Success stories Racing Staff Week - Lucy Evans

Lucy Evans and Graycliffe

My name is Graham, or formerly ‘Graycliffe’ when I used to race, before my part time carer turned into my full-time servant/horse mum.

I wasn’t particularly keen on racing but did manage to give my owners a win just the once at Kempton, those very same owners employed my mum, Lucy. She will now tell you the story of how she adopted me and how much she loves me.

I worked as a pre trainer for 15 years for Graham’s owners, Graham was one of the first horses I worked with for them and I fell in love with his volatile personality instantly. You never quite knew whether he would snap at you as you walked past his stable or ask for a cuddle, whether you would last 5 minutes on his back or have a wonderful ride through the Welsh countryside. Boring is something you couldn’t accuse him of being.

Graham was pretty temperamental on the track too, to put it bluntly, he couldn’t give a damn whether the other horses left him in the stalls, if he didn’t want to run… nothing on this earth was going to make him! My boss ended up a little fed up with his antics and decided that it wasn’t fair to keep him in a job that he didn’t like. I took him home from his very last race…RESULT! All of those whispers into Grahams ears to lose so that he could come home with me worked!

Graham took to life off the track instantly, he adored cross country, loved going to our local county shows and gave the judges at The RoR National Championships a good laugh with his lip actions (he gets a tad bored in the line-up)!

Unfortunately, Graham sustained several injuries during his racing career and along with my own injury this means that our ridden life together has been cut short however, he thoroughly enjoys plodding around on our mountainside home with his friends, being spoiled rotten and eating everything in sight.

Bottom line... This horse deserves the world, I intend to give that to him for the remainder of his days.