Happy new year as Woollacott thinks big again with stable star

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There have been plenty of feelgood stories already in this jumps season, but perhaps the most heartwarming of all has been the resurgence of popular chaser Lalor.

After he was pulled up in last year’s Racing Post Arkle and well beaten at Aintree, Kayley Woollacott’s flagbearer barely featured on his seasonal return in the Haldon Gold Cup at Exeter and fans were beginning to fear the worst.

However, having turned eight, Lalor made a remarkable return to form to finish third in a Grade 3 handicap chase at Cheltenham on New Year’s Day, beaten only a short head in a three-way photo-finish.

He may not have won, but connections and fans rejoiced as this beloved racehorse proved that, with his back against the wall, he still had plenty left to give.

It wasn’t just the return to form that was so remarkable, but the manner in which it happened.

Lalor: has bounced back to form this yearCredit: Mark Cranham

After jumping the second-last fence Lalor looked like he had given his all and was about to be swallowed up by the field behind him.
But no, he refused to be beaten and plugged on gamely under Aidan Coleman, giving everything he had to prove he still had big days left in him, much to Woollacott’s delight.

“To battle back as he did on New Year’s Day is everything you want in a racehorse, one who is going to battle as hard as he can,” says Woollacott.

“He’s not really been put in that sort of position before but it was great to see and this year he’s done everything bar win really. It’s exciting going forward because he’s still only eight and we’re probably just getting going with him.”

Lalor went on to show the rousing display was no fluke when he finished third in another Grade 3 at Cheltenham a little over three weeks later, when this time Cepage just did enough to finish three-quarters of a length in front.

This return to form was a surprise to many but it wasn’t the first time Lalor had produced something unexpected on one of jump racing’s big stages.

In 2018 Lalor went to Aintree to contest the Top Novices’ Hurdle while still a maiden over obstacles. It was less than three months after Woollacott’s husband, Richard, died in tragic circumstances.

But the horse provided Woollacott with a glimmer of light in what was the darkest of periods as he defied the odds to win the Grade 1 by two and a half lengths.

Woollacott and her staff have worked long and hard to coax their stable star back to the top of his game and are delighted to see it begin to pay dividends.

The trainer says: “He went to Aintree in 2018 as a maiden hurdler and somehow improved massively on that day to win the Grade 1 Top Novices’ Hurdle, so I think he’s always been a little inconsistent. He was electric over fences the first time before going off the boil.

“There are a few things we’ve changed this year but mostly I think it’s his confidence when jumping. We’ve done a lot with his jumping and kept a varied routine with him. Stepping him up in trip has been a big help to give him more time with his jumping. He seems to have got himself together and seems more of a man now.”

Woollacott has been assisted in the efforts to bring Lalor back to his best by her sister, Stephanie Jones, who looks after him and rides him every day while also managing the yard.

The pair attempted an array of different methods to rejuvenate Lalor’s form, but it is a new schooling facility that seems to have done the trick.

“We’ve all worked really hard in getting him right and it’s not been as straightforward as everyone might think,” says Jones.

“Because he’s a class jumper it was always going to be hard to say it was that which was causing him problems, but it was. If you watch his races, he’d make a mistake and then wouldn’t travel.

“It’s hard to try and fix that when he jumps so well at home but he’s got a new schooling field which has six fences on
a circuit, so he jumps round the outside of a field and it’s like being at a racecourse. Josh Newman schools him at home and he’s done an amazing job, so it’s been a big team effort.”

Looking ahead, despite two tremendous recent efforts around Cheltenham, Woollacott is cool on the idea of Lalor returning for the festival to tackle the Ryanair.

Instead she has her eye on a return to the scene of his sole top-level success and a plan she hopes will bring about even further improvement.

“The Ryanair is unlikely now,” says Woollacott. “I’d like to get his head in front and he’d still have a bit to find to win that, so we’ll look for something else.

“I have it in my mind that we might step him up in trip again this season to three miles. The owner [David Staddon] and I have had a good chat and if we were on a flatter track like Aintree we’d be looking at three miles on better ground because they’ll go quicker earlier and he looks every inch a stayer.”

A step up in trip at Aintree would likely point Woollacott in the direction of the Grade 3 handicap chase that takes place immediately before the Randox Health Grand National, though the Grade 1 Betway Bowl is another contest over that trip and often features runners who contested the previous month’s Cheltenham Gold Cup.
But Lalor has proved time after time he has a knack for overcoming the odds.

Woollacott says: “We’ve been very ambitious with him before, as we were when we went to Aintree over hurdles, and that paid off. I think he’s an Aintree horse and that meeting and Cheltenham are a bit too close together for him to do both.

“I know the two previous Cheltenham runs were plenty tight enough but he does tend to need longer and he came out of those very well, so he’ll have an easier time now and then will have had a good break.

“My gut feeling is flat tracks and better weather and ground are more up his street, and perhaps we’d have the advantage over some horses that had hard races at Cheltenham.”

With Woollacott on a mission to bring Lalor back to winning ways, it would be somewhat fitting for the horse to truly announce his return to chasing’s top table at the same track where he proved himself a jumps star in the making two years ago.

Lalor

Age 8
Starts 16
Wins 5
Biggest win 2018 Top Novices' Hurdle (Grade 1)
Prize-money £135,848
Future targets Aintree

'Bella thinks he's the bee's knees – he's such a softie'

While Lalor has plenty of followers throughout Britain, his biggest fan is perhaps also his smallest.

Kayley Woollacott’s daughter Bella, better known online as #SmallTrainer, has a remarkable relationship with the stable star.

The pair are frequently seen together on Woollacott’s Twitter profile (@k_woollacott) getting up to a variety of activities, with Bella helping to feed Lalor and leading him around the yard.

Only four years old, Bella has known Lalor all her life and the documentation of their close bond has led to them becoming one of the most beloved duos on racing social media.

Kayley Woollacott with her sister, Stephanie Jones, and daughter BellaCredit: Lee Mottershead

“Lalor’s been around Bella even when she was a baby,” Woollacott says. “He’s always been a big name and our best horse since she was born, so she thinks he’s just the best thing ever and loves the fact she can do anything with him.

“He’s very kind to her and she thinks he’s the bee’s knees. She can always give him lots of carrots and cuddles.”

The regular updates of the two spending time together shows how even the most battle-tested and hardened racehorses can have a gentle nature and temperament away from the racecourse.

“He’s an absolute gentleman at home,” says Woollacott. “I think that’s what makes him so magical, that he’s a first-class horse on the track but also an absolute softie.”

It is touching to see that the number-one person and number-one horse in Woollacott’s life have such a strong connection, and highlights how special these equine heroes are to their connections for such a multitude of reasons.

Why I love . . .Lalor

Neil Watson from Lancashire got in touch to tell us why Lalor is so special to him . . .

Lalor is simply more than a horse to me. He’s the pin-up boy of trainer Kayley Woollacott’s training yard, a dual Aintree festival winner, but it’s his relationship with Bella Woollacott that really plucks on the heartstrings, as anyone who follows Kayley’s Twitter feed will vouch for.

Many could forgive Kayley for wanting to pack up training but she persevered and Lalor brought Aintree to its feet when he landed the Top Novices’ Hurdle on Ladies’ Day in 2018.

Kayley proved she can train a top-class horse and showed the racing community that Richard’s faith in Lalor was always as he predicted.
Connections seem keen on swerving the festival this year, but Aintree looks an ideal target for Kayley and Bella to get excited for the spring festivals coming up.

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