windsor House Stables fully
operational. As on Friday, exercise for the 40 horses is limited to a recently
completed all-weather trotting ring tucked away and perfectly sheltered on
three sides by residential properties in the heart of Lambourn village.
"It
is a facility new enough to be such a novelty that bedroom net curtains are
pulled aside to witness the activity.
"In
the yard, Dunlop and his wife Christina are on snow-clearing duties along with
many others, but the harder they shovel the faster it falls. By 10.30am, the
snow has eased but by then had deposited a further 15cm (six inches).
"This
time the snow is wetter, less fluffy and therefore easier to sweep,"
explains yard foreman Martina Sindelarova.
"Dunlop's
farrier Peter Baker, father of jockey
George, works full- time at five racecourses and tells us snow and
hooves are rarely a good mix, even on the all weather courses.
"When
horses gallop, the snow will ball in their hoof as it mixes with the
all-weather surface and that ball will become so solid the foot can rock on it, " he says.
"That
action can cause catastrophic damage by crushing the navicular area at the back
of the hoof. Trotting is no problem because the ball will flick out, but it's
the extra pressure from galloping that does the damage. I've seen bad
injuries."
"Snow-sweeping
with vigour is Dunlop's new recruit Grace Green, 21. who operates on the theory
"the faster I work the warmer I'll keep". Never one to sit still,
between shifts at the yard she will look after her own horse, Loch Corrib, who
is stabled near by.
"I'm
away from home from 5.30am until 7pm and I'll work some evenings at the Malt
Shovel pub," says the action girl.
"Green,
fluent in French after living in Brittany for
six years, is likely to be travelling the Dunlop- trained two-year-olds bred in
France
Phil
'T-shirt' Donnelly, 52, is another frenetic worker. "People ask why I wear
only a T- Shirt, but anymore clothing restricts movement and slows me down,
" he says. "The key to staying warm is to have a bath or shower the
night before, definitely not in the hour before you come to work."
"At
3.30pm, as the team head back for evening stables, the snow returns briefly. With the likelihood of a
fast thaw come Saturday, then days of heavy rain, the winter of 2012-2013 may
be remembered as a never-ending challenge for racing and its workforce.
Clegg and Cameron
Paul Roy
CALLING THE DISTRUCTIVE BRITISH GOVERNMENT TO ACCOUNT
BOTH POLITICAL AND HORSERACING GOVERNMENTS
http://turfcalllinks.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/thursday-january-24th-2013-british.html
No comments:
Post a Comment