G O O D W O O DO W N e R S

R A C e H O R S e G R O u P

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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,

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

N e W S L e T T e R I 2 1 9 J A N uA R Y 2 0 1 3 I S C H e M e 1 9 / 2 0

G R O G I N e W S L e T T e R

DID YOU KNOW?

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.

TRAiNeR’S quOTe

W i L L i A M K N i G H T

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.

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.”

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N e W S L e T T e R 2 1 9 J A N uA R Y 2 0 1 3 I S C H e M e 1 9 / 2 0

G O O D W O O D R A C E H O R S E OW N E R S G R O U P

Goodwood Racecourse

Goodwood, Chichester, West Sussex PO18 0PS

Telephone 01243 755022 or visit www.goodwood.com

Gail brown, Racing Mana ger can be contacted direct on her mobile: 07860 361444

or by email on gail.brown@goodwood.com

N E W S L E T T E R C O N T R I B U T O R S

Words I Gail brown, Peter Willett

Photography I John Hoy, Jon Franklin,beverley Downie & Catherine Hollywood

Design & Print I Fine Print Services Ltd

stable formwilliam knight attended his first GROG

event on Sunday, 2nd December when we

paraded both Goodwood Mirage and

Goodwood Storm in front of Goodwood

House. We believe Members will be

interested to note that since then William has

trained four individual winners on the all-

weather circuit, thus confirming that his

string are in good heart. Members might

wish to log onto William's website at

www.wknightracing.co.uk and follow his

horses as the season progresses.

Members will know that we regularly aim to

keep you informed of any interesting updates

to our current horses' pedigrees, or those of

past horses. Last season's Horris Hill Stakes

(Group 3) winner tawhid, trained by Saeed

bin Suroor is from the family of idle Waters

and therefore, Goodwood Mirage. Van der

neer, who finished second in the Group 1,

Racing Post Trophy at Doncaster, is out of

the mare Lalectra, making him a half-brother

to Goodwood treasure. He is trained by

Richard Hannon who paid 55,000 Guineas

for the colt as a yearling. it will be

interesting to follow both these colts as

three-year-olds.

NEXTEDITIONJuly 2013

n M O n d a y, 2 5 t H F e b R ua R y - t u e s d a y, 5 t H M a R c H I visit toHong Kong for racing at Sha Tin and Happy valley.

n t H u R s d a y, 1 1 t H a p R i l I Visit to lower coombe stables, Angmering. Watch thehorses exercising on the woodchip canter and enjoy breakfast in the grounds of Angmering Park.

n s a t u R d a y, 2 5 t H M a y I Racing lunch at Goodwood Racecourse. An atmospheric lunchon the final day of our three-day Meeting. Lunch, racing tipster and the perfect day's racing in May.

n t H u R s d a y, 6 t H J u n e I Visit to newsells park stud, Royston, Hertfordshire. Likely to be an afternoon visit with optional overnight stay locally for racing at Newmarket the following day.

n t u e s d a y, 3 0 t H J u l y I Glorious Goodwood picnic. Gazebos in the car park at Goodwood for a Drinks and Fork buffet Reception. The place to be on day one of our Festival Race Meeting!

n F R i d a y, 1 6 t H - M O n d a y, 1 9 t H a u G u s t I Visit to san sebastian, basque coast, spain. Festivalof racing, known as the 'Spanish Deauville' takes place every August. Fly to bordeaux, visit a local trainer and enjoy lunchat Chateau Haut-bailly.

n t u e s d a y, 1 0 t H s e p t e M b e R I second visit to lower coombe stables, Angmering. This visit may be replaced by 'Horses working at Goodwood after racing' on 3rd or 25th September with tea and drinks as an alternativeto breakfast. TbC

n s u n d a y, 1 3 t H O c t O b e R I 'end of season' drinks Reception at Goodwood Racecourse. DvD of horses' performances throughout the season and speeches. The final event for Members of Scheme (19).

n s u n d a y, 1 s t d e c e M b e R I Goodwood House ~ drinks Reception and optional lunch. Parade of horses, speeches etc. Welcome new Members to Scheme (21). Date TbC

n e n d F e b R ua R y / M a R c H 2 0 1 4 I Visit to barbados for racing at Garrison Savannah Racecourse.

GOODWOOD S TORMbought for our 20th Scheme, this filly boasts

stacks of quality. Shamardal, her sire, stands

at Kildangan Stud in ireland and this year will

stand at a fee of 50,000 euros. John

Ferguson, bloodstock advisor to Sheikh

Mohammed says of him: "He went from being

Champion two-year-old to outstanding three-

year-old, and his stud record is there for all to

see, siring horses who mature early and share

his aptitudes. Plain of head and slightly

offset, he himself did not have the best action;

but he sires stock who are sound, solid,

professional, and with real ability." the last

remaining shares are available at just £925.

please contact Gail brown on 07860 361444

or alison/brenda in the Membership team

on 01243 755029.

UPDATE I What a wonderful disposition this colt has. For the past six weeks he hasbeen confined largely to the stable, only leaving his box briefly each day for a walk outin hand before being introduced to the horsewalker. Yet, he has barely put a footwrong. We must not forget that he is an entire, one of only two that are stabled atLower Coombe, but such is his temperament that you would not know he was a colt.On 2nd January he was ridden for the first time since his surgery in November andthankfully for him, he can now look forward to a month of trotting under saddleamongst the picturesque woods and paths of the Angmering Park estate. On 2ndFebruary he will resume cantering and we can then dream of the season ahead!Physically he has done exceptionally well from two to three years and few could faulthis conformation.

UPDATE I When our filly arrived at the Lavington Stud in Petworth fresh fromthe Newmarket Sales, she objected strongly to being made to 'stand up' for aphotographic session. briefly we wondered whether we might have bought atypical chestnut filly with a sharp temperament to match, but we should havebeen more patient, as understandably our filly had endured several weeks of salespreparation before the stress of the sales and then the move to her newsurroundings. So perhaps it was not surprising that three days after arriving inPetworth she objected to being placed on the catwalk! Thankfully none of thisunwillingness has presented itself at Angmering and our filly is now enjoying twofour and a half furlong canters on alternate days with a single canter in betweenand traditionally, a day off on Sunday. She carries herself well and moves nicely.So far so good.

GOODWOOD

MiRAGeGOODWOOD

STORM

social events dates for your diar y

Members as Shadwell Stud, 2012

Glorious Goodwood Picnic, 2012

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