92 Family Law

SCHOOL NEWS

Horsington children accidentally treated to a masterclass by legendary horse trainer

Pupils from Horsington Church School had a trip to the racecourse - and ended up receiving a tour from racehorse trainer David Elsworth

As well as being given the full VIP experience, a talk about life in-front of the camera by Racing TV presenter Jess Stafford and a glimpse behind the scenes on a busy race day, the undoubted highlight was walking the course with racing icon Elsworth (pictured below), who is best known for training the great grey Desert Orchid in the 1980s. Elsworth became a household name through the success of ‘Dessie’, the horse known to millions for winning the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 1989 and the King George VI Chase on four occasions. After retiring in December following a 43-year career as a trainer, Elsworth hadn’t planned on taking on the children’s tour. He said: “I was cleaning out my office and I had a nice picture of old Cavvies Clown in action at the racecourse. I wondered if Wincanton would like it and it all went from there. I ended up showing the kids round for a while, which was great. The racecourse were very kind, and it all became a bigger deal than me just trying to find a new home for the picture!” Now 82, Elsworth is a popular figure at Wincanton and the racecourse’s General Manager, Jack Parkinson, was delighted with the gesture from the former champion trainer, who was in nearby Whitsbury before moving to Newmarket in 2006. He said: “When we found out David wanted to gift us the picture, we invited him along as a guest of the racecourse for the day. It just so happened that the children were also here with Racing To School (a charity which aims to inspire the next generation to take an interest in horseracing). “David was incredibly generous with his time and more than happy to give them a moneycan’t-buy experience of a day at the races. Hopefully they had fun and we’ll see them here enjoying days out with their families for years to come.”

Olympic Gold Medallist Kate French visits Leweston School

Leweston School had a very special visit from Kate French, Olympic Gold medallist for Modern Pentathlon at the Tokyo Olympics, on Tuesday 7 December. Kate is the first British competitor to win since Steph Cook took gold in the 2000 Sydney games. During the day, Kate met a number of Leweston Senior students who all take part in the family of sports that make up Modern Pentathlon such as Biathle, Biathlon Triathlon, Laser Run and Pentathlon. The students were provided with the opportunity to ask questions about Kate’s life as a Modern Pentathlon athlete and how she got to be in the Olympics. Kate also visited the Prep School where she spoke to the pupils and the pentathletes to help inspire them. Kate gave a short talk about Pentathlon and the Olympics, followed by a question-and-answer session with questions from the pupils such as “do you feel nervous before a race” and “how do you control your nerves”.