‘Vote For Change’ foal born on polling day

When Conservative and repeal campaigners Jane and Steven Wood’s mare Gracie foaled on polling day, they decided to call their colt Vote For Change.

“Though the general election was on 6 May, the constituency we live in, Thirsk and Malton, was unable to vote due to the death of one of the candidates [UKIP] and was rescheduled for 27 May,” explained Jane.

“Our thoroughbred mare Gracie was due to foal on 6 May, but didn’t until the early hours of 27 May — our polling day.”

As active members of the Bilsdale hunt — Jane’s husband Steven is amateur whip and Jane is hunt secretary — the pair erected large Conservative signs around the area to support the Vote for Repeal campaign.

“My father decided to put the spare banners up against the gate to stop the foal slipping underneath when it was born.

“But when we came to take the first photos of him, we found him scrambling around in front of the signs. With that and his birth date we had to call him Vote For Change.”

Vote For Change, who is by Josr Algarhoud out of Farne Isle, will be his racing name, though his stable name is Mac after Conservative candidate Anne McIntosh.

“My brother-in-law Oliver Turner trains pointers and racehorses so, as he grows up, we’ll see how he gets on, but we hope he will become a racehorse,” added Jane.

“We’ve never had a racehorse, or even bred a foal before, so it’s all very exciting. He’s getting on really well — he’s a big, strong foal.”

This article was first published in Horse & Hound (3 June, ’10)

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