Jock’s Big Night

The contribution of our assistant trainer Jock Bennett to the sport of racing in general and to Yorkshire racing in particular was recognised recently when he was the recipient of an award at the prestigious Timeform Charity Dinner.
Jock was named the Pride of Yorkshire for his sterling work in the sport, while leading jumps owner Trevor Hemmings was honoured by being named Personality of 2008 at the annual charity event.
Jim McGrath, Timeform's managing director and of course a leading owner with MJR, said: "Jock Bennett has been in racing for over thirty years and from his early days with Bill Watts in Richmond, through to his current position with Mark Johnston, he has built a reputation for enthusiasm and hard work.”
Hearty congratulations to Jock on this well-deserved honour.

Keen As Mustard!

Mustard showing off to the judges

Over the years MJR has won a number of awards and prizes, but one member of the office staff has found a new way to bring success to the yard. Rebecca Goldsborough is a puppy-walker with the Bedale Hunt in Northallerton and was over the moon recently when her hound Mustard won the “best working hound” prize. Deirdre and Mikaelle hunt with the Bedale and, fortunately for us, Mikaelle was on hand with her trusty camera to see Mustard in action and Rebecca receive her prize.

Mustard in a very relaxed moment!

A delighted Rebecca told the Klarion: “Mustard was a lovely hound puppy to walk, he would be quite happy just to be with us and not run away......too much!!! but as you can see from the picture he is a real character.”

Rebecca & Andrew Osborne, Master of the Bedale

Show Win For Deirdre

Deirdre & Saint Clements

As most of our readers will know, Deirdre is an accomplished horsewoman in her own right. Quite apart from her ‘day job’ of riding out several lots each day, she is also a keen eventer, hunts with the Bedale Hunt and now features on the Racing Post database as a trainer of point-to-pointers too.

We’re delighted to report her latest success, a win in the retraining of racehorses class at the North Yorkshire Sport Horse Show. Deirdre partnered Saint Clements to victory there. He is a six-year-old gelding by Lemon Drop Kid who ran in three juvenile maidens for the yard back in 2004. "Clem" has now qualified for the championship at Addington. We’ll keep you posted on the partnership’s future successes.