Alpinista A Joy For Those Around Her

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00:00Fresh from her win in the Group 1 Yorkshire Oaks and preparing for a run in the Group

00:071 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, Alpinista looked in fine form when we recently visited her

00:12at Heath House Stables where she is trained by Sir Mark Prescott. Annabel Willis, her

00:17daily groom and rider, alongside William Butler, the assistant trainer at Heath House Stables,

00:23tell us what her successes mean to them and what she's like to deal with on a day-to-day

00:27basis. We're lucky to have Alpinista in the yard at the moment. She's on this marvellous

00:32roll of winning her last seven races, including five Group 1s, and we're just very privileged

00:40to have her. She always enjoyed her work. She's always enjoyed being a racehorse. I

00:45feel like the more she did, the more enjoyment she had from it. She put all her energy into

00:51everyday life of being a racehorse. She definitely seemed to sort of, the penny dropped quite

00:56early with her. She was very on the bridle at an early stage. I was always very excited

01:03to see what she'd achieve as a racehorse on the track. She did well in Germany and people

01:08knocked the German form, but when she beat the Arc winner, we sort of felt, oh, that's

01:17better form than we think. So to go and back that up at St. Cloud this year, we all know

01:22Miss Rousing's family has improved with age, like a lot of the family that have been here.

01:27So to go in at St. Cloud, everybody then took notice. And then everything changed from maybe

01:34being the underdog to then being the favourite at York. To go and justify favouritism at

01:41York was a very special day for Alpinista herself, for us here at Heathouse, and also

01:48for all the guys at Landwest who put so much hard work into the early stages of our development.

01:55Probably the highlight for me would be the Yorkshire Oaks. It just meant a lot for everyone

02:00to be there, for Sir Mark to be there, for Miss Rousing to be there, and also my family

02:03were there as well. So it was a very special day to have everyone there to be part of it

02:10and prove herself that she is up there with the very best of them.

02:14The Dam Alwilder was a very, very straightforward filly. And probably the cross with the Maring

02:22Whits, Frankles, probably whatever electricity Frankles has put into the pedigree, which

02:28is plenty, Alwilder would be a steady hand. She was a very good ride, she was sensible,

02:35she stayed very well. So there's a lot of traits in Alpinista that were in Alwilder.

02:41The Grand Dam, Alba Nova, she was a special filly. She was champion all her filly in Germany,

02:49won the three group ones that Alpinista won last year. And she was straightforward as

02:55well, she improved with age, she won as a two-year-old. So yeah, there is certain comparisons

03:01along the way.

03:02We've sort of grown up together. I've had her since I was 19, I'm 23 now and she's a

03:09five-year-old. And it's hard to think of a time that I've worked here now without her.

03:14It feels like such a long time ago and it's been a long-standing relationship. It's a

03:19very close relationship. You're in every morning, you're tacking them up, you're riding them

03:24out. You're in every evening, you're caring for them. We've been all over Europe with

03:28her, Germany and France. I mean, she's took me to Paris twice. I mean, not many people

03:34would say the horse has done that. But yeah, I love being with her every day and I'm just

03:40trying to process the moment, enjoy the moment as it comes, enjoy every day.

03:47To be traveling to group one races and thinking you've got a chance is very special. You get

03:56to the stage where you're happy that her prep has gone smooth and you've got her to the

04:01race and there's no hiccups. And that'll be the same now leading into the arc. But

04:06on the day, I always make sure I sort of steady myself and think, right, just enjoy this.

04:12Because these days come around, there's so few and far between that you just steady yourself

04:18and enjoy them as they go. And what will be, will be. And luckily, so far with Alpinista,

04:23it's always been a very joyous trip home.

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