Storm Vaughan hit British point-to-pointing on the opening day of the season and is likely to persist until mid-June.
This article first appeared in the Racing Post on Wednesday 31st January.
Unlike Henk, Isha and the many others which have caused disruption, Vaughan is most welcome. Glamorgan licensed trainer Tim Vaughan (pictured right with wife Abbi and son Ed) has returned with gusto to the sport which set him on the racing road, registering a string of horses and putting handy money into point-to-pointing’s coffers in a bid to give his son Ed, 16, a power-packed start as a rider.
Parents have been buying horses for their children to race since Romans tore round Circus Maximus in chariots, and the bank of mum and dad has endured a right hammering down the years through British point-to-pointing. Yet to my knowledge no parent has lined up 20 horses for a novice rider.
Vaughan says: “I’m an enthusiast and, if I’m going to do it, I’ll do it properly. Knowing Ed would be 16 for the start of the current season, we began planning a year in advance. We looked at horses we had that weren’t quite making it under rules or were coming back from a lay-off, we bought some young horses and there were some we bred. We also bought some from France with a little bit of form that could step up over a longer trip.
“I didn’t want him riding unraced horses – he’s 16, so what’s the point – but we were looking for young horses that could win a couple of points and then be sold back into the yard to run under rules. If he wants to stay in the sport, we won’t be able to continue at this level for ever, but hopefully he will start getting outside rides [in the last two weeks he has ridden for David Brace and partnered a winner when Tom Scudamore sent out his first point-to-point runner]. I want to get him going, but hope he develops his own name.”
So far so good, for (at the time of writing) Ed has ridden in 34 point-to-points, partnering six winners and ten placed horses. He started on the opening day of the season in early November with four rides, and, as might be expected from a lad who rode more than 100 pony race winners, looked as natural as yoghurt.
Ed Vaughan winning on Ocojohn at Milborne St Andrew in Dorset
Vaughan Snr has known glory days and ‘sat’ a buck and a bronc in his training career. He trained 102 winners in 2011/12, a Scottish National winner the previous season, and there have been Grade One winners on both sides of the Irish Sea. At its peak, Pant Wilkin Stables housed 130 horses, but that has more than halved, leading to fresh ideas and diversification on his 110-acre plot of land. After all, he has to fund pointers for Ed, show ponies for Grace, 15, and motocross bikes for Henry, 9. Wife Abbi “coordinates everything” and is someone of whom Tim talks with admirable respect. All three children have won championships in their chosen disciplines.
Commenting on changes that have affected not only his yard but others from Chepstow to Ffos Las, he says: “The recession [2008] was probably harder in Ireland than in Britain and at that time we were able to buy horses who had been taking part in 30-runner races over there and we could place in eight or nine-runner summer races in Britain. You could buy a horse from £2,000 to £30,000 and win four or five races. You could exploit opportunities, but race planning has since changed and the cost of horses has gone up dramatically – if you can find one to buy.
“Everyone has a honeymoon period and I had mine, I was the kiddie-kid for a while, but we were over-achieving without the funding of wealthy owners to sustain it. When I had my peak, Rebecca Curtis got going, and since then Christian [Williams] and Sam [Thomas] have come along. I love training horses and I love my job; handling pointers for Ed is my hobby.”
Celebrations after Ed completes a treble on Halo Des Obeaux at Great Trethew in Cornwall (Tim Holt)
Covid and Brexit have had an impact too, but Vaughan shows no sign of lamenting his lot. In fact he has turned it into a series of money-making schemes. His lower yard has been turned into commercial units now housing such random businesses as a tots nursery, a sofa manufacturer and a bakery.
A £500,000 investment in a piece of kit that would do justice to Port Talbot steelworks has seen him receive wood chips from a tree surgeon, dry them, burn them and create heat that is bought by his tenants. A farm shop, veterinary centre and fishing lakes are on the agenda, three holiday lodges are up and running with plans for more and he has multiple planning applications with the local council. His first career, as a chartered surveyor, has been key to these developments, but they have only become reality because of Vaughan’s drive and ambition.
He may be brimming with enthusiasm, but he is not driving his son on to fulfil an unsated ambition of his own. He too was 16 when Christian Williams’ father, Robert, legged him up for his first point-to-point ride and he went on to become a double Welsh champion who was also runner-up on a couple of occasions to the then dominant Evan Williams.
He says: “The sport has changed massively since I was riding. Back then you had more pure amateurs like myself. Before Ed started this season he said, ‘Let’s get some DVDs out and watch Dad riding’ so we watched my 100th winner and, oh God, it was embarrassing. I had to turn it off – I didn’t want Ed watching it! He is so far ahead of my standard.
“Point-to-pointing is more commercial now with yards preparing young horses to sell, but the heart of the sport is still there and there are loads of people doing it for fun. I’ve loved bumping into old friends as we’ve gone to meetings this season.
“In my day you could write off ten of the 14 runners in a race as being unfit, unschooled or just not good enough. Now it’s like going to a meeting under Rules, the horses look fit and well and the general standard of riding is much higher.”
Modesty has not escaped Ed, who says: “I was seven when I first schooled a racehorse. At the time I thought I was more than capable – looking back it was probably over-ambitious, but it felt normal at the time.”
Ed Vaughan on the all-weather gallop at Pant Wilkin Stables
A pony racing champion on both sides of the Irish Sea, he says: “I’ve always thought point-to-pointing was for me because I was very aware of my height [nearly 6ft and growing], and a lot of the pony races we went to were part of a point-to-point.
“I would love to be a conditional jockey, but I’ll go the alternative route and hopefully get a Cat B licence and continue with education. I’ve always been guided by Mum and Dad to get a good education as a back-up plan and I’m enjoying it, particularly now I’m doing A-levels, focussing on subjects I enjoy and having more time to ride out.
“I learned a lot from pony racing, everything from talking to people in the paddock, what to do at the start, handling the adrenalin rush. It teaches you the basics. I started on very small ponies, who went flat out from the start, but as I got older and rode bigger ponies over longer distances you learn to ride a race.”
The bond between father and son is noticeable. Tim says: “He’s been at my side since he was two because he loves horses. We grew a real bond in trips to Ireland when he was riding in pony races. Every Saturday night in the summer we would leave home before midnight, get on a ferry at 2am, drive across to the west with Ed map reading, ride in races, then turn round and get home at 2.30am. A few hours later I’d go to work and he’d go to school.”
Ed remembers that time fondly saying: “It was mad, but I learned so much. Some of the Irish kids were riding in 12 races a weekend and lads like Sam Ewing and Dylan Browne McMonagle were 15 and about to start racing proper. Riding against kids that good taught me a lot.
“I’ve never said ‘Dad, I don’t want to go racing today’.”
