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Bill Bridge: Carr driving on to maintain family tradition
TAKING the high road to Scotland is becoming a successful route for Ruth Carr in her first year as the trainer after taking over the licence from her grandfather David Chapman at Mowbray House in Stillington, near York.
She celebrated the first double of her new career last week when Sunley Sovereign, a 50-1 chance, won at Hamilton Park and the promising Moheebb followed up later in the day, both being partnered by Andrew Elliott. Avontuur finished third at Redcar in midweek before Carr drove the horsebox to Musselburgh last Sunday and saw Raccoon finished a creditable second. New recruit Top Jaro then led all the way his nine furlong race and joy was unconfined as Avontuur underlined the Scottish theme by winning at 6-1 at Ayr on Thursday.
"I was delighted to train my first double at Hamilton Park," she said. "Moheebb has been unlucky several times this season and Sunley Sovereign has only just come to himself after being fitted with a breathing tube.
"I'm more than happy with the results we have had so far this year. Not only have we sent out 11 winners, we have had 15 seconds and 12 thirds. Of course, I have to thank granddad but also the owners who left the horses with me when he retired in January."
She has not done anything different in training her string and puts her recent success down to a change of fortune. "Luck plays a massive part in this game," she says. "Things are just dropping right for us at the moment. Sometimes your horse looks to have beaten everything in his race fair and square and along comes one which has been well handicapped or is coming right in himself and you just get beaten.
"The horses are all running up to form and Moheebb especially is doing well. He is bred to get better as he gets older so we are looking for more from him. I wanted to run him in the Cambridgeshire but he didn't get in and will go for a 30,000 race at Redcar today instead."
Grandfather Chapman is still involved at the yard but does not take in the long-distance trips to racecourses. "I'm used to driving the box," says Carr. "I've been doing it for years and it's better that I drive it than have to pay someone else to do it. I'm a Yorkshire woman, you know.
"Granddad is still around and likes having his hands on at local meetings. He also has his days out with his old jumping friends at places like Sedgefield."
So the Stillington operation is in good hands and with confidence growing Ruth Carr can look forward to continuing her recent run of form.
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Weather for Yorkshire
Saturday 11 February 2012
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Temperature: -2 C to 0 C
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