Back in early 2020, Sally Weld was planning a big holiday on the Silk Road in late November of that year but a certain pandemic put paid to those plans. Instead, the matriarch of the 12,000 acre Weld estate in Dorset put the money she saved on the holiday into buying a racehorse.

And that investment paid off handsomely last Saturday January 18 at Taunton Racecourse when her horse, eight-year-old Aurigny Mill, won the £22,500 Somerset County Gazette Seniors’ Handicap Hurdle.

“We had a great day and I was thrilled to bits to win the race at Taunton,” Mrs. Weld said.

The group 4 race was the highlight of the seven-race meeting, the only one Taunton holds on a Saturday this season and which attracted a bumper crowd even on a miserably cold and grey day.

Other highlights included the decisive victory for Ditcheat-based Paul Nicholls-trained  Just a Rose in the opening hurdle race, a 22-1 victory for Jesuila des Mottes in the Novices’ Handicap Hurdle, and Harry Redknapp part-owned Northern Air carrying off the second race.

A small group of intrepid reporters/amateur gamblers from the Somerset County Gazette enjoyed the very welcoming hospitality of the event and some of us even won some money. Not on the Gazette sponsored race I hasten to add, so we can nip any possible race-fixing claims in the bud.

We even got to judge the best turned-out horse for the big race, a beautiful ten-year-old named Stream of Stars with a very impressive platted mane, who came in third.

Perhaps one of the main highlights for us, apart from the judging and being in the winners’ enclosure for our 15 minutes of fame, was the sound of the horses galloping past at the final fence. We were able to get an impressive view of the steep incline the horses and jockeys have to face in the home straight, something that is not obvious when standing at the finish line.

The next meeting at Taunton is Tuesday February 4 with a further seven events scheduled to be held until late April. The racecourse will also hold four other race days at the end of the year.

Tremendous entertainment, great hospitality, and very down to earth. Not bad for a very reasonable £22 entry fee (kids under 18 are free), despite the gambling losses. Half-year membership for all the remaining events through April is just £120.