On Thursday of last week, our friend Leslie (and the owner of The Bell pub) gave us a wonderful tour of the Meddler Stud. She introduced us to the new babies, some of the race horses, and the big stallions. I have never spent much time around horses, so visiting the stud and then seeing the races from the owner/trainer section was an exciting experience.
All the mommas and babies lined up.
Smiling for the camera! :) This one had just been born earlier in the week, and was still a bit clumsy. Sooo cute!
The foals tend to stay in close range of their mother at all times.
On Saturday, Russell (the stud owner) and Danny (Leslie's husband) invited us to the races in Newmarket. We were excited for the free tickets, but did not expect the first-class treatment that we received. Russell had two horses racing that day, and he wanted us to truly experience horse racing from start to finish. As we walked in, he handed us a button-toggle pass, which allowed us access to the owner and trainer section located right at the finish line. Then he led us to the club level area in that section and bought us a drink. We quickly finished just in time to go down to the paddock, where Laminka (Russell's horse) was being saddled and prepped for the first race. We listened closely while the trainer briefed the jockey on her tendencies, and then watched her trott around the parade ring. It's incredible to see such powerful animals up so close.
We did the same routine for the last race, as Russell's horse named Millfields Dreams was running. This time, he came in fourth place! As soon as the race was over, Russell pulled us away, and led us down toward the parade ring. We weren't sure where we were going or what we were doing, until he told us that he was leading us to the winner's circle! So exciting! We bet small amounts on each race, and ended up picking 4 out of the 7 winners! Not bad, eh? We won enough to pay for several rounds of drinks for us and our new friends, and dinner at The Bell later that night.
All in all it was an unforgetable experience, and we feel so lucky to have met such amazing friends. Below are a few of the pictures that I took that day...
We did the same routine for the last race, as Russell's horse named Millfields Dreams was running. This time, he came in fourth place! As soon as the race was over, Russell pulled us away, and led us down toward the parade ring. We weren't sure where we were going or what we were doing, until he told us that he was leading us to the winner's circle! So exciting! We bet small amounts on each race, and ended up picking 4 out of the 7 winners! Not bad, eh? We won enough to pay for several rounds of drinks for us and our new friends, and dinner at The Bell later that night.
All in all it was an unforgetable experience, and we feel so lucky to have met such amazing friends. Below are a few of the pictures that I took that day...
I was on cloud 9 after watching the first race.
The saddling boxes, where the horses are prepped before the race.
The July Course in Newmarket is a straight course, but the racecourses differ throughout Britain. The turf differs, and so do the course layouts. It makes for new and different competition at each and every race.
This is the best picture I could get close up, because they go by extremely fast. Pretty cool, huh?
This is the view from the owner/trainer box, where they serve complimentary tea and sandwiches. No big deal. ;)
Congratulating Millfields Dreams in the winner's circle!
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