Carruthers and Bobs Worth among quartet of famous names in RoR parade on day two of the Ladbrokes Winter Carnival

A quartet of famous names familiar to all fans of the sport and now enjoying successful second careers will parade during racing at Newbury this Saturday, December 2, the second day of the Ladbrokes Winter Carnival.

Of the four horses set to be on show, two are former winners of the day’s headline contest, the Ladbrokes Trophy. Carruthers and Bobs Worth both thrilled their supporters with victories when the race was known as the Hennessy Gold Cup.

Joined by Barbers Shop and Rocky Creek, both of whom also finished in the frame in the same race, the four celebrated chasers will parade in the paddock before the Sir Peter O’Sullevan Memorial Handicap Chase (1.20pm) and then lead the runners out of the paddock before parading in front of the grandstand for the enjoyment of racegoers as the remainder of the field head to the start.

It is 20 years since ‘The Voice of Racing’, Sir Peter O’Sullevan, retired after his last commentary when Suny Bay took the Hennessy in November 1997, but despite his death in 2015, his legacy to the sport very much lives on.

The Peter O’Sullevan Trust is a valued supporter of Retraining of Racehorses (RoR), British racing’s official charity for the welfare of retired racehorses, and the Trust is the official sponsor of RoR’s racecourse parades. The parades promote the versatility of former racehorses and their suitability for a range of careers after racing.

The winner of the Hennessy in 2011, Carruthers is the older half-brother of this year’s leading Ladbrokes Trophy contender Coneygree, the 2015 Cheltenham Gold Cup winner.

Sara Bradstock, whose daughter Lily will be riding him in Saturday’s parade, said: “Carruthers does pretty much whatever he chooses. He loves and deserves all the attention he gets and is delightfully enthusiastic in any role. He is known in the yard as ‘The Boss’ and always will be.”

Bobs Worth, who landed a popular local gamble when winning the Hennessy 12 months later, will be reacquainted with former Nicky Henderson stablemate Barbers Shop, who finished fourth to Denman in the race in 2009 and then third to Kauto Star in Kempton’s King George VI Chase the following month.

Since his retirement from racing in 2012 Barbers Shop, who was bred and owned by HM The Queen during his racing career, has become one of the leading former racehorses competing in showing classes. Among his many successes was victory at the Hickstead Derby Final, while he has also been a three-time winner and champion at the Royal Windsor Horse Show.

Rocky Creek made two appearances in the Hennessy, his best effort coming when second to another Henderson-trained winner, Triolo D’Alene, in 2013.

Following his retirement from racing earlier this year, he was given by his owners, the Johnson and Stewart families, to Camilla Orttewell, a work rider for Paul Nicholls, who also assists part time in the trainer’s office.

After a couple of months of well-earned holiday, Rocky Creek has begun the re-training process by hunting locally with the Blackmore and Sparkmore Vale and his new career is set to begin in 2018 when he will be competing in RoR classes, competitions confined to former racehorses.

The Ladbrokes Winter Carnival takes place on Friday 1 and Saturday 2 December. For more information, visit www.newburyracecourse.co.uk

For more information about the work done by Retraining of Racehorses (RoR) visit www.ror.org.uk