Big freeze hits hard as racing's winter of discontent continues

THE JOCKEY

Phil Kinsella

ONE look at his next bank balance will tell Phil Kinsella all that he needs to know about the big freeze – and its impact upon horse racing.

This is supposed to be his busiest time of the year for jump jockeys. Yet the decimation of the fixture list means he is enjoyed just two rides in three weeks.

He has no idea when he will race ride again.

"The novelty has well and truly worn off," said the Northallerton-born rider who is too young to remember how inclement weather regularly wrecked jump racing in the 1970s and 1980s.

"This would normally be our busy time. We'd expect to race every day – and the money would help you through the quiet times in the summer.

"Now we're losing out on riding fees and a share of any prize money. It doesn't help pay the mortgage but, fortunately, I'm one of those people who doesn't spend all of their money at once. I've got savings to fall back on, but it's not ideal."

Each day, Kinsella drives 40 miles around the periphery of the North York Moors from his home near Yarm to Malcolm Jefferson's stables at Malton.

A 50-minute journey on a normal day, it has been taking two hours. On one day, he did not make it up Sutton Bank and had to head home. This hurt an individual who takes pride in his reliability.

On Wednesday, he was half an hour late for "first lot" when the horses start to be exercised, even though he set off at 6am.

His lateness was excused. At least he had made it through the snow.

"We were able to use the Malton gallops – there was plenty of grass – until the first lot of snow melted and the ground became frozen," added Kinsella.

"We can use the all-weather strip, but one day it wasn't safe to get the horses there so we used the paddock at Malcolm's. It's all better than nothing.

"I can't believe how long it has gone for. I thought the snow would be gone in time for Boxing Day. That was the forecast. Then it was supposed to improve for New Year's Day. But, then riding out on Wednesday, you could see the latest snowstorms gathering on the horizon between the breaks in the cloud.

"I said to Malcolm that I was sick of it, and bored of it, but he said – correctly – that there's nothing we can do. Perhaps the break will do the horses good and they will be fresh when we resume racing."

It is only one glimmer of light – but it is an appropriate one. For Glimmer of Light is, actually, the name of an infuriating horse that Kinsella once rode to victory against expectations.

"I'll do anything to be riding again," he adds. "And the same goes for all the other lads."

THE TRAINER

Alan Swinbank

EVEN though his gallops have been out of use for nearly three weeks, Alan Swinbank considers himself to be one of Yorkshire's more fortunate trainers.

His primary targets are the Aintree Grand National meeting in three months – and then this summer's Flat campaign that does not gather pace on the turf until early April.

Yet, even though his Melsonby stables are a short distance from the A1 at Scotch Corner, the snow and ice means they are inaccessible for some stable staff.

The priority, says Swinbank, is simply to keep his string of 140 horses warm and well exercised.

"I'm fortunate in that I haven't got any with immediate targets – or gearing up towards Cheltenham," he told the Yorkshire Post.

"I've been in this game longer than I care to remember, but I don't recall weather like this. There's been two or three days when the gallops have been unusable – but not two to three weeks.

"We've got an indoor school that we can use and also the horse walker. You load up six horses at a time and then they walk round and round. It's a help – surprisingly effective – but it's no substitute for a horse being on the gallops, or jumping over obstacles. Even the all-weather gallop has been frozen; that's how bad it is.

"It could be worse. At least the horses are in the warm, healthy and eating. You just have to accept that bad weather is an occupational hazard and muddle through as best as possible.

"My stable jockey, Brian Hughes, has gone back to his parents in Ireland.. I don't blame him or the other jockeys who've booked holidays – they're getting breaks while they can and while there's no racing.

"I'm lucky, I have a mixed yard – Flat and National Hunt horses. The people I feel sorry for are those trainers whose whole season revolves around this time of year, and getting ready for Cheltenham.

"This won't make a big difference to my yearlings getting ready for the Flat, but it will be to hurdlers and chasers."

THE EXECUTIVE

Jonjo Sanderson

JONJO Sanderson has already had the misfortune to call off three potentially lucrative meetings at Wetherby Racecourse. It is odds-on that he will have to abandon a fourth on Saturday week.

It will not help his financial bottom line – even if he can persuade the BHA to reverse their policy on the allocation of fixtures following the wholesale abandonments witnessed in recent weeks.

"The difference is between us making a decent profit – or making a loss for the year," said Sanderson, Wetherby's chief executive and clerk of the course.

"It's lost money that you can't re-invest in the course and facilities. We don't open up on racedays and make a loss. But, at the moment, we can't restage any of the lost meetings and get half a crowd."

The full implications are difficult to ascertain; Wetherby's financial year only began on October 1 to coincide with the new NH season.

Yet the course would have expected 20,000 people to attend its two-day Christmas meeting; although numbers would have been down for this Monday's card that was lost to the elements.

At present, the BHA's pre-occupation is to allocate fixtures to courses that can stage horse racing. Inevitably, they are going to the all-weather venues in the Midlands and the South – and even these tracks are having snow-related obstacles to overcome because of the hazardous state of surrounding roads.

However, Sanderson hopes racing authorities will acknowledge the special case of those courses that have lost meetings when the weather finally relents.

With a two-month gap between Wetherby's scheduled meeting on February 6, and the succession of Spring fixtures, he hopes that common sense will prevail.

"There's been no jumps action in the North since Catterick on December 15," he added.

"When the fixtures came out, we were happy to have a two-month gap so we could repair the ground – and give it time to recover – for the Spring meetings.

"But, with three meetings lost, and possibly a fourth, there's very little to do. If there are any extra fixtures, we'll be the first to put our hands up.

"Yet, as I speak, we have several inches of snow on top of already frozen ground – and below freezing temperatures. It will be some time before we get back to normal."

THE OWNER

Neil Morgan

AS the owner of Queen Mother Champion Chase hopeful Kalahari King, Neil Morgan realises that he is privileged to own such a special horse with his wife Julie.

As he speaks, he realises that he is even more fortunate. "He's on Redcar Beach, he's evidently loving it – and Graham Lee is riding him," says Morgan.

"We're lucky to have Ferdy Murphy as a trainer. For the last couple of days, he's taken his horses there for a canter. Thankfully, his yard (at West Witton) is 50 miles and not 200 miles from the coast."

Timing is everything. After an injury setback, Kalahari King – last year's Arkle runner-up – was just back in training when the snow came down.

Now his whole training regime is having to be adjusted ahead of his comeback at Doncaster next month and then a possible date with destiny at the Cheltenham National Hunt Festival.

Morgan is laid back. It should not unduly affect Kalahari's preparations; he is not race ready. The same cannot be said of Big Burrows, another horse that he owns. The progressive chaser's plans are in abeyance as the fixture list piles up.

But Morgan is even more frustrated when it comes to De Boitron, another highly-respected chaser who was third at Market Rasen in November and is "desperate for a run".

"We got him to Haydock on the Saturday before Christmas. They said the meeting was on," said Morgan.

"When we arrived, they announced an inspection because the frost had not left the ground. And then it was called off at the last minute.

"Yet I was still left with a bill for transporting the horse. I don't mind meetings being called off – safety has to come first – but I do wonder if some decisions can be taken more promptly," says Morgan.

"I've lost count of the number of fixtures we've entered, and which have been called off. Haydock, Ayr, Sedgefield – you name it. For us, the snow is a mild inconvenience. It's a bigger problem for the trainers. You can't keep an athlete at fever pitch for all the time. De Boitron was ready to run and now faces a long wait. How will it affect him? I don't know. He's only six - but it is disappointing that we're back to square one.

"The consolation is that it is the same for everyone."