Keith works hard in ‘The Sport of Kings’

Keith Goldsworthy and his wife Linda have rightly earned a reputation in the world of horse racing for turning out excellent horses from their stables at Grumble Bush Farm at Yerbeston, near Cresselly – and we recently enjoyed a lovely morning with Keith and Linda at their stables to chat about their work.
It was interesting to note that whilst Keith is focussed on success he is very philosophical about horse racing and quotes the old adage that
“There is nothing like a horse to make a fool of you!”
He measures success not only on getting good horses first past the post but making sure that all his horses achieve their full potential by being open-minded about what their best distances are and ensuring that every one of their charges is really well looked after. He answered all our questions with total honesty and the answers make interesting reading.

How did you start out in racing?

I certainly had a background in racing since my father Peter was a very good point to point jockey and older brothers Charles and Peter were professional jockeys, with Charles having ridden winners for the late Queen Mother. I tried other things first and owned Greenacres Waste from 1989, starting with two lorries and 25 bins before eventually selling it with 30 employees.
Then I bought the 37 acres we have now when it was just farmland and since then we have established the stable by sheer hard work and providing value for money. Linda is enormous help and I certainly couldn’t do what I do without her total involvement alongside me. She is an excellent horse woman who recently rode in a charity flat race at Chepstow and came a creditable third – but more importantly raised over £1,000 for the Injured Jockeys’ Fund.

What is your message for anyone who is thinking of buying a share in a racehorse?

They should remember that they are in it for fun and should only invest money in a horse that they can afford to spend because although some horses are real winners they are few and far between and so owners should remember they are in the so-called ‘Sport of Kings’ and really enjoy the experience of seeing their horses run, with victory as a real bonus that gives a huge buzz. I am the professional and need to make the stables pay but they are guaranteed that we will do our best – and can’t do more than that. I am lucky that I have a number of very supportive local owners but also have owners from as far afield as London, Birmingham and Yorkshire – and I have a staff that are totally committed to hard work.

Can you tell us about the facilities you now have?

We are really utilising the space here at this idyllic setting and can cater for 12 horses, with others prepped elsewhere and with planning approval for another 12 stables. We use our three furlong circular all-weather gallop and four furlong flat gallop with long home straight for exercising the horses, which are warmed up and cooled down afterwards (very important!) on our automatic walker which can cater for five horses and can be pre-set at various speeds up to a trot. We pride ourselves on the cleanliness of our set-up, especially the stabling area, and the all-weather gallops, whilst owners know that they are welcome to visit at any time during the day.

What would be a typical day in your life with the horses?

I get up at 6.30 am to start the mucking out and feed the horses before I have my own breakfast. At 8.30 the girls arrive and the riding and grooming work begins. Rowena Sinclair and Georgina Morris do great work with Linda on the gallops and are joined by Linda Jones three times a week, with the normal run being three sets of four circuits, using a long canter speed, about three quarters of a normal gallop. Once all the horses are exercised and then fed the girls finish and after lunch I have plenty of other work to do.
I have to organise farriers and vets, dress the gallops with the tractor and special roller to smooth out all the hoof prints and about 4.30pm I water the horses, feed them hay and put on their rugs. At about 7pm we do the final feeding and watering and muck the stables out again – and at about 10pm I have a final stroll around to check that all is well since we have a great deal of money invested in our livestock and they have to be in tip-top condition.

What about sorting out entries for races?

That’s another job that takes time and has to be properly done since it is vital to enter each horse in races which give it the best chance since no-one remembers a horse which has come second.
We study the race programmes published weekly and on-line entries must be completed six days before a race and the final declaration of running has to be in 24-48 hours prior to a race. Then I have to book jockeys (another key job!) and organise travel arrangements. I drive the horse box and my sister Frances will help if we attend two meetings – and our annual mileage is over 40,000!
Rowena acts as travelling head girl and such is the pride that she takes in turning out our horses that has won the prize for turning out the best horse prior to a race no fewer than 18 times this year, an amazing feat.

Tell us about some of your successes?

I started out with horses called Sip of Brandy and Mr Dow Jones, who was the yard’s first winner and I will never forget the buzz of unsaddling him in the winner’s enclosure. Since then we have had over 60 winners at point to point and under national hunt rules, with over £350,000 in prize money, with £125,000 of that in an excellent last season. We are lucky to have cracking horses like Hills of Aran and Hold’em, both owned locally by David Hughes and Mike Evans, whilst Silver Blue has recently won three races. Derek’s a good one to watch in the future, as is a new horse called Baron de Doc.
We were delighted to have winners like Spirit of Tenby and Rajan because they had not done well elsewhere and came up trumps when we tried them at different distances from what they were used to.

What were the wins that gave you the biggest buzz?

They are all great but Cheltenham is a special place and it was doubly so when we won there with Mr Dow Jones at 25 to 1 in 2002. It was absolutely marvellous – as was New Year’s Day 2008 when we romped home there with Hills of Arran. That really was a moment to savour!

What ambitions do you still have left?

As a trainer I naturally hope to be saddling more winners and we all hope to win a ‘big ‘un’ at some time. But I’ll carry on enjoy doing what I am doing now because although it is hard work there are so many plusses, none more so than the place I live, the people I work with and the horses themselves!