“Unsung Heroes” (Part 1) ADELE ALSOP

Photo above: Adele Alsop & colleagues with ONE WORLD. Photo courtesy Chase Liebenberg. I think I was one of the last “visitors” to the Vaughan Marshall stables in Milnerton to meet and greet the great son of Captain Al, ONE WORLD, Born and bred in Tokai in the Cape, Ms Alsop before he left VHM for good and moved on to stud. I had visited with him also, a week or two before his fantastic Sun Met victory over friends’ horses, and then into racing.” Rainbow Bridge. A proud and sentient boy, who carried himself with pride and assurance, he left a great impression on me. That’s what great horses do... impress. I was, on those occasions, hosted by Mr Marshall and his gregarious and redoubtable assistant, Adele Alsop, and their inimitable friendly Jack Russells who have the run of the place. A friendlier stable I have never visited. And hardly a more successful one. VHM Racing is legendary, and the “Graded” notches on Marshall’s rather capacious belt are many. Racing fundis would know all that! Assistant trainer Adele Alsop is pushing 10 YEARS now as Mr Marshall’s “right hand.” has always been “besotted with horses.” She explained: “My first experiences with horses were on my Ouma’s farm. My Oupa was a very good horseman. The farm experience led to riding schools, excercising canine cohorts Jack and Molly, the equineAs a ‘work rider’, Adele had no less than a legend as teacher/tutor: Bert Abercrombie. “He taught me how to ride work, and then the bug bit,” she recalled.

Before joining the Marshall stable in February 2011, she admits: “I was a bit restless when I was younger, so before joining Vaughan, I have quite a list of ‘befores’. I worked for Greg Ennion for two years, Geoff Woodruff for two years, and Andre Heyns for six-and-ahalf years. I ran Clodagh Shaw’s satellite yard for two years. I was in Johannesburg for four years before returning to Cape Town where I worked for Glen Kotzen for four-anda-half years. And then I joined VHM. In Feb 2021 it will be 10 years with Vaughan.” An obvious question I asked her was, to name some of the best horses she’s been ‘associated’ with. “so many,” was her answer, ‘but firm favourites are Big City Life, Hill Fifty Four – even though he once broke six of my ribs -, William Longsword, Tap ‘O Noth. And, of course, my ‘heart horse’, One World.”

As we waltzed around the stables with Molly at our heels, I asked Adele to give a ‘precis’ of how her average working day is...“I get to work at 5am. Make coffee for The Boss and me. I then take a walk around checking up on things and then off to the first string. Thereafter another walk around, checking the horses’ legs and chatting to our staff on how their horses are doing. Then it’s second string time. At 8am the Vet’s in to check up any concerns and to do any follow-up treatments on the horses. Thereafter it’s the third string. After that, final check-ups and home.” She’s back at the stable at 2pm when the afternoons, she admits, are fairly quiet. “But,” she adds, “we’re always there!” Adele used to compete in showjumping and eventing so, when she has the chance, she follows her many friends who are still active in the various branches of equestria. “I’ve met so many amazing people and made so many friends through this incredible sport,” she says. “Also, after a very serious accident a decade ago, I was amazed and humbled at how the industry look after each other. Very, very humbling.” I asked her about her thoughts on the future of racing, and Cape racing in particular, given the fact that the industry is ‘rollercoasting’ presently. “Worrying times,” she admitted. “However, there are a lot of powerful and influential people with a great love for the game. I’m confident we will pull through. Two things: if the E.U. open our travel restrictions, it will be huge. And, of course, we need to get people back onto the racecourses.”

I met Adele decades ago, when she was working for Andre Heyns. I was an oncourse presenter back then and interviewed her on camera several times. She always came across as friendly, approachable, goodhumoured and extremely likeable. Nothing’s changed. She still is that person I knew back then.

I asked her about her ‘hopes and ambitions.’ “Well,” said Adele, “I want to keep moving forward in a positive way, and, simply, carry on being involved with these majestic animals...”

And then there we were, Adele, Molly and me, in front of One World’s box. The big boy looked at us and stuck out his tongue.