'I hope he looks after me' - how does a Racing Post writer fare as a work-rider?
Catherine Macrae works as part of Nick Alexander's stable staff for a day
Five minutes into my morning at Nick Alexander's yard and I am already mucking out stables. A rapid introduction by head lad Mark Ellwood is all time allows before I'm left in the care of Gary, an eight-year-old gelding who surveys my attempts to clean his box with a careful eye.
I am here to spend the day as one of the stable staff and with the jumps season just around the corner, my eagerness to pitch in is welcomed at the Fife yard.
The recent months have been fairly quiet, with Alexander choosing to omit summer jumping for the first time in several years, but momentum is now building for the core season and an extra set of hands does not go amiss.
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