Filly escapes flames and then wins - Osborne hails character of Constanzia

Jamie Osborne on Sunday hailed the constitution and character of Constanzia, who won at Chelmsford on Saturday just hours after being caught up in a blaze that devastated part of the trainer's Lambourn yard.

A bungalow at the site was destroyed when fire broke out at 4am on Saturday, but no horses or humans were harmed.

However, Osborne, a leading jumps rider during his time in the saddle, was left with a difficult decision on whether to field his declared runners.

Hashtagmetoo and Vegas Boy ran respectably, but the well-regarded Looktothelight disappointed at Newmarket, although that blow was softened by the victory of Constanzia under Nicola Currie.

Osborne, touched by the support he has received, said: "It was a finely balanced decision whether to run any of the horses and I regret running Looktothelight. He's very nice and grossly underperformed.

Jamie Osborne leads his string back to the yard after the fireCredit: Edward Whitaker

"With a two-year-old first time out, you're never sure why they underperform, but he'd had a pretty traumatic morning.

"Constanzia was in the box closest to the flames and we couldn't get her out. Someone criticised me for taking a film of her while the fire was going on, but what they didn't realise was we couldn't get her out.

"I was standing at the back of her stable with her, just making sure she didn't panic.

"The flames were nearly coming into her box – hitting her building – although we managed to block them off a bit by shutting her top door.

"We're still learning about our two-year-olds, but on the back of that you'd say she's an amazing character."

The tack room was also destroyedCredit: Edward Whitaker

Osborne, whose biggest wins include the Dewhurst with Milk It Mick and Toast Of New York's success in the UAE Derby, temporarily rehomed some of his horses at the nearby yards of Stan Moore and Brian O'Rourke.

He added: "It was a pretty emotional day full stop and I do confess there was a release of emotion. You see a building like that completely out of control and the feeling of powerlessness and noise of the burning, the windows popping out and flames moving around is quite a scary thing."

The trainer has not lost his sense of humour and joked: "I never liked that house anyway!"

"The tack room was lost as well, so we've lost most of our tack, but all those things are replaceable," he continued.

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