“It’s not about the taking part, it’s about winning.”

But the racing Gods really tried to test us.  First up, the timings had to be changed and now the mascot race was going to take place between the first and second races – we would have to be really unlucky if Joanna was riding before the third race surely?!  Apparently we were.  At entry stage, Jo was jocked up in the second race, how was this going to work?

Don’t panic Charlotte, wait until declarations on Friday and everything will become clear, you can make a plan then, I’m sure it will work out.

In the meantime, Sam England had been in touch.  Having put our mascot through it’s paces from a racing perspective, she had an insight into what was required and so apparently, did Liam Baxter, a member of her team who was quite keen to run.

“Is it too late to get involved?” came the request from Sam.

“No”, I replied, “but hold that thought, we might need a sub, I’ll let you know on Friday.”

Meanwhile, Wetherby Racecourse had taken up the jockey challenge and recruited their own mystery jockey to don the Tony The Pony costume, we weren’t going to find out until the day who we were taking on.

So Friday came, wait until 11am and then check the Racing Post for Wetherby’s declarations.  Scan through jockeys in the first race, no Jo Mason.  Scan through jockeys in the second race, no Jo Mason.  Excellent, things are working out in our favour….or are they.  Scanned the rest of the card and Jo Mason didn’t appear to have any rides, surely she’s not at Southwell?  That’s an all weather meeting.

By experience, I know that searching on a jockey’s name that soon after declarations doesn’t give you the full picture as it isn’t updated until later, so I nervously clicked on Southwell and scanned through the card – she was in the 5.45pm.

Quickly I started to google travel times between Wetherby and Southwell, could she do both?  If there’s no traffic it’s probably doable, but there is a reason why jockeys are not allowed to ride at two meetings on one day and although it’s a rule that came about during the Covid era and was implemented to prevent contamination, I’m sure no-one misses the stress of trying to get between two racecourses in the shortest amount of time possible.  It wouldn’t have sat comfortably with me, but ultimately it was up to Jo.

“You’re at Southwell on Sunday Jo” I started our conversation.

“I know, I can’t believe it!  I’ve wondered if I can do both, but the timings just don’t work out, I’m really sorry, that’s typical racing!”  She replied.

You can’t knock her enthusiasm!  We’ve all been in the game long enough to know that you can’t confirm anything until decs are made.

It didn’t matter, I reassured her and was typing out a WhatsApp to Sam England before we’d even finished our conversation.

“He’s in, can you send me Liam’s number please!”

I was feeling slightly deflated, we’d had some great fun training with York City’s Yorkie mascots at their stadium, we’d done social media polls for which costume to choose and to decide on the name and now the plan was falling apart.  I took heart in the fact that we had a back up and our hedgehog mascot “Not So Slow Jo” could take part, even though the name didn’t quite work for Liam.

We arranged to meet at the registration area, having never met before, we had no idea who we were looking for.  It was less, I’ll be wearing a pink carnation and more I’ll be carrying a massive hedgehog costume, come and find me!

We clocked each other in the distance and gave each other a polite wave to acknowledge one another.

“He looks quite fit,” said Sam Brown as we reassessed our chances.  She was right, he was wearing shorts and trainers and had that horsey lean but strong look about him.

Registration done and costume handed over we arranged to meet 10 minutes before the parade so that he could have a practice run and jump over the bale in the costume.

Apparently when I had told him there were six bales to jump, which included a double and a water jump, he was envisaging the large Heston bale size, so was quite relieved to see the small bales.  Jumping was no problem and his length of stride caught my eye.

Hedgehog has a practice jump over the modality bale

“I’m just going to have a little run in it to see how I get on.”  Said Liam, as he shuffled to a quieter area behind the changing tents.

Sam and I got into position to film, always on the look out for content.  Wow, he was quick!

“Right, that’ll do.”  I said, concerned that I didn’t want him to use up too much of his energy or anyone else to see how fast he was!

The mascot parade was fast approaching.  Off they went to enter the Parade Ring and warm up.

The Tony The Pony runner was revealed as Josh Thompson, a conditional with Micky Hammond, he was well up for the challenge and keen to add another Wetherby win to his score sheet.

Sam and I went to stand on the steps near the Weighing Room to get some more content – a move that Sam quickly came to regret.

Michelle and Maddie from the racecourse team were hot-footing it in our direction.  There was a problem – the guys who had signed up to run as crowd-favourites, the sausages, had been working out too much and were not going to fit into the narrow, cylindrical costumes.  Michelle and Maddie volunteered to step in, but only one of them could take part due to racing commitments – they needed another slender figure to partake.  It was very quickly clear which one of us they were addressing and I could breathe a sigh of relief!

Sam had been overheard by commentator, Malcolm Tomlinson, saying that she would have run if she had to, which he interpreted as, keen to run and passed on this information to Michelle.  As the race started and Malcolm’s commentary began, it was clear why he was desperate for the sausages to take part!

After a little persuasion and confirmation that no, this did not qualify for a bonus, Sam agreed to take part and wriggled into the costume, not realising she was claustrophobic!  Still, this is bucket list stuff and she overcame the limitations of being in a plastic tube and adapted her running style to a shuffle and joined the parade.

Sam and Maddie in the sausage costumes

As Racing TV were dissecting the upcoming races, the mascots lined past the camera and presenters and made their way to the centre of the course, before the first race, ready for their big moment as soon as runners from the first had passed the winning post.

In a military style operation, the jumps which were all set up on the jump course, were quickly put into place on the flat track, the runners made final adjustments to their mascot costumes and lined up in handicap order.

When picking a costume, Jo had paid close attention to the handicap system, working out starting time allowance over ease of running in the costume.  The hedgehog was handicap B, meaning they started seven seconds after the first wave of runners (who started after the sausages had got to the first fence!)

It was race time and the sausages set off to Malcolm’s banger puns!  The next wave of runners included Legoman and a very bottom-heavy Peter Rabbit, who were handicap A.  I waited with nervous anticipation counting down the seven seconds for handicap B to be sent on their way.

When looking through the list of Mascot runners, I had counted 27 in handicap B, this was a lot of people hurtling to the first set of bales, so my instructions to Liam were to get off in front and keep out of trouble.

Off they went and hedgehog seemed to be running straight into said trouble – or rather, it was meandering in front of him!  He looked like he was going to be taken out by both Dino The Dinosaur and Debra The Zebra who just couldn’t keep a straight line, however once he was past these, the only thing in between him and victory was the obstacles.

I counted them down as he cleared them at a blistering pace, hurdling in a manner similar to that of Golden Ace.  Surely he couldn’t keep this speed up?  Four down and he had to face the complicated ones towards the end of the race.  He stepped on the first bale of the double, flying straight over the second and cleared the water jump as if it wasn’t even there, sprinting on to the finish!

I couldn’t believe what I had seen, I felt like a winning owner and trainer all rolled into one, but in a fashion that only Willie Mullins could understand, I had to look back and see how my other runner was getting on!  The sausages were making good headway and finished mid-division but can be proud of laying down the fastest time for sausages in the history of the race.

Following the second horserace, the presentations were made to the first three home – Not So Slow Jo, The Snooty Fox and Hot Bev from Beanies Coffee Flavouring.  There was also a prize for Peter Rabbit who came last past the post without stopping.

Not So Slow Jo, Snooty Fox, Hot Bev and Peter Rabbit receive their prizes

If ever there is anything to experience IRL (as the kids say), this is it!  I’ve seen it before and laughed on the television, however to actually be there on the day and see it live was something else! Keen to refresh Liam, I took him to the Knead ‘n’ Feed pizza van for a Pepperoni pizza and drinks and messaged his boss straight away to give her the good news!  Liam’s entourage were giving him the plaudits he deserved and the news quickly spread around the Sam England yard.

So we were basking in glory, but apparently the gauntlet has been laid down and it sounds as though next year there will be some inter-yard rivalry mixed into the Mascot Gold Cup!  Entries can already be made!

Next up is the Pantomime Horse Race at Ripon….I fear the competition could be renewed early! Find out more.