Racing yards open gates to the public this Easter
Racehorse trainers will once again be opening their gates to the public this Easter.
At the Lambourn open day in Berkshire more than 30 yards will be open to look around – including those of Nicky Henderson, Charlie Hills and Harry Dunlop – on Good Friday, 6 April.
The Valley Equine Veterinary Hospital and blacksmith Gary Pickford’s forge will also be open.
The yards open their doors from 8.30am with entertainment kicking off at 1pm.
During the afternoon highlights include camel racing, a hound parade, farriery demos and the Lambourn Games, in which top jockeys will battle it out in a series of events.
British Eventing performance manager Yogi Breisner and top eventer Mark Todd will also be doing presentations and demonstrations.
The event is racing’s best attended non-racecourse event and since its inception in 1990, the Charity Open Day has raised more than £500,000 for the Lambourn Valley Housing Trust, The Thames Valley Air Ambulance and other local causes.
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It costs £12 for entry into racing yards and afternoon entertainment and £6 for afternoon entertainment only. Children under 12 enter for free.
Meanwhile, further north but also on Good Friday, the Middleham open day offers the chance to have a look behind the scenes in North Yorkshire.
Fourteen yards will be opening their gates to the public from 9.30am. And in the afternoon a number of professional jockeys will take on members of the Bedale and West of Yore branches of the Pony Club in a Speed Derby Trial, jumping against the clock.
Adults cost £7 and children go free.
For more information visit visit www.lambourn.info and www.middlehamstablesopenday2012.co.uk
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A graduate of Exeter University, Amy joined our news team from Redpin Publishing in 2008 as news writer. She was promoted to deputy news editor in May 2013 and became news editor in April 2015. She left Horse & Hound in March 2016 to take up an editorial position in Dubai.