Harry's Stable Whispers

I AM writing this column from sunny Tenerife in the early hours.

We started last week with a winner and ended it with Blackburn jockey Carl Lowther riding a brilliant race on Selhurstpark Flyer to an easy victory at 9-1 for us!

Carl is riding really well and deserves all the winners he gets.

I've known Carl since before he got his licence to ride as an apprentice jockey.

And I really admire the way he got his licence.

The thing is, it is up to the trainer to apply for an apprentice's licence.

Then he has to pass a very strict medical by the Jockey Club. At the time Carl wanted his apprentices licence, Jack Berry already had John Carroll as stable jockey and, in Paul Roberts and Paul Fessey, he had two very good apprentices.

Carl had been after his licence for a while and Jack had been delaying it.

The stable lads' boxing championship in London was coming up and, Carl being a very good boxer, told Jack he was not going to box unless he got his licence. I don't need to tell you what happened next. But since Carl got his licence, he has never looked back.

I intend to employ Carl to ride some of my horses, because now he is a fully fledged jockey he needs all the rides he can get.

Without an apprentice claim he'll find life at the top very much harder, but I believe he has been a revelation among the northern apprentices over the past few years.

And I tip him to go to the top as a jockey.

The latest news on Captain Harry, who was on death's door last week after suffering a severe kidney infection, is that he continues to improve and faith healer Ernest Wilde will visit him a couple of times this week. Ernest says he will make a full recovery, but it's too early to say whether he will race again.

All the horses in training with Les Eyres are doing well and start racing on June 17 with Swan at Whalley. Ribble Princess will make her long-awaited debut at Beverley on June 23. Have a good week.

This week's tips

Wednesday: Soaked (Hamilton), Stata Jack (Kempton)

Thursday: Vola Via (Newbury)

Friday: Arctic Owl (York)

Saturday: Magic Rainbow (York)

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.