With the team busier than ever, April’s news never made it out of the outbox and so April & May news & highlights have been combined! With plenty of action on the track and at home, have a seat and read on…

April & May's Runner Highlights

CRYSTAL FLYER (pictured above) got the team back into winning spirits on Sunday 27th April at Southwell. She was ridden by Sean Levey over the 1m 4f distance.

Drawn wide, the pair jumped from the stalls and tucked in at the back of the field. On the final bend, the pace quickened and Crystal Flyer got the gap she needed, crossing the line in front, to win by half a length. The filly is owned by Matthew Webber and she is by Magna Grecia out of the Montjeu mare, Mount Crystal. This was Crystal Flyer’s third win of her career, having raced 8 times in total and she has only been out of the placings once. There is definitely plenty more fun to be had this summer with her connections eyeing up some possible black-type races.

DIAMOND BAY (pictured below) put his best foot forward on his reappearance to the track after more than 165 days on 2nd May. The 7 year old gelding proved he still had a zest for racing when winning at Goodwood over 1m 6f. Diamond Bay, under Sean Levey, sat just off the leaders in 3rd place for the majority of the running before kicking on towards the finish line fighting to win by a nose.

DIAMOND BAY is owned by Ebury Racing 3 and is by New Bay out of the Dalakhani mare, Amarillo Starlight.

Ones To Watch 

LIEUTENANT LILY headed back to the track after her cracking second on her reappearance last month. This time, on 24th May, the 3 year old filly was at Goodwood in the £50,000 Fillies’ Restricted Novice Stakes. She stayed on well to take 3rd, being beaten just over 3 lengths with the winning pair battling it out in front. Now with an official rating of 73, there are plenty of options in June to have some fun with her. LIEUTENANT LILY is owned by the Lilywhite Syndicate & Stuart Lake. She is by Cracksman, out of the Captain Rio mare, La Pantera.

KINGDOM OF STARS made his way back to the track in May after 309 days away. The 4 year old gelding showed his competitive nature with 2 great runs at Kempton, coming 4th, beaten a length and a half & a 2nd, beaten half a length, respectively.  A win is not too far away for him! KINGDOM OF STARS is owned by White & Partner. He is by Cloth Of Stars, out of the Sageburg mare, Passing Burg.

Meet The Team 

Neti James

Age & Where you are from:

32 from Amesbury

Your role at Tom Ward Racing:

Part time Rider

How long have you worked for Tom:

5 years

Favourite Horse:

Star Terms (pictured below) when I worked for Richard Hannon. I rode her every day and she took me to many group races, including the 1000 Guineas.

Favourite Racing Moment:

Leading up Best Terms when she won the Queen Mary at Royal Ascot

If you had a fully paid trip to anywhere in the world, where would you go?

Somewhere in the Caribbean, maybe the Bahamas

If you had one superpower, what would it be?

Invisibility so I could spy on people and scare them

NEWS 

Racing HEROs

On Thursday 24th July, Alice will be swapping the office desk and taking the reins to ride in a charity race at Newbury racecourse over 1m 2f. The race will have a 12 runner field with a flag start.

The race is to raise money for HEROS Charity, based in Wiltshire, and in order to kickstart the fund raising Alice hosted a race night on 30th May at The Crown in Aldbourne. There was plenty of new faces alongside the usual pub regulars! The evening had pre-recorded races with a mixture of flat & jump races over various distances, all with a field of 8 runners. There was plenty of options throughout the evening to get involved in various ways, with people opting to ‘become an owner’ for £5 with a chance to win a prize if the horse wins, as well as ‘sponsoring a jockey’ for £2.50 with a cash prize if they won. Alongside this and the usual betting on races, there was also a finale of a pig race. There was the chance to ‘name a pig’ as well as becoming an owner or sponsoring the jockey. It was a very fun evening with everyone getting involved, and we managed to raise a grand total of £676!

HEROS are a vital cog in the wheel for the re-homing and re-training of racehorses, with each individual assessed and matched to their new owner. This ensures that each horse is given the best possible chance to succeed in their new career after racing. Thoroughbreds are extremely versatile and can go on to have second careers in various disciplines including show jumping, hunting, happy hacking, polo, horse ball - the list goes on!

If you would like to donate and support both HEROS and Alice’s challenge of galloping down the straight at Newbury racecourse, please click here to follow the link to the just giving page.

Visits, Visits & more Visits

We always love welcoming owners & visitors to Whitehouse Stables. With the sun beaming in Lambourn, we have opened our doors to many in the last 2 months!

On 23rd May we welcomed 25 students from the Department of Animal Science at Iowa State University for their Heritage Breeds Tour. They met Tom, and had a chat about how the horses are trained as well as a tour of the yard and a trip up the gallops to watch the horses cantering up Fishers’ Hill. An enjoyable morning to learn all about Tom Ward Racing!

If you would like to visit Whitehouse Stables, we would love to hear from you! Please email [email protected] for more information.

HORSES FOR SALE

At Whitehouse Stables we have a selection of different ownership options to suit everyone’s budget. This could be the purchase of a horse outright, or maybe even a smaller share. Below is a selection of the horses we currently have for sale. Take a look on our website for further details.

2023 LUCKY VEGA ex EMRELIYA COLT (pictured below)

A strong, flashy colt by exciting Group 1 winning sire, LUCKY VEGA, out of the Danehill Dancer mare, EMRELIYA. Lucky Vega is starting to make waves from his first 2 crops with a Listed and a Group 2 winner. This colt was purchased from the Irish Tattersalls breeze up sales for 42,000 euros and is a half-brother to Listed placed STAISENZAPENZIERI & JUST AN IDEA. He should make his racecourse debut in the second half of the summer and is settling in well. Limited shares available AND the chance to name him, get in contact now for further information!