Jefferson fights back after shock of father’s death
SENTIMENT can be a short-term commodity in sport. Ruth Jefferson found that out the hard way but, instead of wallowing in self-pity, she turned a flurry of potential blows to her self-confidence into a moment of motivation.
The death of her trainer father Malcolm in February was mourned across the sport and left her in charge of the family stable in north Yorkshire.
Jefferson, 38, concedes that the whirlwind of personal and professional events left her operating on auto-pilot.
But some stark realities during the summer made her refocus.
When some of her best horses left during the close season, Jefferson turned a potentially psychological negative into a positive.
It helped that one the horses which remained in her Malton stable was her best, Waiting Patiently — and the lightly raced seven-year-old, who provided her late father with one of his last winners, will line up in the King George VI Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day as one of the leading contenders.
Jefferson, one of four children, said: ‘Last season wasn’t great and we struggled to get going. When the licence changed, from February to April we only had three winners, but they included the Ascot Chase (with Waiting Patiently) and the Morebattle Hurdle (at Kelso with Cyrus Darius).
‘Once the summer came, the staff who wanted to leave left, the horses and owners who wanted to leave left. We weren’t expecting some of the horses back.
‘There were only two that shocked me when they left. But sometimes you need a bit of a kick to wake you up. It sort of gave me a kick up the backside that, if you want to do well, get your head down and sort it out.
‘We have invested in the yard and bought some new horses for next season. We have more horses than we thought we were going to have. The first three runners this season were winners. We hope to be here in 10 years’ time. We just need a bit of luck.’
Cyrus Darius, Cloudy Dream and Mount Mews all moved on in the summer but Waiting Patiently, the most talented of the lot, is crucially one of the 34-horse team under the care of Jefferson.
He will line up as the 9-2 joint-second favourite in the Kempton showpiece.