11 May 2010 Landmarks: May 8th & 9th
by Carolyn Tanner
Kelsie Willis, who celebrated her 16th birthday as recently as March 31st, opened her account at Chaddesley Corbett on Sunday by winning the Hunt race on Catch The Bus, owned and trained by her mother Lisa. She has also enjoyed success in the show-jumping arena and is currently combining Point-to-Pointing with competing in British Eventing novice classes.
Kelsie, a pupil at William Brookes School, Much Wenlock, will shortly be sitting no fewer than 18 exams which comprise the ten GCSE subjects she is taking. She is intending to stay on at school for the next academic year before deciding on any future plans.
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There was an initial success, also in a Hunt race, for Will Brockbank, 22, on Tomopolly. Fittingly this was on Saturday at Aspatria, on the land owned and farmed by the Brockbank family. Will's interest in horses dwindled while he was away at school, and for a while shooting took over, but at the age of 19 a chance day's hunting rekindled his enthusiasm. He had his first outing between the flags last year.
Will's father Tim first won the corresponding race as a rider in 1991, but the name of Brockbank has appeared on the trophy countless times, including last year when it was won by Tristan Davidson on Lolipop for Will's grandparents John and Elizabeth. "Tristan's been a tremendous help to me," said Will, "but when he returned the rider's perpetual trophy it wasn't very clean, so I gave him a bit of stick!"
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Saturday was a red-letter day also for 22-year-old Robert Martin, who scored his first success in the Members' Conditions race at Peper Harow on New Lodge Express, owned by his parents Chris and Moira. Robert, who works full-time in the family butchery business at Seal, near Sevenoaks, has had a limited number of rides, the first of which was four years ago, and he was out of action last season after breaking his shoulder in February. He starts work early in the morning and trains New Lodge Express, his only Pointer, in his lunch break. The horse was bought privately from out of Tim Stephenson's yard just a fortnight before Robert partnered him for the first time, finishing fourth at Godstone.
At the age of 16 Robert spent six weeks working in Australia for his uncle, trainer Fergus O'Connor, from whom he says "I learned a tremendous amount."
