Latest News
Listed below is the latest news from West Lockinge Farm. Clicking the [more...] link will take you to the full news item.
Horses for Sale
Please see our Horses for Sale section for information on 2 lovely unraced 4 year olds for syndication. [more...]
BIG TACK SALE - TUESDAY 21ST SEPTEMBER 2010
There will be a Big Tack Sale on Tuesday 21st September 2010 at West Lockinge, comprising over 300 lots. Catalogues are being printed shortly and will be available from Pilgrim Bond - see www.pilgrimbond.co.uk for more information, or to request a catalogue please e-mail lambourn@pilgrimbond.co.uk or telephone 01488 72911 [more...]
OPEN DAY - SUNDAY 19TH SEPTEMBER 2010
Hen and Terry are hosting an Open Day on Sunday 19th September 2010 at West Lockinge Farm near Wantage. The yard will be open to the public from 10.30am until 2.30pm with a Parade of Racehorses at 11.30am. Entry will be £10 for adults, and children under 12 free. Refreshments will be available onsite. This is the first public Open Day since the days of 3 times Gold Cup winning Best Mate, and a wonderful opportunity for people to come and meet our current stars for the coming 2010/2011 National Hunt Season. Directions to West Lockinge Farm, West Lockinge, Wantage, OX12 8QF From M4 Travelling East: Leave at Junction 14 and take the A338 North to Wantage. In Wantage take the A417 East towards Didcot. West Lockinge is situated on the right just off the A417. * From M4 Travelling West: Leave at Junction 13 and take the A34 North towards Didcot. Pick up the A4185 and then the A417 West towards Wantage. West Lockinge is situated on the left just off the A417, there are two turnings into West Lockinge, please take the second turn. * From Oxford: Take the A34 South. After approx 5 miles pick up the A338 towards Wantage. In Wantage take the A417 East towards Didcot. West Lockinge is situated on the right just off the A417. * From Newbury: Take the A34 North towards Didcot. . Pick up the A4185 and then the A417 West towards Wantage. West Lockinge is situated on the left just off the A417, there are two turnings into West Lockinge, please take the second turn. * * Drive carefully down the lane, round a sharp left-hand bend then a sharp right-hand bend (past the schooling fences on the left). As you continue along the road you will see a wooden gateway with a track straight ahead. Turn off the road onto this track and follow the parking signs from within the gateway. [more...]
Hadden Frost
Current National Hunt Season Jockey Arrangements for Autumn/Winter 2010/2011 As from September 2010 Hadden Frost will ride as stable jockey to Henrietta Knight. After his successful career on the flat – rode 50 winners for Richard Hannon - and his good National Hunt Season 2009/10 when, as a conditional jockey in David Pipe’s yard he rode 12 winners which included winning the Pertemps Final at the Cheltenham Festival, Hadden is delighted to team up with Hen where it is expected that he will ride the majority of the horses in the yard. He will still ride out for David Pipe each week and hopes to have further rides for Pond House. At the moment he has a total of 72 winners which means he has 3 wins left before he loses his claim. As well as N.H. racing, Hadden has had a successful time show jumping and pony racing. He should suit the West Lockinge Farm yard where he will do plenty of the schooling/jump work with the young horses. In addition to Hadden, Hen will continue to seek the services of other top jockeys notably A.P. McCoy, Dominic Elsworth, Sam Thomas, Andrew Thornton and Will Kennedy, all of whom have ridden winners for the yard in the past and have been extremely loyal and helpful. Hadden has his first winner for Hen at Stratford on 30th June, when he partnered Job One, owned by Tim Watts from Pertemps Group Ltd, to win the Beginners chase at 16/1. It was a very pleasing win. [more...]
Summer
It is a quiet time of year at West Lockinge Farm, with only a handful of horses in full training. The dry weather has made it particularly difficult for the racecourses, and the groundsmen have struggled to provide safe going. There are plenty of courses with watering systems but as fast as the water is applied it evaporates. Horses who are resting are doing well out in the paddocks and enjoying the sunshine on their backs. They will start to come back into work in July. [more...]
A Royal Winner
We are now well into May and at last the sun is shining and we have got some warmer weather. As usual, the farmers are very worried about the lack of rain and fear that with the light grass crops, 2010 will be a very poor year for hay. So horse owners be prepared! It looks like another expensive Winter. As far as our Racehorses are concerned, most of them are doing very well on their Summer holidays and are happily grazing in the fields. We do have a few horses which are continuing to run and we had a lovely surprise winner at 40-1 last week at Fontwell when Harvest Song won a Maiden Hurdle for The Queen. He is a very nice horse but had been extremely backward before last week and had not covered himself in glory when twice running on the flat as a 2 year old and 3 year old. He loves jumping and seems to stay well. He remains a Novice for the whole season so will hopefully improve further on his winning run. [more...]
Firm!
It is now mid April and the ground is drying up very quickly with the cold North East wind and no rain. It is making it very difficult to run any horses as the racecourses are giving their going as good/firm in many places. The courses are also very rough in many places after being over used during the wet Winter months. Somersby ran at Aintree on April 8th. He was 2nd in the 2m 4f Novice Chase but nothing went right in the race and he got kicked at the start. Calgary Bay was 4th in the Betfair Aintree Bowl. He ran a nice race and jumped well, but yet again 3 miles 1 furlong proved too far. We are hoping to race a few of our young horses very shortly in bumper races but are watching the weather. We will not risk them on dodgy ground. [more...]
Rain back again!
After my last report when the sun was shining and the days were getting warmer, it is now bitterly cold again and we seem to have had more rain than in any other week this Winter. Our fields are saturated. However, the horses are well and we are looking forward to plenty of runners in April. Somersby is due to run at Aintree next Thursday (April 8th) in a 2m 4f Novice Chase and Calgary Bay may contest a race, also at Aintree, on the same day. Not much action over Easter as there are not that many fixtures and several have already been abandoned due to waterlogging! Everybody is hoping for a change back to Spring weather and better conditions. [more...]
Cheltenham Review
It is lovely to see the sun shining at long last and get some warmer days. The grass is now beginning to grow and everything looks much greener after the shocking winter. Spirits are high on our yard and the horses are getting their Summer coats through which signals the beginning of Spring. We were pleased with out 3 Cheltenham runners. Somersby ran a fantastic race for a young horse, to be 2nd in the Arkle Chase and only beaten ¾ length by Sizing Europe. He looks to have a bright future as a chaser and will obviously appreciate a step up in trip next Season. Calgary Bay was 6th in the Gold Cup and again ran a most creditable race for a 7 year old – the youngest in the race. He did not stay the last 2 furlongs and will revert to 3 miles or 2m 6f in his next run. The Ryanair Chase looks a more likely race for him in 2011 but that might also be Somersby’s goal as well! Racing Demon who is now 10 years old was 8th in the Coral Cup. He thoroughly enjoyed himself and gets on very well with young Haddon Frost. Had a horse not fallen in front of him at the 2nd last he might well have been 4th or 5th. He will have one more run over hurdles before reverting to fences again next Season. We have a lot of young horses queuing up for runs now that the weather has improved and April promises to be a busy month. [more...]
Hen and Terry update
Although the severe weather conditions have now passed, it is still extremely cold and the biting East Wind continues to hinder the growth of grass and dry up the land. At this stage, we badly need some light rain and warmth. [more...]
Back on track after severe weather
Having endured extreme weather conditions for the greater part of January, the snow and ice have now largely left us and we are looking forward to a good spring! We have not had many runners lately as many of our horses prefer better ground or else are still too backward/young to race. However, there are some exciting prospects for March and April and the Cheltenham Festival is only a month away. [more...]
Winter Season Winners
We are now well into the Winter NH Season, but everybody has been suffering from the recent frost and snow. Training has not been easy with frozen gallops and icey roads. However, we have had plenty of runners and some nice winners over the past months and the horses are going well. [more...]
Horses for Sale
We have several nice horses for sale in the yard and one for syndication. [more...]
Yard Visits
Our last yard visit was in October and we all enjoyed meeting everyone who came to see the yard and horses. If you are interested in coming along to one of these small, informal visits to see the horses working and jumping then please email us for further details and we can send you more information when we have another date. [more...]