2013 was a rather hectic year for me both
personally and professionally (thus my lack of blog communication!) but 2014
has already got off to a racing start and I am excited and inspired by the
projects on the horizon.
Last year Racing Post Books was fortunate to
publish two great titles in Brough Scott’s Henry Cecil: Trainer of Genius and
Jamie’s Reid’s Doped: The True Story of the 1960’s Racehorse Doping Gang. The former was highly acclaimed as one of best
racing books ever - with sales to match the accolades – and the latter won us
the prestigious William Hill Sports Book of the Year award. For a small publisher this is a real
achievement and we were all thrilled that this came to pass.
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| The Racing Post team and author Jamie Reid celebrate our big win! |
I have worked with the team at the Racing Post
for six years now and frankly you could not find more dedicated, motivating and
simply, nicer people. In addition to the
40 or so annuals we publish, our challenge is to continually sustain the
momentum of a strong books ‘pipeline’ and as we go into 2014 we have the bit
between our teeth and some exciting titles lined up. These include a book with the world’s number one eventer, Andrew Nicholson, and with
the horse whisperer, Gary Witheford. I
can’t wait to get out and about in the autumn to attend some of the equestrian
events as our promotional vehicle kicks into gear and I expect we’ll plan a few
big ‘demos’ with Gary so he can showcase his work in action. I’ve seen him at work a few times, and visited
him at home last week, and am personally inspired to learn more about what he
does and how he does it. I’ve already
practised a few of the techniques he uses on my own horses (with some success!),
and I hope – and think – that the book we are doing with him, will have a huge
impact in the equestrian world.
A foray away from racing will also be the
backdrop for a few of the Injured Jockeys Fund’s 50th anniversary
events as in 2014 the IJF will be the official charity of both Olympia in December
and the Barbury Horse Trials in July. At
both these events we will host some kind of ‘Jockey’s Challenge’ (all to be
revealed!) and it is going to be a tremendous amount of fun putting some of our
top jockeys in front of big crowds to see how they get on in ‘Prince Philip
Cup’ style activities!! A list of all
the IJF’s planned events are viewable at http://www.injuredjockeys.co.uk/ijf-celebrating-50-years.asp
and every race course in the country will also host some kind of IJF race day
to celebrate 50 years of the Fund. It is
a hugely important year for the IJF with a programme of awareness raising
activities, the climax of which will be the opening of Jack Berry House in the
autumn, the eagerly awaited respite and rehab centre – and the north’s
equivalent of Oaksey House in Lambourn.
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| Jack Berry starts work at Jack Berry House with injured jockey Brian Toomey |
As well as more projects for The Bob Champion
Cancer Trust, I am working again on the Martin Wills Writing Awards www.willswritingawards.co.uk and
this year we have added a new prize for the overall winner of a ‘Literary Lunch’
with Jilly Cooper. I’ll also be
involved in the 2014 Mongol Derby www.mongolderby.com
and a fascinating WW1 project with the sculptor Philip Blacker.
So I am set for a busy year but am planning to
update this blog on a more regular basis with some snippets and pictures of the
fascinating people I meet and the extraordinary places my work takes me…
On a personal note, and after a recent move up
onto the Cranborne Chase in the depths of Wiltshire, my ‘leisure’ year is set
to be pretty taken up with my two ex-racehorses, ‘Lords’ and ‘Troopy’. They are both coming along in leaps and
bounds (although these days not literally!) and I shall be starting to get them
out and about competing, albeit at a very low level!!
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| There is an undeniable pleasure having my horses this close to home! |
