Whilst Andrew Nicholson was polishing off a fourth 4* win at Barbury's International Horse Trials a few weeks ago, another horse trainer in a different discipline was re-invigorating a previous hopeful in Stratford's Silver Salver, its mid summer handicap hurdle feature.
Hang In There enjoyed a promising novice introduction when winning a graded race at Cheltenham in November 2019 before losing his way as an intermediate. For a horse once rated 145, he's proved difficult to win with these past 18 months, but he set about correcting that with an assured 9l victory in a Class 3 handicap hurdle at Stratford in July under stable jockey Tom Bellamy, setting him up perfectly for a tilt at the valuable Betway Summer Handicap Hurdle at Market Rasen last weekend.
Owners Tim Syder and Andrew Gemmell could have been forgiven for thinking this preparation was a masterstroke as Hang In There led into the straight, but undert strong pressure, had to give way to Stonific, trained by David O'Meara, by just a head.
However, a good July for the Ogbourne Maizey handler continued yesterday at Worcester, when Bigbadmattie won his maiden hurdle to notch a seventh win of the season for the yard.
Another Wiltshire handler also enjoyed success at Worcester; Simon Earle, one of two trainers in Sutton Veny near Warminster, teamed up with Harriet Tucker to win the first division of the Amateur Riders' Handicap Hurdle with Witch from Rome, bizarrely a gelding given the name, who won going away to score a first win over the smaller obstacles.
Simon, a successful rider in his time, runs a small yard which in no way could be described as a winner machine, but it's clear he has his horses' best interests at heart. No runner from his yard ever runs in shoes - virtually unique in our sport - and he attributes the absence of tendon injury to runners in his yard since 2005 to this factor.
If you've run horses without shoes and found better performance, we'd love to hear. It goes to prove there is no right or wrong way to train horses.
Whilst Andrew Nicholson was polishing off a fourth 4* win at Barbury's International Horse Trials a few weeks ago, another horse trainer in a different discipline was re-invigorating a previous hopeful in Stratford's Silver Salver, its mid summer handicap hurdle feature.
Hang In There enjoyed a promising novice introduction when winning a graded race at Cheltenham in November 2019 before losing his way as an intermediate. For a horse once rated 145, he's proved difficult to win with these past 18 months, but he set about correcting that with an assured 9l victory in a Class 3 handicap hurdle at Stratford in July under stable jockey Tom Bellamy, setting him up perfectly for a tilt at the valuable Betway Summer Handicap Hurdle at Market Rasen last weekend.
Owners Tim Syder and Andrew Gemmell could have been forgiven for thinking this preparation was a masterstroke as Hang In There led into the straight, but undert strong pressure, had to give way to Stonific, trained by David O'Meara, by just a head.
However, a good July for the Ogbourne Maizey handler continued yesterday at Worcester, when Bigbadmattie won his maiden hurdle to notch a seventh win of the season for the yard.
Another Wiltshire handler also enjoyed success at Worcester; Simon Earle, one of two trainers in Sutton Veny near Warminster, teamed up with Harriet Tucker to win the first division of the Amateur Riders' Handicap Hurdle with Witch from Rome, bizarrely a gelding given the name, who won going away to score a first win over the smaller obstacles.
Simon, a successful rider in his time, runs a small yard which in no way could be described as a winner machine, but it's clear he has his horses' best interests at heart. No runner from his yard ever runs in shoes - virtually unique in our sport - and he attributes the absence of tendon injury to runners in his yard since 2005 to this factor.
If you've run horses without shoes and found better performance, we'd love to hear. It goes to prove there is no right or wrong way to train horses.
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