'We stand with them' - horse carries Ukraine-coloured silks in anti-war protest

Support for Ukraine following the country's invasion by Russia has prompted protests in all corners of the world and on Monday it reached the racecourse, with a horse carrying silks featuring the blue and yellow of the Ukrainian flag.

Faye McManoman sported the colours aboard Turn Of Phrase to finish a dead-heat fourth at Wolverhampton (7.30) with trainer John Berry shocked by the events in Eastern Europe.

The silks are a blue and yellow individual stripe, although vertically rather than the horizontal seen on the flag, and have been in the Berry family for years.

His late parents Claude and Caroline, who were also owners and breeders, had the silks which were sported in the 1970s by horses in training with Nigel Angus. It was the third anniversary of Claude Berry's death on Saturday.

The colours once again appeared on the racecourse as the trainer's way of showing solidarity with the Ukraine. He also hopes his effort can boost vital fundraising for the appeal from the British Red Cross.

"You'd have to have a heart of flint not to be sad with what's going on in the Ukraine at the moment," the Newmarket-based trainer said. "I was thinking about what racing could do listening to [BBC] Radio 4 on Saturday. I thought all the jockeys should wear blue and yellow armbands, but it was too late and I didn't know how to make it happen. Then I remembered I had these silks in the cupboard so I was on the phone to Weatherbys.

"My parents had the same colours, they got divorced and I don't think you could get an ex-husband and wife having the same colours nowadays. On the pictures we've got I think these were the ones he had when he had Flat horses with Nigel Angus."

The Sisters Of Mercy, owners of Turn Of Phrase along with Berry, also allowed the horse to carry Racing With Pride silks in December and were keen to support another good cause.

Berry added: "When you see these massive anti-war rallies you think anyone of those there could've thought individually, 'I'm adding nothing so I won't turn up', but if everyone thought that, then no-one would be there.

"Individual gestures mean nothing but collectively it means a lot, there are enough people in Russia who are risking their lives, standing up and saying 'This is how I feel' never mind all those brave people in Ukraine who are fighting.

"All we can do in the west individually is make our voices heard, make it clear that this is wrong and that we stand with Ukraine. What I'm doing is tiny, but it's what I can do."

Turn Of Phrase was sent off at 22-1 and finished in a dead-heat for fourth with Dew You Believe, remarkably one of two joint finishes in the 1m4f race after Miss Sligo and King Christophe shared second.

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