Thoroughbred Tales - showcasing the good work of the unsung heroes of racing - celebrations were in order when Stormy Girl provided Rebecca Menzies with a first ever Black Type success
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By Sally Anne Grassick
The Thoroughbred Tales family continues to grow on social media with each new guest host and, as any family would be, we were delighted to see one of our own have the biggest success of their career shortly after hosting the account. Stormy Girl provided Rebecca Menzies with a first ever Black Type success when she won a Listed raced over six furlongs at Pontefract last month.
Rebecca’s “Thoroughbred Tale” started when she joined Ferdy Murphy’s team during a gap year that ended up turning into a training career. When Murphy relocated to France, she struck out on her own with a yard of just eight horses in York. In 2016 she relocated to Howe Hill Stables in County Durham, formerly the home of John Wade, where she trains a dual purpose string of 65 horses, which keeps her and her team busy all year long.
“We started out as a jump yard, but I soon realised that we couldn’t afford to keep a full yard rented if we only had a few horses running during the summer,” explains Rebecca. “We are located close to the A1 and have five racecourses within an hour or so of the yard, so it also made sense commercially to give it a try. We were lucky that a lot of our jump owners supported us by sending a few flat horses when I took out my dual licence. I could see it being a 50/50 split between flat and jumps horses in the future. We had a couple of two-year-old winners last year and that definitely gave us the confidence to pursue that route. The Listed success of Stormy Girl was a huge moment for us all; we have been celebrating ever since! I was confident she was going to run well the time before in a Listed race at York, but she was disappointing and scoped badly afterwards. I never lost faith in her ability though as I have always known that she is the best horse I have had anything to do with to this point. It was nice to have that view confirmed last time. She works on her own at home as I currently don’t have another horse good enough to work with her, and she is ridden out by Nathan Moscrop. I hope there is more to come from her and we have a few options at Newmarket, Newbury or even over in France later in the year. Her owners, Mike and Eileen Newbould of Stonegrave Thoroughbreds, have been really supportive so it is nice to be able to repay that faith with a Black Type filly.”
Every young trainer knows they need big winners to catch the eye of potential new owners, and never more so than in a year as full of uncertainties as this one. “I have had some interest from people who would like to send me flat horses, and it is good to advertise the fact that with the right material at hand, we can train horses to a good level in that sphere. These are difficult times for everyone, not just in racing, so it is important to try and promote yourself and our sport to a wider audience. That was one of the reasons I was keen on supporting Thoroughbred Tales by guest hosting the account for a week. I had been following the project for a while and found it very interesting seeing how other yards and studs operate. I learnt a lot from the week I hosted and enjoyed answering followers’ questions. It has not been easy for owners this year, but the various social media platforms have helped people feel closer to the action. Many of my owners take their horses home on a rest so they are very close to them. It makes it hard when they can’t give them a pat after they’ve won a race so we try to make an extra effort to reward them for all their continued support. There are difficult times on the horizon and every trainer will need to have their owners behind them to get through it.”
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