Lucy Wadham said: “You start to feel like you’re waiting for Godot, when it comes to the fictional character who never actually appeared in Samuel Beckett’s play of the same name.
It’s been a long winter and the days can seem to go by slowly when you have a horse aiming for a big race, but the sand in the Cheltenham Festival hourglass is now almost empty. Wadham had only to wait until Tuesday afternoon to unleash the dark gray mare, who has come out on top in the coach’s stellar season.
When we get together a week before the Cheltenham Festival kicks off, however, more than just thinking about her upcoming athletes is taking over Wadham’s mind. Walk into any coach’s field at 6:30 a.m. and they’ll normally be busy with their first out, but these are odd times and, when Wadham shows up, the conversation immediately becomes so horrible situation in Ukraine. She no doubt tells a lot of people when she says, “It’s really hard to think about anything else at the moment.”
But in the bubble of the British and Irish National Hunt, minds were focused on Cheltenham for months. For many, it was even more exciting than Christmas and here we are: Christmas Eve of the jumping race. Early Tuesday morning, Wadham will be on his way to the Cotswolds with Martello Sky (GB) (Martaline {GB}), the line taker for G1 Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle.
The nimble 6-year-old has a light-hearted action and could be mistaken for a Flat in the middle of the ropes mainly for Wadham’s direction of dance, but within her smaller frame lies a huge will to win. great. In just 12 starts since first entering the racetrack just over two years ago, Martello Sky has gone home first eight times. When she won her debut, her breeder, Tim Wood, was there to watch it. Tragically, Wood, who had been paralyzed in a hunting trip six years earlier, had died 18 months ago, leaving brother Simon and sister Kate Dixon to continue to race for pride and joy with those who lost their lives. friends Toby Sexton, Mark and Dawn Dewson under the name The Sky Collaboration.
“Tim will love all of this. Every time she wins, and she does it pretty often, we all have tears in our eyes,” said Wadham, who never took his eyes off his horses as they passed by on their way to the ring. galloping, tiny Martello Sky, ridden by Polly Gunn, tucked behind seven-time winner Potters Legend (GB), now 12 years old.
The barn is also home to Martello Sky’s half-sisters Mystic Sky (GB) (Midnight Legend {GB}) and Iconic Sky (GB) (Sixties Icon {GB}), who won eight races between them, as well as their dam, the Cloudings (Ire) Kentucky Sky (GB) mare. She was also the winner of Wood’s black and white silk suit and runner-up in the Sandown-listed Bumper EBF Mares competition.
“We trained all the girls in the family,” recalls Wadham. “And Martello Sky has been very outspoken for real training. We always like her at home and then the first time out in Fakenham she looks like she’s not going anywhere, but then suddenly the coin drops and she crosses the field and wins the race. narrowly. That was the start and now she has won eight. And she’s a double Cheltenham winner, which is always encouraged when it comes to the Festival. ”
She continued, “Her dancing has improved this year. We gave her a ‘new mare’ hurdle at last year’s Festival and she wasn’t experienced enough. She dived into the second one and Bryony [Frost, jockey] give her some time to recover. She finished very well – it wasn’t really a bad run since she nearly fell on the second hurdle – but her jump is a lot sharper now. ”
Indeed, since finishing eighth at Prestbury Park last year, Martello Sky’s progress has been remarkable. She won the Listed hurdle on the all-mares card back to Cheltenham last April before re-emerged this season’s triumph at Market Rasen. Her only setback in that time came in fourth behind Brewin’upastorm (Ire) at Aintree in November, and Martello Sky has since taken the color of the equally hardy mare Indefatigable (Ire) at Cheltenham and then a second successful landing at Sandown in January.
Wadham adds, “She is strong and light on her feet, and handles surprisingly soft ground. She is very flexible on the ground, which is very helpful. When they’re this small and light, it can really help from an acoustical perspective. “
The trainer also credits Bryony Frost for playing a key role in the mare’s development even though four of the last five Martello Sky starts she has had to ride elsewhere to make the cam. with owner Paul Nicholls.
During that time, Frost endured a controversial trial when her jumper friend Robbie Dunne was banned for 18 months for bullying and harassing Frost. That episode is not over as Dunne has appealed his restraining order and the appeal will be heard by the BHA on March 30.
Along with championship coach Paul Nicholls, Wadham is one of the few coaches to regularly use Frost’s services, who in 2019 became the first female jockey to win a Category 1 title at the World Championships. Cheltenham Festival aboard Frodon (Fr). Frost returns with that old friend in the G3 Ultima Handicap Chase on the opening day of this year’s Festival, with Martello Sky as her only ride on Tuesday.
“Bryony has become a good friend and I think she is a great racer,” said Wadham, an ardent supporter of the woman who started point-to-point racing.
“She has an extraordinary way of improving horses. Last year, some of our apps, like About Ruth, Sorbet and Martello Sky, all improved by having her ride them. And that’s a real gift. Also, the horse always comes first for her. She would never ride on an impossible horse, and she came to ride them all here and get to know them. She is a real asset to the yard. “
That field, despite having a much higher number of jumpers than Flat horses, is firmly in the center of Flat racetrack at the edge of Newmarket Heath at Moulton Paddocks. If that name sounds familiar, that’s because it’s more commonly associated in the summer with Charlie Appleby’s Godolphin stables, located right next door. While her neighbors clad in blue are far outnumbered by Wadham’s relatively small number of chains, the trainer, always wholeheartedly supported by her husband Justin, has kept up the good work. of that Newmarket corner over the years.
The Dark Lord (Ire), trained by Wadhams great friends Anthony and Victoria Pakenham, became her first black winner in a listed hurdles in 2004 bringing The colors were worn by Sir Percy (GB) coached by Marcus Tregoning to win the Derby two years later. The stable’s next big success came with another mare, United (Ger) (King of the Desert {Ire}), the winner of the 4-year-old G1 championship horse race at the Punchestown Festival. United also brought Wadham closest to victory at the Cheltenham Festival as she finished second to mighty Quevega (Fr) in the same race Martello Sky ran for on Tuesday.
But stables are far from one way. As for Pakenhams, Wadham has also trained the Flat bet winners Cassique Lady (Ire), Crystal Gal (Ire) and Lady Tiana (GB), with the latter, G2 winner Lancashire Oaks, more special. to her owner/herd like she is Sir Percy’s daughter.
“I think dancing is really our main love,” said Wadham, whose daughter Mimi is one half of the increasingly popular consignment company WH Bloodstock, with her friend and business partner Violet Hesketh , speak. “We like Flat but dancing somehow feels a little more noble, I don’t know why.”
She continued, “I love being here in Newmarket. I think it kept us under the radar which I quite enjoyed. But all the boys ran to the jump and when we went out they would call and say ‘how is she?’ Everyone really cares. Newmarket loves Cheltenham, and you don’t feel like you’re not part of the team here. There were a lot of jokes on the Heath pitch, it was fun. ”
The last time Newmarket welcomed home Cheltenham Festival winners was in 2006, when James Fanshawe-trained Reveillez (GB) won the Jewson Novices’ Chase for JP McManus. Prior to that, Fanshawe was represented by two Champion Hurdle winners in Hors La Loi (Fr) and Royal Gait (GB), the latter for Sheikh Mohammed, who also owned the 1990 Champion Hurdle winner, Kribensis ( GB), coached by Sir Michael Stoute. In the 1970s, Harry Thomson ‘Tom’ Jones coached the brilliant Tingle Creek from Newmarket, but no matter how brilliant, the great two-mile bellboy never won at Cheltenham. Go back even further to the 1930s and you’ll find an even greater name in the annals of the National Hunt, Golden Miller (Ire), five Cheltenham and Grand National Gold Cup winners who was trained in the neighboring village of Exning of Newmarket by Basil Briscoe.
“Historically a lot of good jumpers have trained here,” says Wadham. “So there’s no reason not to train divers at Newmarket. The facilities are great for any type of horse. I think really if you can’t train a horse in Newmarket, you might as well give up. “
Wadham certainly has no reason to do that. With another mare, Miss Heritage (Ire) (Pour Moi {Ire}), provided the stall With a 2nd place win in the Yorkshire Rose Mares’ Hurdle at the end of January, she is on her best season record since first getting her license 30 years ago, and is based on individual merit. her previous best in 2020/21. The 1st place win at the Festival would mark it all, even if circumstances once again bring the Martello Sky owner and trainer to tears. The waiting time is almost over.
