Back to defend his title - the new
'face' of 2011/12, Billyvoddan
Last week I was in the AGA heartland
of Shropshire - only 13 miles from the AGA factory at Ketley, to visit Poplar
Cottage Farm, the home of Phil & Mel Rowley. This is also the home of
Billyvoddan, winner of the AGA Ladies Open Point-to-Point Championship final at
Cheltenham in May, and I wanted to see for myself how preparations were coming
along ahead of his intended comeback at Chaddesley Corbett on 27th December.
On hand to partner Billyvoddan was his
regular pilot, Jane Williams, who is chomping at the bit to be the lady rider
that is in "Total Control" during the new season, and she has her
sights firmly set on winning the inaugural "AGA Total Control Ladies
Championship". If she does win the Championship then she will be the proud
owner of a brand new AGA Total Control Cooker!
I was certainly made to feel very
welcome by Phil and his wife Mel - who is a top class Dressage rider and has
competed to Grand Prix level, and we were accompanied throughout by their
second child Edward (who slept peacefully in his car seat for the majority of
the visit). Phil& Mel arranged for me to have "access all areas"
so I was able to take photos of Billyvoddan in his box, on the horse walker, in
the brook, on the schooling ground and working on the gallops, and as you can
see from the photographs he is well on his way to full fitness.
As well as Billyvoddan I was also able
to observe and photograph many of Phil's other inmates, including some of the
quality youngsters that are being educated at Poplar Cottage Farm before being
returned to their licensed handlers. All of the facilities at the yard have
been authorised by Phil and Mel, who provided their fair share of the labour
involved. They include a five-furlong woodchip gallop, with the route home
giving the horses the opportunity to cool off in a belly-deep water splash, and
a large outdoor arena with plenty of space for the erection of fences.
Chief Heckler is an exciting 4 year
old who really caught my eye on the gallops; he is up for sale and could go in
any direction whether it is point to pointing or under rules. Phil thinks he is
definitely one to watch and if he remains unsold he will go to Charlie Longsdon
and take the bumper route.
Phil is always in "Total Control"
Billy always knows where the camera is ...
Schooling ground or gallops, Billy takes it all in his stride
Working with Chief Heckler was
Benheir, a talented individual who has had a slightly chequered start to his
career, showing great potential first time out in a very strong bumper at Aintree,
and then running a poor race in very deep ground at Ffos Las. It was
subsequently discovered that he had a virus which left him debilitated for
quite a long time. However he has summered extremely well - he also caught my
eye on the gallops, and Phil and the team are thrilled with him now both
physically and mentally. The aim is to crack on and run him in a bumper,
potentially as soon as the beginning of November.
The newest addition to the yard is the
holder of the Lady Dudley Cup, Surenaga, who had a successful campaign in
2010/11 when trained by Sally Randell, also winning the Royal Artillery Gold
Cup at Sandown. He is an exciting addition and needs little introduction to
anyone that follows point to pointing, "He’s a real gentleman" is
Phil's verdict to date, and although plans have yet to be finalised, a crack at
the Cheltenham Foxhunters' is a definite possibility.
Joining him in the line-up could be
the diminutive The General Lee, who has struck up such a good partnership with
Lorna Brooke, herself the winner of two AGA qualifiers’ last season. His best
two runs last season were probably in defeat, when he was beaten 3/4 of a
length by Templar at Cheltenham in the Hunter Chase Championship, on the night
of the AGA final, and when 5th in the W & S Recycling Foxhunters Champion
Hunters' Chase at Stratford, beaten 5 lengths. He also won the AGA qualifier at
Tabley last season on good ground, and he would not want the ground too heavy
this season.
Tramantano was very consistent when
running under rules for Nigel Twiston Davies and he has come back into work
with great enthusiasm and could give a lot of fun both point to pointing and
hunter chasing. He is up for lease and his target will be Ladies' Opens on
easier tracks where he will be ridden by our pin up girl Jane Williams,
hopefully we will see him at Cottenham on November 27th.
Resemble is another one who is up for
lease, he lost his confidence last season butwas not helped by the extremes of
weather, therefore the aim is to crack on early this season to catch the best
going possible and consolidate on the couple of placings that he did achieve.
Another horse on display was Nomadic
Dreamer, described by Phil as "our boomerang horse, because he keeps
coming back to us", he is considered to probably be the classiest horse in
the yard and he ran 5 times last season, winning twice, and coming 3rd twice.
He is for sale and Phil feels there is a big win in this horse, so he is an
exciting prospect for whoever ends up with him.
Crazy Eyes was bought from the May
Doncaster sales out of Charlie Mann's yard, and there are syndicate shares
available in this exciting horse, who is another who appears to perform best on
ground ranging from good to soft. He is already a yard favourite amongst the
staff and they also think he is one of their most exciting purchases this year.
Shouldhavehadthat was another one to
catch my eye, and as an ex inmate of Nicky Henderson he was already familiar to
me. He improved with every run last season and this culminated in a very
impressive 46 lengths win in the North West Area final at Bangor in May, and
then a good 2nd at Stratford in the Ladies Hunter Chase Championship (partnered
by Jane Williams). He will need to be placed carefully this season and if all
goes well the Aintree Foxhunters could be his long term target.
Ease and Grace was in training with
Emma Lavelle and came to Phil at the start of last season. She was too
extravagant and keen to start with, but after a couple of runs things seemed to
click into place and she broke her maiden status very impressively by 15
lengths at Clifton upon Dunsmore. This was closely followed by a very
impressive 2nd by a nose in a competitive restricted race at Tabley. The team
are quietly optimistic that she still has a lot more to show and has some good
races up her sleeve for this season.
I also saw Jock Des Mottes, Bellaboosh
(another who was with Nicky Henderson last year), Macatoo, Oyster Shell (look
out for him in a point before Christmas), and Penfleet who has really benefited
from a good summer at grass there is some quiet optimism in the stable that he
could achieve a lot more this season.
Well, Phil is a very good natured guy
who has a real passion for his job and I thoroughly enjoyed my visit, and his
company. I'm also hoping to go back soon as Phil has promised that he has a
nice hunter that I can sit on!