Kate Green meets Philip Hobbs and Johnson White, in our series on the people who make Christmas in the country the joy it is, to discover how racehorses are looked after even when everyone else is inside with turkey and mince pies.
Christmas Day itself is one of the more laid-back times in a racing yard — it and the two days preceding are the only racing-free dates in the whole year. It’s the run-up to an intense period of high-class National Hunt racing (mass entries, staff with family commitments, booking jockeys, transport and many owner badges), which involves military-style logistics and a need to sober up rapidly. There are eight meetings on Boxing Day alone, not to mention roads clogged with holiday traffic.
Philip Hobbs and Johnson White, who train about 70 horses under a joint licence in hilly west Somerset overlooking the Bristol Channel, might have runners heading for Wincanton (at the far end of the county), the principal Boxing Day meeting at Kempton Park (outside London), Fontwell Park (West Sussex) or one of the northern tracks. ‘Racing is early anyway, because of the fading light, so horses will be fed at about 5am and leave the yard at 6am,’ explains Mr White. ‘A winner on any day is nice, but Boxing Day is certainly special. Wherever you go, it’s a big family day out and owners are usually around.’
On the murky November day of Country Life’s visit, both trainers had been up since long before dawn. Mr Hobb — whose wife, Sarah, daughter of Olympic eventing gold medallist Bertie Hill, is a big part of the operation — managed a boiled egg and toast at 10.30am, but history doesn’t relate if Mr White, formerly his long-time assistant, had any breakfast. Sandhill Racing Stables, where Mr Hobbs has trained since 1985, is his family home — his late father, Tony, a graceful and common sense horseman in his own right, farmed the Crown Estate-owned land. His success — more than 3,000 winners, including the 2003 Champion Hurdle with Rooster Booster, and a regular slot near the top of the trainers’ table — is a great source of local pride and interest.
Christmas Day at Sandhill Racing Stables is always jolly. All the staff come in to work until about 11am; those who live locally and on site do afternoon stables and have a day off in lieu. Much festive tinsel is in evidence on bridles and skullcaps, plus it’s the only day of the year that Mr Hobbs, a former jockey, gets aboard a horse. ‘It’s a standing joke that I ride out on Christmas Day — on something very safe. We go to church and might have local friends back for a drink before a big family lunch.’
Christmas treat ‘It’s the only day of the year I don’t speak to anyone on the phone’ (Philip Hobbs); ‘Staying at home with the family and not driving’ (Johnson White).
www.pjhobbs.com
This piece is extracted from an article in Country Life’s 2024 Christmas double issue — see what else is inside and order a copy here
