JANUARY 2025
Cavolo Nero winning on debut at Southwell (14.01.25)
By Harry Herbert
My trip to Newmarket last week to see all our horses there was incredibly exciting. It was also great to see them exercising in fabulous sunshine versus the usual rain and sleet at this time of year! But it also soon became very apparent that we have the best group of horses to go to war with this season that we have ever done. The older horse proven team in Newmarket of Defiance, Chic Columbine, Soprano, Drama, Rhetorical, Jungle Land and Approval is a great starting point and then when you add the likes of Merchant, Antipodes, Bountiful, Pergola, Orchid, Cavolo Nero, Rhapsody, Influential, Beauty Nation and Darling the anticipation for the season ahead reaches fever pitch!
Adding the two year olds to the list above as well as those horses not trained in Newmarket and we have real strength in depth for 2025!
It was so good to see Cavolo Nero win on his racecourse debut - an excellent training achievement from James Ferguson as this horse had to be brought back from an injury as a two year old which prevented him from running. He was our first flat runner of the year so here’s to many more in the months ahead.
With my best wishes,
Harry Herbert, Chairman
HORSE IN FOCUS
CHAPTER
Dark Angel (IRE) ex Timely (GB)
Finally do take a close look at our “horse in focus” Chapter. He is an absolute corker by Europe’s current Champion Sire, Dark Angel, and with a fabulous pedigree that doesn’t get beyond the second dam on the sales page! I am delighted to welcome Charlie Hills to our trainers roster and for those thinking of getting involved he and his lovely wife Pip give the warmest of welcomes to their highly impressive stable in Lambourn. Do snap up one of these remaining shares if you can and all being well the action should start in May/early June.
Please click here for a recent video of him during morning exercise.
On the track
By Emily Scott
January has been a quiet but successful month on the track as we drift through the calm before the storm that will be the 2025 season!
The highlight was undoubtedly the win on debut for James Ferguson’s well-regarded 3yo gelding Cavolo Nero. He had been preparing for a start in late May 2024 before undergoing colic surgery and so it’s been a long road to recovery for this son of Make Believe. He had been working well last spring, so it was disappointing not to see him race as a 2yo, but thankfully James’ faith in the horse was justified as he strode to victory on his first start.
Being by Make Believe and out of an Australia mare, he is likely to be seen to best effect over middle distances, but he’s always show plenty of natural speed at home and so James was happy to start him out over 7f. He tracked the pace and eased into contention inside the final two furlongs, eventually pegging back the evens favourite Invited to win by ½ length going away at the line. We will look to run him in another novice under a penalty during the month of February and he remains an exciting prospect for the year ahead.
Cavolo Nero winning at Southwell (14.01.25); Cavolo Nero’s winning owners
We had a couple of nice young National Hunt horses run with promise over hurdles this month. At Warwick, Aviemore made his juvenile hurdling debut, finishing third to Lavender Hill Mob who has a Triumph Hurdle entry at Cheltenham. Aviemore won twice on the flat in the HTR silks, gaining a rating of 90 and so it was an easy decision to send him hurdling rather than let him go for 30,000gns at the Autumn HIT Sale.
It’s taken a couple of months to perfect his jumping skills and trainer Harry Derham has done a great job. At Warwick he jumped very well overall, and it was no surprise to see him get a little tired on the run in having not run in 104 days. Harry plans to take Aviemore back to Warwick this weekend where he is hopeful he can be very competitive.
Followcato had his third run over hurdles at Wetherby on Saturday 1st February. We were hoping he would perform as he had done when finishing fourth at Aintree earlier in the season, having disappointed his trainer Ben Pauling at Ascot last time. A couple of sessions with Olympic Gold Medallist Laura Collett looked to do the trick, as he jumped with much more confidence this time. He even hit the front approaching the last hurdle, but a novicey mistake and a bit of greenness meant he had to settle for third.
This was a big step in the right direction for Followcato, who is very much a work-in-progress. He is a big horse who finds adjusting his stride at his obstacles difficult, but he’s a quick learner and clearly has a big engine. I look forward to seeing him jump a fence next season, but I’m sure he’ll be providing his owners with plenty of fun over hurdles for the rest of this season, especially if he can sneak into the valuable EBF Final at the bottom of the weights at Sandown in March.
behind the scenes with James Ferguson
by Frances de Haan
Moving house is labelled as one of the most stressful life events according to 57% of Brits, imagine therefore adding sixty plus horses into the mix! This is exactly what a couple of our young trainers have been doing recently, James Ferguson is one of them and I went to Newmarket last week to catch up on how he and team had settled into their new abode, in the historic Machell Place Stables.
Dusk was drawing in as I arrived in Newmarket which made the tranquil surroundings of Machell Place Stables feel like a breath of fresh air after three hours on the usual motorway networks I had been battling from Berkshire to Suffolk. The peacefulness and serenity of the yard was instantly apparent, and I felt my shoulders drop as I made my way round the emerald green quad to meet James in Cavolo Nero’s box. The warm stable lights provided an inviting backdrop to the silhouettes of horse’s heads who were happily munching on their evening tea and hay, clearly content to be settled into their new home. James greeted me in his usual charming and effervescent fashion having been polishing Cavolo Nero himself ahead of my arrival.
‘He [Cavolo] looks great!’ I said, and he did a very glossy and bright-eyed Cavolo greeted me just as enthusiastically as I entered his stall. If Cavolo Nero was a yard stick he certainly is a good reflection of the level of care our horses receive under James’ watchful eye.
‘Yes I couldn’t be more thrilled with him. He was so professional on debut and I am very happy with where we are. We've just moved to this smaller yard, which is more controlled, and I really really like the yard. It's very healthy, the horses love it and run well from here.’
A pretty resounding success story for the move then by all accounts.
Cavolo Nero wins on debut at Southwell 14.01.25
“‘I think that a trainer can make the mistake of correlating success and happiness together and I think that is wrong’”
At 35 James is going into his sixth year of his training licence, in that time he has had multiple winners at Group 1, 2, 3 and Listed level, an impressive black type track record for any trainer let alone one who has trained for such a short time, and one only in their mid-thirties. I frequently hear from trainers that ‘you are only as good as your last runner’, and ‘no one remembers second place’ which is a brutal reality. However, given the opportunity I wondered what James felt when reflecting on his training career to date.
‘Looking back at the last six years, I think if you could say to me when I’d started that in five years we'd have had the success that we'd had, and trained some of the horses that we've trained and the owners we've had I'd snap your hand off. I'm slightly less naive than when I started, we've (like in all yards) had ups and downs, but I feel that over the course of the six years we have created a really solid team of staff, owners and good horses and I'm really looking forward to the season ahead and hopefully we've got a couple of really good bullets to fire.’
You had a pretty phenomenal start to your career with a Group One victory El Bodegon in only your second year. An achievement that some trainers wait for years to try and obtain with some not ever succeeding.
‘I was lucky, I had my dad and arguably the best bloodstock agents buying my yearlings. We had Zoetic, a Kodiac filly who won the St Hugh’s Fillies’ Stakes and that was huge having a Stakes winner in your first year. We bought El Bodegon in my second year and he won a Group Three (Prix de Conde) followed by a Group One (the Criterium de Saint-Cloud), which was phenomenal and really helped us get up and running. Then Mark McStay bought Deauville Legend who won a Group Two (the Voltigeur Stakes), Group Three (Bahrain Trophy Stakes) and then finished fourth in the Melbourne Cup. That also then tees you up for the sales because you need to prove that you can do it. You need the owners to own them and you need people to know who you are, and the only way that happens is by having success, and that's why I say we were lucky.’
Luck is again a word I hear more often than not when trainers are asked about their successes, but you can have a good horse and put it in the wrong race and more likely than not it would not finish anywhere. James’ success so early one could not have all been down to luck, skill and good judgement would certainly have played a part. Either way his ‘luck’ took him to the world stage very early in his career.
‘I was very very lucky, lucky is the only word I can say. Qatar and Sheikh Fahad kindly sent us a wonderful Siyouni filly called Mise En Scene that won a Group Three, the Prestige Stakes at Goodwood as a two year old, that was only our second year. She then went on to run in multiple Group One’s in the USA; the Breeders' Cup at Del Mar and competed in the Juvenile Fillies Turf (Gr 1), Keeneland for the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf (Gr 1), Santa Anita for the American Oaks (Gr 1). We've done Hong Kong recently, we've done Bahrain - we've got one in Bahrain at the moment. Most recently Land Legend flew the flag down under when landing the St Leger Stakes in Australia. It is an international sport and that's why we are in this game, it is amazing because it's a very small world, but it's a huge world at the same time if that makes sense.’
James Ferguson
It did make sense. Even Sir Mark Prescott at the other end of the scale with over fifty years of training under his belt is still learning, as no two horses are the same, but I wondered what the biggest learning curve for James had been so far during what is arguably a relatively short training career.
‘Obviously man management is huge - that's something we pick up along the way, from being an assistant you're never really the boss until you are the boss. But there was perhaps naivety in the fact that racing has a lot of ups and it also has a lot of downs, and these wonderful horses that we work with sometimes don't perform as you'd hope they did (or you'd hope they do) and you have to learn to deal with disappointment. You must be able to take the rough with smooth and I don't think anything prepares you for that. Equally I don't think anything prepares you for telling owners when things aren't going right, and I think it's something that is very important to manage correctly.’
Before taking out a licence James, like a lot of trainers, began life in the saddle. Starting from the beginning he rode for his father John Ferguson (well reknowned bloodstock agent), who trained pointers and jumpers under rules. His first job was with the legendary Sir Mark Prescott, a sound grounding that would no doubt set anyone in good stead, in fact the likes of William Haggas has also been assistant to Sir Mark! From there he went on to gain invaluable experience from Godolphin and Charlie Appleby, Brian Mehan and Jessie Harrington. I wondered if any of those individuals had had a particular impact on James’ career.
‘Godolphin was great for me. I learned loads, but not as you can imagine, it's not the same in terms of finances, money isn't an issue there whereas at the end of the day I needed to learn how to run a business. Sir Mark and all the others [Brian Mehan, Jessie Harrington etc] run fantastic businesses. Brian Mehan definitely helped me out on the running the business point of view.
You take Prescott's, you take Brian Mehan and you take Jessie Harrington, year on year on year that they fill their yards with new and current owners. And I think that is remarkable and that is what us young coming through, we need to do better because at the end of the day we're the avenue to the young crew into racing. But then that's something that I've had to learn on the job because you are never doing that until you're training.’
James might not have as many years under his belt as some trainers, but in terms of the mental maturity when approaching the training game James certainly seemed wise beyond his years.
‘I think that a trainer can make the mistake of correlating success and happiness together and I think that is wrong - I think you should be happy in what you're doing, however you are doing you know, mentally I think you need to learn. Does that make sense? You have to be doing it because you enjoy training. We got into this life because we love training, we love racing and more importantly we love horses and we love dealing with people. Success for me is a bonus, but it's something that I strongly strive towards because I want my business to keep on going so that I can continue doing what I love.
Unfortunately, this is a success driven business, I want to have runners at the big places and in order to do that I need to be doing well and that is what you need to be able to control.’
I agree that winners breed success and success breeds winners, but what is becoming ever more apparent in the modern racing era that we find ourselves is the ability to combine the horsemanship with people skills. Without owners there are no horses to train, and this is something James is very much aware of.
‘I think you could have the best horseman in the world, but if he had got no people skills you'd have no idea who he was, or she. I just think the training of the horses, if you keep a horse happy and healthy and fit that's half the training done. You choose your races and I think that's a real art and knowing your form, but more importantly it is knowing the people. Highclere are such lovely people, I think Harry and the team have done really well at just managing such a large group of people and everyone involved is so friendly, keen and interested. Everyone is united over the love of their horses and I think I think that's a real talent.’
“When you start out training, Highclere are the colours in your yard that you want. Absolutely. They are the pinnacle of racehorse owners.”
As James approaches the start of his sixth season, I wondered if he still felt like the new kid on the block as a trainer in Newmarket.
‘I don't feel a young trainer anymore. I know that I'm in the younger generation, but I don't feel like I'm new. The one thing I love about training in Newmarket is that everyone is so supportive of each other. We are all very close. We all look at the results of the majority. If I've ever got a problem and I don't know how to manage something Sir Mark or William Haggas are more than willing to help me, we've got a lot of support. David Simcock is very close. I've known Charlie Fellows, George Scott, George Boughey for years. You know, we're all a very close-knit community and having similar owners like Highclere puts you on a level, and that feels great.’
The passion James has for racing is palpable and it is encouraging to have the enthusiasm for a game that is tough, and as owners we are aware in the challenges of training winners. Every owner is clearly important to James and you can tell he cares about each and every one.
We are delighted to have three horses in training with James, who has done so well for us with Drama (three wins) and Cavolo Nero (winner on debut as a three year old this year), most recently we have added a beautiful two year old daughter of St Mark’s Basilica in partnership with Coolmore.
‘When Harry agreed to buy Drama (the first horse I have had with Highclere who has been a big success) that made me feel so great to have those colours hung up in the yard. There have been some fantastic moments for example when Cavolo Nero won on debut a couple of weeks ago, it was incredible to be there with the owners, it meant so much for everyone. It was Clare’s first winner with you as a share owner and that felt so special to be a part of.
‘You often go into the racing tack room and you just put out the colours that you love, like I love Bon Ho's colours, Qatar's colours, Magic Bloodstock colours of Winx,the smart Highclere colours and having that support from key owners, you do feel great, and that's at the end of the day, that's why you do it, you do it for pride and you do it with those colours in mind.
‘When you start out training, Highclere are the colours in your yard that you want. Absolutely. They are the pinnacle of racehorse owners.’
Well you do not get much better praise than that – on that note I felt it was the best place to round up the interview.
We have three very exciting horses to go to war with this year, and with Cavolo Nero kicking off the year with a win on debut it's shaping up to be a thrilling season ahead indeed.
School Reports
Two Year Old progress
This month as a team we have been keeping close tabs on the two year olds who have been progressing brilliantly. On occasion you can feel like a school master and this is certainly one of those times as we caught up on the progress of our youngsters over the last few of weeks. There is nervous anticipation when awaiting their first ‘school reports’ … a rather familiar feeling for us all at one point in time I imagine!
What an impressive bunch of two year olds we have this year, all of which seem to be doing well at their various stages. Some as expected are progressing faster than others, but all are heading in the right direction which is pleasing to see. One of the more forward in the Class of 2025 would be the beautiful daughter of Starman Cosmic, whom we have heard whispers of at various events where her reputation and her ability proceeds her. She certainly wowed share owners at the first Hannon visit as she stands up a very strong and precocious filly physically and mentally and she is taking everything in her stride. Richard has been over heard saying ‘he has never been so excited by a filly at this stage’ – praise indeed!
Mojito is another filly that Richard has in training with us, a very striking Palace Pier filly who looks a serious model with a powerful and athletic action. There is only one final share remaining in her so do get in touch to claim it before it is too late!
Ancestor, the eye-catching Sea the Stars colt (William Haggas) might be one that needs more time, but he is certainly going to be a horse worth waiting for. Emily and I caught up with him at Malcolm Bastards recently and he was a delight to watch as he ate up the gallops on a gloriously sunny morning.
Home Secretary (Sir Mark Prescott) has been doing well in his early education and Sir Mark is thrilled with his progress. He is a sharp learner and a stunning mover, Sir Mark said ‘the best in his yard’ which is a huge compliment to receive. We had a lovely (if chilly visit) to see him before he went on a break to allow him time to fill into his frame and mature. He will be back in mid-May and I cannot wait to see how he does later in the season as Sir Mark hopes he will make a late summer/early Autumn two year old. There are only a couple of shares left in Home Secretary also so do let us know if you would like to get involved in with the legendary Sir Mark Prescott.
Ralph Beckett has been singing the praises of the very smart Mehmas colt, Angel Gabriel who looks a very strong and athletic type.
Chapter (Charlie Hills) a new addition to the team sheet and is certainly a precocious colt coming through the ranks. We have seen him a few times over the past few weeks and he is a standout in the string. There are only one or two shares left in him which will no doubt be snapped up soon, so do get in touch if you do not want to miss out.
As the spring approaches the training will begin to step up for those in full work and it will be so exciting for you to see them for yourselves when the stable visits start in earnest from March onwards.
No doubt an action-packed season ahead for the class of 2025 – roll on the start of the turf!
Rolf’s Ramblings
by Rolf Johnson
This is no joke. I put “Indian Derby” in the search engine and it came up with “Ten Best Indian Restaurants in Derby”.
Don’t laugh; we don’t take racing in Indian anywhere nearly serious enough even though we British set it up in Madras in 1777, three years before the first Epsom Derby. By Independence the British in India had built over 120 racecourses. Yet except for special occasions, and the 72nd HPLS Indian Derby in Mumbai on the first Sunday in February at Mahalaxmi (Hindu goddess of fortune) track was special, Indian racing is in the doldrums. The goddess is withholding her gifts.
There are just eight courses left, the majority under threat. When the Brits were here the tracks were on the outskirts of the cities on land nobody much wanted. When, only a few decades past I first visited Mahalaxmi, cotton mill chimneys were the back drop. Now the track is locked in a canyon of skyscrapers, its lease in jeopardy. The green acres of India’s courses, which also contain the training centres, are the ‘lungs’ of the cities: development, sometimes called progress, is choking them to death.
The Mahalaxmi stands have an air of faded glory though the weighing room stands out in all its colonial day glory. Rather than the former tens of thousands the crowd for this Derby, the crowd had sunk to eleven thousand; not far away along Marine Drive, the Wankhede Stadium’s T20 capacity cricket crowd was overflowing. Miles to the north the current Kumbh Mela, a passionate pilgrimage for Hindu devotees at the confluence of the Ganges and Yumuna rivers, attendance was in countless millions – as many as four crores (forty million) over the festival.
“They attract different kinds of worshippers,” said my sardonic Indian friend. I suppose you could say the same about Ascot, Lords and Glastonbury.
One of the (many) promotional tourist ploys is “Inscrutable India” – nowhere more apt than Indian racing. Your friends, who may soon be enemies, and vice versa, will constantly insist “you don’t know Indian racing” whenever one inevitably puts one’s foot in it. Riddled with as much self-doubt as they suspect of their rivals there is constant strife and the consequence of this introversion confining monster egos with masses of cash, is turning the industry into a not so glorified casino.
And we will go the same way if betting is driven underground – the route taken by Indian punters subject to a 28 per cent tax.
This threnody must conclude somewhere. I, like many ‘would be players’, tend to exhibit what little I think I know about Indian racing, rather than draw on a bank of it – and suffer the consequences from friends and associates who feel it is their prerogative to be doom-laden: so they are, but console themselves that the further Indian racing retreats from the international scene, the stronger, the more profitable the engagement this burgeoning country has with the rest of the economic world.
There were five foreign jockeys engaged for the Derby: Oisin Murphy, Tom Marquand, David Allan, who over the years has ridden more winners than any ‘import’; Christophe Lemaire and Billy Lee. But none is based in India as used to be the case every winter when Richard Hughes was in constant demand to ride. He was in a long tradition. Before the advent of all-weather programme and constant international competition Indian racecards were packed with the names of the greats – Piggott, Dettori, Mick Kinane, Ryan Moore. The first Indian Derby, 1943, was won by a Brit – the Australian Edgar Britt.
Richard recalls when he won the millennium Indian Derby on the favourite Smart Chieftain that it was ten years before another favourite won - another Hughes tour de force with the Triple Crown heroine Jacqueline, a mare good enough to be flown to Coolmore to be mated with Galileo.
“I owe them a lot – Jacqueline’s owners Khushroo Dhunjiboy and Vijay Shirke,” said Richard. “They’ve supported me with horses since I started training. Wish there were more like them. The Derby has that special atmosphere of any of the great races I’ve ridden, anywhere in the world. The crowd is engaged like nowhere else.”
Richard could say that again. ‘Brickbats’ (chappals i.e. slippers) are no longer thrown at the losers but in the heat of the day the intensity of the atmosphere leaves you gasping for air and the crowd, if not exactly baying for blood – shall we say a demanding one.
India’s tracks are relics of British times, heritage sites and I always make a beeline, a few hours train journey inland, for the Royal Western India Turf Club in Pune founded in 1800. English breakfast on the verandah on the home turn, kites wheeling on soft eddies above the racecourse centre field, one drifts into a time warp. Until it was refurbished recently by the Poonawalla family of Covid vaccine fame, framed pictures of English Classic winners from early last century adorned its walls, along with British hunting prints. Some have been preserved. The picture of Rock Sand 1890 Derby winner has been relocated: strong favourite for this year’s £150,000 to the winner Derby was the Two Thousand Guineas hero Santissimo who is by the Highclere Rock Sand syndicate’s Richard Hannon Snr-trained 2010-11 sprinter Gusto, now deceased.
One change for the better at the RWITC has to be the beds. When Harry Herbert visited a bed his size had to be ‘knocked up’ from scratch: it took about two hours. They’re all king size now.
Statistics and bloodlines are the drivers of Indian racing and it was widely thought that Santissimo and Oisin Murphy would follow up their Two Thousand Guineas success. Oisin cautioned me that he thought Santissimo would win at ten furlongs but after that it was in the lap of the gods – unfortunately on this occasion it wasn’t Laxmi’s lap.
This year there were five ‘travellers’: Murphy; David Allan, rider of more winners in India than any foreign jockey; Christophe Lemaire (pronounced limelight by the commentator on one occasion), Tom Marquand and Billy Lee from Ireland. Allan had partnered Desert God to win the 2016 Derby edition but India’s champion didn’t acclimatize here and was humbled in 2017 handicaps at Ffos Las and Windsor. Southern Regent, the 2005 Derby winner, won a hurdle at Market Rasen for Alan King and a run of the mill Southwell flat race for John Quinn - again inadequate examples of his true ability.
Gusto, now deceased, exceeded all expectations at stud in the Punjab. Nobody could forecast he would get a Classic winner, let alone a prospective Derby winner. Santissimo though fulfilled Oisin’s fears. He gave a disconsolate verdict: “Didn’t stay”. In fact none of the foreign jockeys featured and the winner went to Ranquelino and A Sandesh who made hay throughout the Derby weekend. Ranquelino is a four-year-old gelding by a Japanese sire son of Deep Impact out of an American mare. Though the next five home were all big prices, suggesting this wasn’t an exceptional Derby, the time of 1m 28 seconds for the 2400m was not a bad one by any standards. He had won the Bangalore Derby only six days previously and travelled hundreds of miles north by road to overcome a field of six colts, six geldings and four fillies.
Sandesh is one of India’s top three jockeys and it really is time they were given their opportunity in the Shergar Cup – their absence as striking as the virtual exclusion of Indian staff on whom British racing relies, for Stud & Stable Staff Awards.
You could say Indians themselves are parochial – they’d rather win their own classics (each racecourse has its own) than risk exposure to foreign competition. If only Deepak Khaitan the leading Calcutta owner had not died young. His loyalty to Highclere was unfailing, his enthusiasm inexhaustible. His mantle has passed to Vispi Patel for whom Approval is reason enough for the globetrotting businessman making his UK and Highclere calls.
The first two Indian Derbies were won by products of Renala which had been India’s premier stud – until we Brits doodled Partition, lopped off Pakistan with Renala the ‘wrong’ side of the border. In India I have written affirmation that five top races are open to foreign competition – but they have never been taken up. We may have a lot to answer for in our conduct of Empire but we can be proud of the part we played introducing horseracing – and should foster it again.
So many misconceptions about the sub-continent: once the ‘essentials’ for a trip were, in no particular order: toilet rolls, unquestioning toleration for free ranging holy cows, and cures for the inevitable ‘Delhi belly’. They’ve all been swept away though India remains a place of contradictions – a Lamborghini showroom on Malabar Hill; rickshaws still being manhandled in Calcutta.
But in common with racing universally the Indian scene is under pressure from those, mainly politicians, with the impulse to dictate, ignorant of the freedom of spirit sport upholds. The name of Gandhi (a reformed gambler himself) is invoked to castigate betting: life is a gamble. Long after we quit this immense country in 1947, through the arch of Bombay’s Gateway to India, there were Indians who didn’t know we’d left – and still more who didn’t know we’d ever been! We left the enduring legacy of racing – but then nothing is permanent in Indian philosophy and, as in so many spheres, India is moving on.
Where Are They Now?
by Frances de Haan
Impact Du Bonheur was part of our National Hunt contingent, trained by Paul Nicholls, he retired from racing in March 2024. He ran well on debut to finish second at Wincanton in March 2023 ridden by Harry Cobden. He was unlucky to bump into one that day, we were denied by Gyenyname (Joe Tizzard) who finished 26 lengths ahead of the rest of the field!
He failed to do any better than this over his next four runs so he was retired to a very happy home with the lovely Emily (no not one of the two Highclere Emily’s!) and she adores him as you will read below:
‘I had ridden Dimps for 2 seasons at Paul Nicholls and I fell in love with him, he was my nicest ride of the day and shown so much talent in other ways other than just racing. When I heard he had retired after his last run at Plumpton I knew I wanted him at home with me! I have had him 8 months and he’s doing great, I plan to event him and get him to some local shows but for the meantime he’s loving his chilled life!’
Clodagh’s recipe
by Clodagh McKenna Herbert
CURRIED PARSNIP & APPLE SOUP
METHOD:
1. Melt the butter in a saucepan over a low heat. Once the butter has melted stir in the onion, garlic, potato, parsnips and apple. Season with salt and pepper. Cover and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally until the parsnips and apple are tender.
2. Remove the lid and stir in the flour and curry powder, stirring constantly to coat all the ingredients evenly and making sure that no lumps form.
3. Pour in the hot stock, stirring well, and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for another 10 minutes.
4. Pour the soup into a Bosch Ergomaster and blend to a smooth consistency and lastly stir in the cream.
5. Pour back into the saucepan and gently warm through (the cream will have brought the temperature of the soup down.
6. To serve, pour the soup into bowls and garnish with either julienne of apple, crispy, bacon lardons, or finely chopped fresh coriander. I like to dress the soup with all three!
Serves 4
INGREDIENTS:
50g butter
3 parsnips, peeled and roughly chopped
1 clove of garlic, crushed
1 onion, peeled and roughly chopped
1 potato, peeled and roughly chopped
1 cooking apple, peeled, cored and roughly chopped
1 tbsp flour
1 tbsp medium curry powder
1.2 litre of hot vegetable stock
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
100ml cream
Garnish
50g cooked pancetta (or smoked streaky bacon, finely chopped)
½ eating apple, cut into thin sticks
1 tbsp fresh coriander, finely chopped
Taittinger Moment
CLARE BROWN
This months Taittinger moment goes to Clare Brown who had her first Highclere winner with the James Ferguson trained Cavolo Nero, he showed true professionalism when winning on debut in January. Cavolo’s emphatic victory marked the first winner on the board for 2025 for both Highclere and James Ferguson. It was a fantastic day and one that I am sure Clare will remember for a long time to come!
Clare Brown left with winning owners at Southwell 14.01.25
Out and about with the Highclere camera
