Speaker Mark Atkinson - Horse Racing

Mark who is Keith Howards Estate and Racing manager said that he believes that rather than dogs it should be horses that are described as man's best friend as over the years they have served us in so many different capacities. Horse racing has always been a popular part of those services from Roman chariot racing through to Richard Lionheart who was very supportive of horse racing hence the saying "The pursuit of Kings". Both Charles the second and James the second were supporters of racing at Newmarket and is said that there are now more than 3,000 horses that train on the gallops at Newmarket.

At the time of James the second horse racing was primarily flat racing but this was followed by hurdles which then led to the steeplechase. Steeplechasing was so named because of a race in Ireland that took place between two church steeples. For several centuries horse racing was just a competition between two horses which were usually owned by two wealthy landowners.

Mark said that he started working for Keith 8 years ago and as he was interested in horse racing Keith asked him to set up a horse racing business. So Crag Wood Racing was born and registered as a VAT business with its own racing colours. Their first horse was Pipers Notes which was originally involved in flat racing.

Flat racing is broken down into various categories. First comes Group Races which is limited to the very best horses and covers such races as the 1,000 and 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket. Then comes Listed Races followed by Conditions Races and finally Handicapped races. Handicaps for a horse start at 30 which is the additional weight in pounds that a horse must carry and generally goes up to 100 although at his best Pipers Notes was handicapped at 104. This meant that he was actually good enough to race in Listed Races and managed to come third at 33-1. This meant that he ended up being black typed as his breeding proved so good. This means that in future race cards or sales the horses name will be highlighted in black type to show that they have been placed in a Listed Race. Buyers will pay £200,000 and up for a one year old foal from a black type horse.

In 2016 as Pipers Notes started to age Cragg Wood decided to look for a replacement from the £170,000 winnings that had been built up by Pipers Notes. So Mark went to their then trainer Richard Whitaker who was tasked with trying to find a replacement. The trainer went to a sales event and called up Mark saying that he had found a horse for £21,000. Keith instructed Mark to offer a non-refundable £5,000 with the condition that if the horse performed well in its first three races the balance would be paid - it's a good job they did because the horse was a disaster. So they asked Richard to find another horse. He went to a 2 day sales at Newmarket and called to say he had seen a good horse called Midlight who would probably sell for £40,000. However in the sale the horse was acquired by Cragg Wood for £19,000. After 15 runs the horse hadn't achieved even a place and the relationship with Richard Whitaker became strained. So they moved the horses to Ruth Carr.

With Ruth the horses are not kept cooped up in the stables all the time but are allowed out in the field to socialise with the other horses. Piper was still winning a couple of races a year as well as placing in other races but Midlight was a disappointment managing just one win in a low-level race at Ayr. So the sold him on as an eventing horse in Scotland where he is much happier,

Ruth was then tasked with finding a new horse and she went to Newmarket where she found Kings Coinage a small horse that she was able to get for the reserve price as the horse didn't sell in the auction. He had won 2 races and placed in another but since moving to Cragg Wood Racing he won nothing in 25 races. He was then moved to hurdles and has managed one third place in a 5 horse race out of nine races.

So Mark went to choose a horse himself in a Breeze Up sale which is for horses who have never run other than a 2 furlong trial. Ruth put Mark in contact with a a blood stock agent. Mark went with the agent to Doncaster where the horses were doing the 2 furlong run in the morning and then being sold in the afternoon. They bought a horse but then found he was breathing badly. The only way out of the purchase was if a panel of 3 judges agreed to rescind the sale after a check by a vet. They refused saying the horse only had a cold. So the horse was put on antibiotics and after 8 weeks was breathing OK. Keith named the horse "Marks Choice". He then had 3 races and improved each time and then in his fourth race (a 6 furlong at Nottingham) he shot to the front and won impressively.

The next year he was put on the same card at Ripon as Pipers Choice. So Keith and all his friends went to the course but Piper only came ninth out of 14 in his race. Marks Choice was a 16-1 outsider in the 5:15pm which was only 5 furlongs which was a bit short for the horse. Also it was raining heavily so Mark was worried that the day was going to be spoilt for Keith with neither horse doing well. At 4 furlongs Marks Choice was the back marker of 9 horses but he came through strong and ended up winning by a photo finish. He then went on to win twice more out of 11 races and placed third 3 times.