Cognac

This "Jekyll and Hyde" ex-racehorse never said no to a fence and had a definite sense of humour

IT’S clear that Margaret Morris, joint-master of the South Notts, relishes a challenge and she had one in her Blankney field master days before the ban.

“We had a huge ditch and someone said, ‘She’s not going to jump that.’ Well, that’s a red rag to me! But we did it, no problem,” she says.

The horse that “never said no” to the biggest ditch had an inauspicious start. An “old-fashioned thoroughbred”, Cognac came out of training – “not fast enough” – and was in Olympic showjumper Mick Saywell’s yard.

“One January, I had a call from Mick saying, ‘I’ve got a horse here I think would suit you.’ I should have known there was a problem with it!”

Margaret was used to thoroughbreds and went to try him after hunting. “It was dark, so I jumped a few fences in the school and was told to take him home for a month. It turned out Mick couldn’t sell him – he was quite naughty!” she says.

The 16.1hh bay, rising five, was exactly that with one of the grooms, whose initial thought that he was too quiet for Margaret altered when they went into a field and he took off bucking. “She came back and said, ‘I think you’ll like him!’”