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Episode details

Radio 4,28 Apr 2016,25 mins

Southwell Races, Nottinghamshire

Open Country

Available for over a year

Helen Mark spends a day at Southwell Races in rural Nottinghamshire. It's one of the smallest and most rural racetracks in Britain, but it's also one of the busiest. Helen follows a day in the life of the race-track, meeting some of the people who make it happen. She talks about dreams and 'babies' (two year old horses) with trainer David Brown as one of his horses has a swim in the pool. There are the Travelling Stable Lasses, jockey Andrew Mullen (no, he hadn't eaten anything all day), racehorse trainer Ollie Pears, who has several legs of horses for sale if you'd like one. There's drama, as Helen joins the race-course vet as they race alongside the horses just in case one of them takes a fall. And she learns how to choose a horse to put your money on. Or not. Producer...Mary Ward-Lowery.

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