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winter u PDATe On glancing back over previous newsletters, i realise how fortunate we are in always having some news to deliver. Our past six months have included a winner, a good sale, the purchase of a new and exciting filly and several successful social events. i thought how very different things could be if we were unlucky enough to own a NH horse which had been injured in the spring and declared 'out' for a whole year; sadly this is not uncommon. it seems appropriate to begin 2013 with a little history on where our horses are now trained, so we asked Peter Willett, Honorary President of GROG and former bloodstock advisor to the Norfolk family to cast his mind back and let us share his privileged knowledge. He said: "Lower Coombe Stables are located in Angmering Park, three miles east of Arundel and formerly part of the Duke of Norfolk's Arundel estate. High class horses have been trained in Angmering Park for more than a hundred years. Davies-Scourfield sent out Perola from Michelgrove, a mile north-east of Lower Coombe Stables, to win the Oaks in 1909, and after the death of Davies-Scourfield a quarter of a century later, bernard, 16th Duke of Norfolk, installed victor Gilpin there as a public trainer but with several horses of his own. On the outbreak of World War ii Gilpin joined the army,
RACeHORSe GROuP
and Norfolk decided to close Michelgrove and move the training operation to a private stable at his home, Arundel Castle. After the war the stable became public and developed into one of the most powerful in the country with John Dunlop as trainer. John was the trainer of the GROG horses for the first 19 years of the scheme, a highly successful association brought to an end only by John's recent retirement. The closing of Michelgrove did not mean the end of the thoroughbred activity in Angmering Park. in 1937 bernard Norfolk married the Hon. Lavinia Strutt, step-daughter of the 6th earl of Rosebery who was one of the most prominent owner-breeders and won the Derby with blue Peter and Ocean Swell. Lavinia was as addicted to racing and breeding as her step-father, and under her influence bernard's involvement in the sport increased rapidly. Shortly before the outbreak of World War ii a stud was founded in Angmering Park to supply the horses for the Norfolk string, and this developed into one of the leading thoroughbred nurseries after the war. A number of top class horses were bred there, including the Ascot Gold Cup winner Ragstone, the St.Leger winner Moon Madness, the Coronation Cup winner and St.Leger third Sheriff's Star and finally Celtic Swing, the best of them all; he won the Racing Post Trophy by the overwhelming margin of 12 lengths and became the second Classic winner bred at Angmering Park when he triumphed in the French Derby. Sheriff's Star and Celtic Swing were trained at Angmering Park by Lady Herries, and so
accomplished the very rare feat of being bred and trained for Classic distinction at the same place. Lady Herries, the eldest of the four daughters of the Duke of Norfolk, moved from her former home in Yorkshire, where she had trained a small number of jumpers, to Angmering Park in the 1980s and as the size of the stud operation began to contract after the death of her father in 1975, her training operation expanded. After Celtic Swing's French Derby victory in 1995 the number of horses in training at Angmering Park reached a peak of 80, and an extensive new yard was built to accommodate them. However the preference of Lady Herries was to give close personal attention to a much smaller number of horses, and in the following years the size of the string was gradually reduced. This freed the training facilities for the use of another trainer and in 2006 William Knight was established as the second and major trainer in Angmering Park. His training operation was re-named Lower Coombe Stables. Lady Herries lives in a beautiful house she built herself near the stables. She still trains a few horses, mostly owned by herself and her sisters. The new home of the GROG horses has a short, but very distinguished history as a training establishment.”
DID YOU K N OW? HORSeRACiNG CLub MeMbeRSHiP iNCLuDeS 19 DAYS' RACiNG AT GOODWOOD (iNCLuDiNG THe FeSTivAL MeeTiNG) AND 43 ReCiPROCAL eveNTS. MeMbeRSHiP iS NOW ON SALe AT £319 PeR PeRSON WiTH THe OPTiON TO PuRCHASe A GueST bADGe AT £290. A £150 JOiNiNG Fee APPLieS TO NeW MeMbeRSHiP. GROG MeMbeRs can take Out HORseRacinG club MeMbeRsHip witHOut payinG tHe JOininG Fee.
i am very excited at the prospect of training the two GROG horses. Goodwood Mirage (above) is a quality individual and Goodwood Storm is a beautiful mover. WiLLiAM KNiGHT
TRAiNeR’S quOTe GROG I NeWSLeTTeR