It is minus two and the paddock behind Epsom’s famous South Hatch stables, still dusted with snow, is bone-hard as the horses circle for inspection by trainer Jim Boyle. Come off on this ground and you could easily snap a collarbone. But there is not a whisper of apprehension.
When Wunder Strike, who scored his fourth consecutive win only the previous Saturday, bucks and kicks with the energy of a horse who wants to take on allcomers again today, sending others skittering, there are only smiles all round. ‘He’s always like that,’ says his proud trainer.
It is a stable of youthful happy grafters bustling their way to increasing success. Jim Boyle’s total for the 2009 season was 61 winners and his horses are leading a long-due Epsom revival. As the horses — Lady Kent, Party In The Park, Ocean’s Edge — file across the racecourse in the snow, Simon Dow’s string is visible, too — the total from nine or ten small yards using Epsom’s excellent facilities now backs up to 170 a month.
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