PROFILE FEATURE
The legacy of horse racing in Deeping - Pat Farrell It is hard to imagine, as the traffic whistles by on the A15 to Bourne, that the fields here provided the gallops for the yard of successful small trainer Mike Vergette known to all his employees as ‘the guvnor!’. With a stable of about 40 horses, mostly National Hunt, some flat racers, the horses were trained on the fields that are now Tattershall Drive, the old Deeping Show Field on Millfield Road and on Six Score Fen Road at Langtoft. Imagine the sound of thundering hooves, the divots of mud kicked into the air and the excitement of this happening on Deeping’s doorstep! Pat Farrell (nee Gowland) had always loved horses. She moved to this area from Yorkshire when her mother fell ill from TB and was treated at Papworth, living with her grandparents at the Three Tuns on Westwood Street, Peterborough. It was about this time that Pat managed to get her own pony, Tammy. She belonged to Sam Frear of Spalding and would not be broken in – biting and kicking and impossible to catch. Pat rented a small paddock from the vicar at Longthorpe and would tie her to a fence post while she mounted her and would ride her bare back, as she was unable to afford the conventional tack. When she had settled down Sam took her back and sold her but she would have a special place in Pat’s heart forever! Pat quickly got a job of her dreams with Michael Stokes who had a livery yard and riding stables in Wansford. At 16, Pat joined eight others and became a ‘lad’ for Mike Vergette. Her first digs were with Tess Blessett and now Tess’s granddaughter, Louise, homes her horse with Pat! Some lived in a metal bivvy hut in Towngate East with a pot-bellied stove in the middle, some in a condemned cottage using a rope to get upstairs – eventually demolished to make way for the 18
Purple Silk beats Nicholas Silver at Doncaster May 1963
bungalow which was also used for accommodation. They were up at 6.30 whatever the weather, including Christmas Day when there would be half a day off. If one of the lads’ charges happened to be racing on Boxing Day it would have to be turned out the day before. Every three weeks there would be a day off. The Head Lad would ensure that work was carried out properly and would feed the horses before the other lads arrived in the morning. Each lad would have two or three horse charges and they would look after them from being just broken into fitness to racing, “We became very fond of them” recalls Pat,
“especially if you had a winner which was a real bonus!” The Guvnor would write on a board which horses would be ridden by which jockey on any given day. Breakfast would come after the first horses had been ridden out. After the second ride of the day, stables would be set fair and the yards would be swept and the tack cleaned. Then the lads would line up with their sacking and the Guvnor would dole out the hay for each horse. He would stand at the back of the stable and the lads would walk between the horses, some of which were temperamental and would kick out: “Sometimes you would come out in one piece but not always!” winces Pat.
