Crosshill Pacers
Well-Known Member
As promised, an introduction to my 'project' for the summer.
Where to start?! Star, or as her passport states - Shes Some Deal - has been a part of my life since the day she was born, which is 7 years ago at the end of this month. She was bred by my father, who desperately wanted a filly after six consecutive colts from his other mares. It was decided from the minute she hit the ground that she would be kept to race (all seven foals before her were sold at public auction) and then provided she was good enough as a racemare, go on to be bred from.
At 2, she came to my place of work to be broken to drive. My boss told me once all the breakers had returned home that she was the easiest horse he'd broken that winter. She was, however, exceptionally overweight when she returned at the start of the summer to begin race training, and failed to reach sufficient fitness to run in a qualifier (the reasoning behind trying to qualify her at 2 was due to the qualifying time being 6 seconds slower than the standard qualifying time for older horses). Despite not running in any official capacity, she did make one visit to the track just to let her take in the sights and sounds of the place. Cue more photos:
As a three year old she returned to my boss to begin her actual racing campaign. She raced 8 times (I think), with some horrendous draws (ranging from the outside hole on the gate to the outside hole on the second line) and was involved in an incident during one race whereby the horse inside her galloped as the gate was pulling away, which resulted in her running into a hedge before she veered back onto the track to chase after the group who had left her 20L behind. One thing about Star is she doesn't like getting left behind, and midway through the race the commentator remarked on the ground she had made up, before she eventually finished 4th. I have never seen her so tired after a race; she literally ran her heart out. She won her maiden at a small track called Pembridge, which is part of a village show held on the land of the jockey, Richard Johnson. As she was the fastest Grade 0 (as it was back then) and Grade 1 out of the two divisions, Dickie presented me with a trophy in memory of his late grandfather. One of my proudest moments to date. Here she is training in Wales as a 3yo:
At 4, she switched codes to race with Wales & Borders, as my dad had decided she clearly wasn't making the grade with BHRC and my uncle, who had always had a soft spot for her, leased her. Again she only managed the solitary win, at a track in deepest, darkest west Wales called Synod Inn. Once again she was the fastest winner of her division and I was presented with yet another trophy (my cousin and I were the only family members to make the journey to watch her race - despite being busy every Sunday working for my boss at the BHRC races, I didn't miss a W&B meeting that summer on the Saturdays purely because my girl was there).
After that season my dad called it a day with her, as she was deemed to be not good enough, and either too lazy or too slow. I was instructed to get her going under saddle (she'd been broken by another harness racing trainer to the saddle previously) and she was to be sold as a rider. At this point I should mention that I had been out of the saddle for several years, and was quite frankly terrified at the prospect of riding her. Some riding lessons on a plod and a strict dressing down by my instructor later, I plucked up the courage to ride her. It was the start of what turned out to be the best decision of my life. Within three months I took her hunting for the first time. Since then we have learnt to jump (a little, something I plan to really work on this summer) and she has given me all the confidence in the world. Thanks to her I was able to ride Missile, who had only ever been sat on during saddle races in full harness once he had been officially 'backed'. I also have plans to back a 4yo we have that won't be suitable for racing due to his size, something I would never have considered pre-Star.
Here she is hunting at 4 & 5:
The plan had always been for her to be sold. That wasn't my plan though. From a foal, Star had trusted me. And I had loved her. She'd grown from being a gorgeous little filly into a strong, sensible, handsome horse. People have picked on her over the years and I have defended her fiercely because I owe her so much. So when I approached my dad about buying her off him, as that was the only real solution left, he told me he couldn't accept my money and that she was mine.
So here we are. A very different horse to Missile, with whom I developed no more than an understanding and some semblance of a bond last summer. This is my horse of a lifetime. I often tell people she was the horse my parents should have got me when I was 13 and making the transition from pony to horse. That said, if they'd not brought home the horse they did, Star maybe wouldn't exist, as Smokey was the catalyst from which my family became involved in harness racing.
Last summer my goal was to win one race, to prove people wrong that an amateur couldn't take a horse from the top professional stable and bring it back to form. I succeeded. This summer my goal is to win one race, to prove people wrong that Star is useless. I've heard it so many times, from people close to me, that you'd think I'd have started believing it myself. Well I haven't. If I don't believe in her, nobody else will. I'm all she needs to give this a proper go. And you know what? If she doesn't work down the clock the way she should, or if my driver says she's not going to make the standard to be able to win a race, I've lost nothing but my time which is something I am willing to give in exchange for a bit of fun. Plus I'll have a fit horse with which to continue our jumping and maybe even hunting now that we're in Scotland.
Here's to Star: the best eater known to man, the most sensible, safe, genuine, trusting 15'3hh lump of horse I've ever known.
I'm hoping you'll get behind us, because I can count on one hand the number of people who actually have anything nice to say about my horse (which is odd considering there's not a bad bone in her body, she's just a bit lazy and she has a big head...apparently!).
I'll update you at the end of next week with the news from week one of her training, but suffice it to say that in the three days she's been jogging with J, he has given me glowing reports. Which is such a relief, because his opinion of her counts to me the most.
One last gratuitous photo of the beast known as Big Ears:
Thanks for reading, hope you enjoy the ride!
Sarah & Star
Where to start?! Star, or as her passport states - Shes Some Deal - has been a part of my life since the day she was born, which is 7 years ago at the end of this month. She was bred by my father, who desperately wanted a filly after six consecutive colts from his other mares. It was decided from the minute she hit the ground that she would be kept to race (all seven foals before her were sold at public auction) and then provided she was good enough as a racemare, go on to be bred from.
At 2, she came to my place of work to be broken to drive. My boss told me once all the breakers had returned home that she was the easiest horse he'd broken that winter. She was, however, exceptionally overweight when she returned at the start of the summer to begin race training, and failed to reach sufficient fitness to run in a qualifier (the reasoning behind trying to qualify her at 2 was due to the qualifying time being 6 seconds slower than the standard qualifying time for older horses). Despite not running in any official capacity, she did make one visit to the track just to let her take in the sights and sounds of the place. Cue more photos:
As a three year old she returned to my boss to begin her actual racing campaign. She raced 8 times (I think), with some horrendous draws (ranging from the outside hole on the gate to the outside hole on the second line) and was involved in an incident during one race whereby the horse inside her galloped as the gate was pulling away, which resulted in her running into a hedge before she veered back onto the track to chase after the group who had left her 20L behind. One thing about Star is she doesn't like getting left behind, and midway through the race the commentator remarked on the ground she had made up, before she eventually finished 4th. I have never seen her so tired after a race; she literally ran her heart out. She won her maiden at a small track called Pembridge, which is part of a village show held on the land of the jockey, Richard Johnson. As she was the fastest Grade 0 (as it was back then) and Grade 1 out of the two divisions, Dickie presented me with a trophy in memory of his late grandfather. One of my proudest moments to date. Here she is training in Wales as a 3yo:
At 4, she switched codes to race with Wales & Borders, as my dad had decided she clearly wasn't making the grade with BHRC and my uncle, who had always had a soft spot for her, leased her. Again she only managed the solitary win, at a track in deepest, darkest west Wales called Synod Inn. Once again she was the fastest winner of her division and I was presented with yet another trophy (my cousin and I were the only family members to make the journey to watch her race - despite being busy every Sunday working for my boss at the BHRC races, I didn't miss a W&B meeting that summer on the Saturdays purely because my girl was there).
After that season my dad called it a day with her, as she was deemed to be not good enough, and either too lazy or too slow. I was instructed to get her going under saddle (she'd been broken by another harness racing trainer to the saddle previously) and she was to be sold as a rider. At this point I should mention that I had been out of the saddle for several years, and was quite frankly terrified at the prospect of riding her. Some riding lessons on a plod and a strict dressing down by my instructor later, I plucked up the courage to ride her. It was the start of what turned out to be the best decision of my life. Within three months I took her hunting for the first time. Since then we have learnt to jump (a little, something I plan to really work on this summer) and she has given me all the confidence in the world. Thanks to her I was able to ride Missile, who had only ever been sat on during saddle races in full harness once he had been officially 'backed'. I also have plans to back a 4yo we have that won't be suitable for racing due to his size, something I would never have considered pre-Star.
Here she is hunting at 4 & 5:
The plan had always been for her to be sold. That wasn't my plan though. From a foal, Star had trusted me. And I had loved her. She'd grown from being a gorgeous little filly into a strong, sensible, handsome horse. People have picked on her over the years and I have defended her fiercely because I owe her so much. So when I approached my dad about buying her off him, as that was the only real solution left, he told me he couldn't accept my money and that she was mine.
So here we are. A very different horse to Missile, with whom I developed no more than an understanding and some semblance of a bond last summer. This is my horse of a lifetime. I often tell people she was the horse my parents should have got me when I was 13 and making the transition from pony to horse. That said, if they'd not brought home the horse they did, Star maybe wouldn't exist, as Smokey was the catalyst from which my family became involved in harness racing.
Last summer my goal was to win one race, to prove people wrong that an amateur couldn't take a horse from the top professional stable and bring it back to form. I succeeded. This summer my goal is to win one race, to prove people wrong that Star is useless. I've heard it so many times, from people close to me, that you'd think I'd have started believing it myself. Well I haven't. If I don't believe in her, nobody else will. I'm all she needs to give this a proper go. And you know what? If she doesn't work down the clock the way she should, or if my driver says she's not going to make the standard to be able to win a race, I've lost nothing but my time which is something I am willing to give in exchange for a bit of fun. Plus I'll have a fit horse with which to continue our jumping and maybe even hunting now that we're in Scotland.
Here's to Star: the best eater known to man, the most sensible, safe, genuine, trusting 15'3hh lump of horse I've ever known.
I'm hoping you'll get behind us, because I can count on one hand the number of people who actually have anything nice to say about my horse (which is odd considering there's not a bad bone in her body, she's just a bit lazy and she has a big head...apparently!).
I'll update you at the end of next week with the news from week one of her training, but suffice it to say that in the three days she's been jogging with J, he has given me glowing reports. Which is such a relief, because his opinion of her counts to me the most.
One last gratuitous photo of the beast known as Big Ears:
Thanks for reading, hope you enjoy the ride!
Sarah & Star
