This month, we feature Jilly Scott.

How long have you had horses with Nigel?
I first fell under his spell in 1993.

How many horses/winners have you had with him along the way?
I’ve owned or part owned 13 horses all bar one of which (Whistling Rufus was useless but did manage to win a point once he escaped Nigel’s clutches) have won. In total I’ve had 28 wins and 45 placed horses with hopefully more to come.

What have been your best/favourite horses?
It’s difficult to choose the best as any winner is always fantastic. Actually if  I have a horse entered, declared, arrive at the racecourse, gets into the paddock and makes it to the start I think all my Christmas’s have come at once! Seriously, looking at runs to wins ratio it has to be Frosty (The Cool Guy) as he’s run 7 times, won 4 and been 2nd the other three.
As to favourites, it’s very difficult as I love them all in their own way, even Dajraan who Nigel constantly referred to as Dogshit! But maybe Lofty ( The Tall Guy) and Frosty come out on top. Lofty was a gentle giant who I was even allowed to ride – but put in my place one day by Fergal on the gallops when supposedly cantering (I felt as though I was doing mach 10) and Fergal cruised by and muttered ,”I didn’t say a ----ing hand canter!” just when I thought I was doing really well 8ft off the ground. I’ve never sat on such a tall horse and practically needed oxygen. Frosty because I bought him unseen and just went on the pedigree (his 3rd dam bred Grange Brake). I had an accomplice in the form of Simon Walford in Ireland who liked what he saw and thought he’d go for between 35 and 38 thousand euros. The trainer’s view was not to go beyond 30,000 euros but I told Simon that he could go to 38 if he had to. He rang back later to tell me that he’d got him for 30,000 – clever old trainer getting it spot on! Since then Frosty has paid for himself and his training fees for 2 seasons.

Who else do you share your horses with?
I’ve shared with many people from all walks of life which makes it huge fun. They’ve mainly been existing friends but also some who Nige told me about who wanted to come into a partnership. I love chatting to them when I ring to tell them what the horses are doing or have done if they’ve been unable to get to the races. We’ve had a lot of laughs and while some, of course, are better losers than others, so far no one has totally thrown their toys out of the pram. At the moment there are 4 of us in Frosty, 9 in Dan’s Man and 9 in Buffers Lane.

What have been your best and worst moments on a racecourse?
The best moment has to be Frosty winning the Aintree Champion Bumper at 50-1 in 2005. Nige had left the course by helicopter after the Grand National thinking, like us, that Frosty had no chance and leaving Bernie Wharfe, Sam Wood and the two Twiston-Davies sprogs in charge. We’d only gone for the craic and to watch the National, basically to have a nice, free day out. The journey home that day seemed to pass very quickly!
The worst has to be Lofty having a heart attack while running at Huntingdon on Boxing Day last year. I still miss him dreadfully as, I’m sure, does Kev who looked after him.
I have to tell you how kind Nigel was when I had another bad time. Tothewoods was potentially a very good horse and had won 3 races + 3 places when he was struck by lightning when under a tree in a storm. Nigel offered to lease his 50% of Madam Muck to me which I accepted with alacrity; she was brilliant and gave us a lot of fun, winning 4 and being placed 3 times. Her best effort was winning the Brown Chamberlain Chase at Newbury and she’s now busy having foals.

What’s your favourite racecourse?   
It has to be Cheltenham, but I’m still waiting for my first winner there.

What race would you most like to win?
At the moment it would be the Sun Alliance Novices Chase and once we’ve done that (!!!) it would have to be the Gold Cup. Whatever the race, a winner is a winner wherever it is. I love it all!
Finally I’d just like to say what a great set up it is at Grange Hill – wonderful staff (office included) who are really friendly and fun to deal with. Okay, it may not be the smartest yard in the country, but what the hell? The horses and staff seem very happy and as an owner I am too. Thanks Nige.