Inner city youngsters getting ready for right royal day out at Ascot
It is probably no exaggeration to say that the most important race of this weekend, particularly from a human point of view, is not the Betfair Chase at Haydock, but the Ebony Horse Club Novices’ Limited Handicap Chase at Ascot. The reason is that it further cements the connection between the London inner city riding club and racing.
Sir Francis Brooke, chairman of the Ascot Authority, has already formed the Friends of Ebony Horse Club syndicate, which has three horses in training: Mayfair Pompette with Charlie Fellowes, Spreadsheet with Jim Boyle and a jumper, Starevitch, with Jamie Snowden.
The two Flat horses have both won. Spreadsheet, it turns out, likes his trips to the seaside, having twice won at Brighton, and Starevitch was an encouraging third in a bumper behind Doddiethegreat, another charity horse raising funds for Doddie
Weir’s foundation for motor neurone disease research.
From the syndicate’s initial outlay, £50,000 has already been donated to the club, so Starevitch’s £325 from Huntingdon is a bonus.
Ahead of Saturday’s race, the Duchess of Cornwall, who is president of Ebony and in whose silks the club’s horses run, will be hosting a lunch in the Royal Box for the trainers, syndicate members and Ebony’s most famous alumna, Khadijah Mellah, winner of the 2019 Magnolia Cup.
The Duchess will also be presenting the trophy for the race and meeting children from Ebony in the parade ring before and after.
“One of the greatest pleasures of my childhood was riding,” she said. “From a very early age, living in the countryside, I was phenomenally lucky to gain an understanding of that extraordinary bond that exists between humans and horses, to the benefit of both.
“In 2008, I was surprised and delighted to meet young people having exactly the same experience in inner city London, when I first visited Ebony. Their lives had truly been transformed through spending time with ponies and horses; caring for them, riding
them and, in some cases, finally finding a friend (albeit four-legged), who would listen without judging.
“Whether or not they go on to pursue a career in the equine world, the gifts that Ebony gives them will stay with them for life.”
Among those she will meet at Ascot is teenager O’shane Marsh, who is from a single-parent family and lives on the Dog Kennel Hill Estate in Camberwell.
He has been riding at Ebony for six years, won his first pony race at Ascot in 2019, when he also spent a week at the British Racing School. From then on he has wanted to become a jockey and this year he gained a Khadijah Mellah Scholarship through the Riding a Dream Academy.
He is due to start a full-time course at the British Racing School in January.
T he point-to-point season, once upon a time a harbinger of spring, is already up and running. Congratulations to Luke Humphrey who, on his 92nd ride, finally rode his first winner.
Riding his own Cave Queen in the restricted open at Revesby Park, he did it in style, beating no less a jockey than multiple women’s champion and favourite Gina Andrews by a length.
In celebration of his landmark win, he did what Frankie Dettori might have done after winning the Champion Stakes or Oisin Murphy did after winning the Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Del Mar: he rode back down the course in front of his adoring public and flung his goggles and whip to the crowd.
History does not relate if, on this occasion, they were thrown back at him.