What happens to Grand National runners when they retire from racing ? If they’re anything like Royal Predica, they start a whole new life and career !
This big and beautiful chestnut gelding ( 16.3 hands and gorgeous – see photos! – despite some old battle-scars) won some £126,000 racing, mostly over the big chasing fences. He started his career as a 3-year-old in France, then went to UK trainer Martin Pipe’s yard to race over jumps. He won numerous chases – at Ascot, Warwick, Aintree, etc – over a long career, and in 2003 won the Kim Muir at Cheltenham at odds of 33-1 ! He tackled the Grand National no less than four times, completing the course twice to finish 8th and 12th. As he got older, he did a spell of point-to-point racing too. The snag there was that, due to his impressive reputation and form, he was usually asked to carry a stone more in weight than the other runners. So, great horse though he was, he wasn’t very successful.
Around this time, some three years ago, Anj Hughes was looking for a horse. Her friend Helen ( herself the proud owner of another famous ex-racer, Akarus) had a contact at the training yard and heard that Royal Predica was available. Anj saw him and fell in love. After a nail-biting few days, when another party was interested, the deal was done and Anj carried Royal Predica off to her Devon home for a whole life-makeover. His racing days were over – it was on to new stuff. And a new petname – ‘Perds’.
At first, says Anj, he was a typical racehorse – quick to take off at the gallop ( “an exhilarating experience, to say the least!”), a bit too handy with his back legs ( they knicknamed him Pistol Pete), and quite ‘institutionalised’, in that he was only used to the strict routine of a busy racing yard. He also had a scary nap-spin-rear trick that took some sorting out. “The first Boxing Day he was home,” recalls Anj, “I went to go on a circuit and spent 45 minutes in the same spot! Now, though, he may hesitate a minute, maybe bounce a little, but then he will settle and carry on. Loads of tight circles, and my hand on his neck for encouragement and reassurance, have worked wonders.”
Now, Perds is “the perfect gentleman” to ride in company ( though sometimes a bit sharp and playful when out alone). “ He cruises round the village as if he owns it.” He’s good and quiet to handle too, though Anj has to add that he still kicks holes in his wooden stable, flicking a back leg “just to hear the noise”!
He is a fantastic hunter. Hedges and ditches are easy-peasy for this Grand National veteran, and hunter trials are a piece of cake. Not only that, but Perds has also turned his hooves to both dressage and showing, with great success. He made his showring debut ( with Helen aboard) just six months after leaving racing, and drew admiring compliments on how well he was taking to his reschooling. This year, Anj has entered him in the Racehorse to Riding Horse qualifier at the Devon County Show in May, as well as the Honiton Show in August.
It hasn’t all been plain sailing, of course. In particular, Perds has had a lot of time off due to foot problems. “He’s got typical TB feet,” explains Anj. “He’s had several bouts of pus in the hooves, and then a piece of flint pierced his sole, so now his feet are padded in front.” But good farriery and remedial diet mean Perd’s hooves are steadily improving.
So Royal Predica, now 15 years old, is really enjoying life. He has a 2-acre paddock which he shares with Tara, a Connemara-cross mare, with the stable doors open 24/7 for free access. The yard owners, meanwhile, provide a constant supply of apples, carrots and polo mints. And with all his new activities – hunting, showing, dressage, hacking out ( sometimes ride-and-lead with his girlfriend Tara) - Perds is never bored. Like many ‘retired’ people, his life seems fuller, if less strenuous, than ever.
“I’ve ridden loads of horses in my 52 years,” says Anj “ but none quite like Perds. I’m so lucky to have had this opportunity to not only ride, but to own, the most athletic, speedy, intelligent, comfortable horse in my life. He’s my sports-car in that midlife crisis ! I love him to bits, and he has a home with me for life.”
This big and beautiful chestnut gelding ( 16.3 hands and gorgeous – see photos! – despite some old battle-scars) won some £126,000 racing, mostly over the big chasing fences. He started his career as a 3-year-old in France, then went to UK trainer Martin Pipe’s yard to race over jumps. He won numerous chases – at Ascot, Warwick, Aintree, etc – over a long career, and in 2003 won the Kim Muir at Cheltenham at odds of 33-1 ! He tackled the Grand National no less than four times, completing the course twice to finish 8th and 12th. As he got older, he did a spell of point-to-point racing too. The snag there was that, due to his impressive reputation and form, he was usually asked to carry a stone more in weight than the other runners. So, great horse though he was, he wasn’t very successful.
Around this time, some three years ago, Anj Hughes was looking for a horse. Her friend Helen ( herself the proud owner of another famous ex-racer, Akarus) had a contact at the training yard and heard that Royal Predica was available. Anj saw him and fell in love. After a nail-biting few days, when another party was interested, the deal was done and Anj carried Royal Predica off to her Devon home for a whole life-makeover. His racing days were over – it was on to new stuff. And a new petname – ‘Perds’.
At first, says Anj, he was a typical racehorse – quick to take off at the gallop ( “an exhilarating experience, to say the least!”), a bit too handy with his back legs ( they knicknamed him Pistol Pete), and quite ‘institutionalised’, in that he was only used to the strict routine of a busy racing yard. He also had a scary nap-spin-rear trick that took some sorting out. “The first Boxing Day he was home,” recalls Anj, “I went to go on a circuit and spent 45 minutes in the same spot! Now, though, he may hesitate a minute, maybe bounce a little, but then he will settle and carry on. Loads of tight circles, and my hand on his neck for encouragement and reassurance, have worked wonders.”
Now, Perds is “the perfect gentleman” to ride in company ( though sometimes a bit sharp and playful when out alone). “ He cruises round the village as if he owns it.” He’s good and quiet to handle too, though Anj has to add that he still kicks holes in his wooden stable, flicking a back leg “just to hear the noise”!
He is a fantastic hunter. Hedges and ditches are easy-peasy for this Grand National veteran, and hunter trials are a piece of cake. Not only that, but Perds has also turned his hooves to both dressage and showing, with great success. He made his showring debut ( with Helen aboard) just six months after leaving racing, and drew admiring compliments on how well he was taking to his reschooling. This year, Anj has entered him in the Racehorse to Riding Horse qualifier at the Devon County Show in May, as well as the Honiton Show in August.
It hasn’t all been plain sailing, of course. In particular, Perds has had a lot of time off due to foot problems. “He’s got typical TB feet,” explains Anj. “He’s had several bouts of pus in the hooves, and then a piece of flint pierced his sole, so now his feet are padded in front.” But good farriery and remedial diet mean Perd’s hooves are steadily improving.
So Royal Predica, now 15 years old, is really enjoying life. He has a 2-acre paddock which he shares with Tara, a Connemara-cross mare, with the stable doors open 24/7 for free access. The yard owners, meanwhile, provide a constant supply of apples, carrots and polo mints. And with all his new activities – hunting, showing, dressage, hacking out ( sometimes ride-and-lead with his girlfriend Tara) - Perds is never bored. Like many ‘retired’ people, his life seems fuller, if less strenuous, than ever.
“I’ve ridden loads of horses in my 52 years,” says Anj “ but none quite like Perds. I’m so lucky to have had this opportunity to not only ride, but to own, the most athletic, speedy, intelligent, comfortable horse in my life. He’s my sports-car in that midlife crisis ! I love him to bits, and he has a home with me for life.”
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