(Updated 08.November.07)
Racecourse bookmaker and journalist Simon Nott, who writes regularly for Racing Ahead magazine (www.racingahead.net) and the Racing Post Weekender, has kindly agreed to share his stable interviews with Trend Horses readers. The latest edition of Racing ahead is out now, to order simply click on the following link ----> www.racingahead.net . Further articles are also available on Simon's own website at www.simonnott.co.uk .
Philip Hobbs
Simon Nott
One of the first impression when approaching Philip Hobbs Sandhill Racing Stables, just outside of Minehead, Somerset, is the way the old blends seamlessly with the new. The epicentre of the yard is Sandhill House, a Tudor manor and hub of a 500 acre estate. The state of the art equine facilities include a 1 ½ mile grass, three-furlong woodchip, three-furlong Polytrack gallops, swimming pool and two horse walkers. Thanks to the surrounding farmland the stables are almost self-sufficient with only certain feeds needing to be bought in. Last season the yard sent out over 100 winners who amassed prize money of over one and a half million pounds between them and hasn’t been out of the top four National Hunt trainers this decade.
My knock at the door of Sandhill House was greeted by a smiling Philip Hobbs himself who led me into the kitchen where I was introduced to his wife Sarah and ‘right-hand man’ Richard ‘Johnson’ White.
Philip Hobbs training career started well, his first runner, North Yard, was also his first winner at Devon and Exeter back in 1985 when he and wife Sarah had only six horses in their charge. ‘He couldn’t keep up the strike rate’, joked Johnson but 22 years and over a 1000 winners later the stable has grown to house 112 horses and employ 40 full time staff.
A selection of the horses were discussed over coffee, drifting to various topics ranging from Point-To-Points, the Hobbs’ youngest of three daughters Diana was top novice rider between the flags last year, and ‘Johnson’s own blue blood pedigree which he modestly but unsuccessfully tried to parry from the conversation. The friendly and good humoured chat pre-empted a stroll to the top of the Polytrack gallop to watch the fourth string. The horses were worked in pairs four times up the steep 3 furlongs. Hurdles and fences on wheels are strategically positioned at intervals for schooling use when required but today were withdrawn allowing a clear gallop.
As the horses pulled up past Mr Hobbs he named each one individually. I asked somewhat in awe if he knew all of his charges by sight, to which he replied that ‘It would be a bad job if I didn’t’. I felt a bit foolish but he did concede that he knew a trainer with an even bigger string than him who got over the identification problem by colour coding riders hats but as yet that system isn’t required at Sandhill.
Fourth lot exercised the trainer asked for the horses to be circled in the area at the top of the gallop while he questioned the riders for their opinions before sending them back to the main yard which was a flurry of activity. Despite being obviously up to his eyes in it Johnson took over from Mr Hobbs as my guide and showed me around the running gears of the yard. As the horses were led to their prospective boxes or paddock Johnson was checking legs and asking horses to be jogged constantly alert while giving me his otherwise undivided attention.
The logistics of a yard this size would appear to be a nightmare, at least they would if they were not run with the sort of precision that would do an army ops-room justice. The walls and tables in the tack room are festooned with charts and lists keeping everything in order. The result being a well-oiled machine which still fulfils its promise that every horse is treated as an individual, and when you have a trainer and staff that know them all by sight you know that they achieve just that.
The Horses.
BOYCHUCK
6yo b.g
He wants good fast ground and a taste of stamina, the Hennessy is a possibility but the ground could have gone soft by then. That’s why we’ve got him on the go early, the plan is run him at Cheltenham at the end of the month hopefully in the 3m handicap chase. When he ran at Market Rasen over 2m6f he was fresh and we thought we’d get away with it, but he got stopped down the back straight and then got going again when it was all over, he didn’t really have the gears to get out of trouble.
DETROIT CITY
5 gr.c
He’ll probably be aimed at the 2m3f condition hurdle at Ascot in November then we’ll decide what to do after that.
DREAM ALLIANCE
6yo ch.g
He’s had a badly bruised foot which has been a bit of a nuisance. The plan is to go for the Hennessey as second season novices tend to do well in the race. I hope to get a run in over hurdles in the middle of November first.
FAIR ALONG
5yo b.g
He’ll run in the Cesarewitch. The plan was to go there then the Haldon Gold Cup at Exeter and then decide what to do after that. Realistically, if he was to win the Haldon Gold Cup, he’d go up enough in the handicap to be competitive in something like the Tingle Creek but if he didn’t then I would suppose we’d stick to handicaps.
GOLD MEDALLIST
7yo ch.g
He’s missed two seasons with tendon problems but having said that he was never lame, it’s been nothing too serious. He’ll go straight to novice chasing, he schooled over fences last year and he jumped particularly well. We hope that if we are lucky he could turn out to be a top novice chaser this season.
I HEAR A SYMPHONY
5yo b.g
He was bought at Doncaster in May. He won a bumper for Mags Mullins in Ireland, the same route really as Massini’s Maguire who won the same bumper at Limerick. He’ll go novice hurdling. He is owned by Alan Peterson who has several horses in training with us.
LEAD ON
6yo. b.g
He won two of his four races last season, he possibly should have won all four. He fell in his first race at Wincanton when he was leading at the last, then he was second at Taunton when a bit unlucky then he won at Taunton and Cheltenham’s April meeting. We’re aiming him at a £40,000 2m4f handicap hurdle at Chepstow at the end of October. He’s owned by Brian and Robin Peppiatt who have horses in training with us for a very long time, since the 1980s.
LIBERATE
4yo ch.g
He was second in the Triumph Hurdle. I’ve almost decided he won’t run over fences this season, he’s a four-year-old. It’s sometimes sensible to make use of the four-year-old allowance. At the same time with him I think he’s still a little bit backward and another year hurdling wouldn’t hurt. Four-year-old horses have a notoriously difficult time in their second season as they are taking on older horses but get no weight allowance. They would do in either Ireland or France, it’s just not easy for them really.
MONKERHOSTIN
10yo b.g
He was fourth in this year’s Gold Cup. He’s going to be difficult to place as he’s got a handicap mark of 160, though these days he’s maybe not quite in the top league. I’m not sure if he should run in conditions races or carry top-weight in handicaps.
NOBLE REQUEST
6 gr.g
He has got a fracture to his hip but will hopefully run in the spring. It’s a real shame that he’s on the sidelines because he’s a really nice horse. The minor fractures are actually better than having tendon problems because most of them do come right. He won’t be back in work until Christmas so realistically I can’t see him running in the Champion Hurdle because he’ll need a run before hand.
PANCAKE
4yo ch.g
Last season he was not quite in the top league of four-year-old hurdlers but is a big strong horse who really should make a better chaser. He is going to go straight over fences this season. He wants soft ground. We’ll probably run him in all the top novices chases rather than go the usual route of running him in an easy one at first because if he didn’t happen to win a novice chase this year he’d still be a novice next year.
PARSONS LEGACY
9yo b.g
He’s been coughing and hasn’t been right. Realistically he won’t run before the Becher Chase. The plan is if he runs well in the Becher then he’ll be aimed at the Grand National, but if he isn’t suited by it we’ll aim for the other staying handicaps in the spring, either the Scottish National of the Whitbread. He’s best on decent ground.
SNAP TIE
5yo b.g
Owned by Graham and Diana Whateley who have several horse in training with us. He was second for us in two very good bumpers last season at Newbury and Cheltenham. I would hope that he could be a leading novice hurdler. He’s a Pistolet Bleu, typical of them, tall and narrow and will hopefully will improve.
TOM SAYERS
9 yo b.g
He prefers a fast surface. Stays very well and we would hope to win a race with him in the autumn. Not really convinced in the ‘Spring Horse’ theory, that’s just when he got his optimum ground.
ZABENZ
10 b.g
He’ll probably be another aimed toward the National, he might run early November at Ascot but we might just struggle to for time.
One to follow for the season? I’d have to say Snap Tie, for a horse to follow you need a novice because handicappers are always going to be limited to how many they can win. He could be a top novice hurdler if we are lucky.
Westcountry Wire would like to thanks Philip and Sarah Hobbs, Johnson and all the staff at Sandhill and wish them all the best for the 2007-08 season.
Simon Nott
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