'I'm being wet but it really was a wrench' - Sherwood still touchy at yard sale

Oliver Sherwood has come through a horrifically tough 18 months but has said that although he has moved on from the cancer scare which looked as if it might claim his life, he still cannot bring himself to go back to his former yard at Rhonehurst.

Sherwood was speaking to the Racing Post for a major interview in Sunday's newspaper in which he discusses "waiting for a death sentence" when he was diagnosed with stage four lymphoma, the heartwarming response from friends and rivals within the sport, and his prospects of getting back into the big time, notably with the Cheltenham Listed winner Queens Gamble.

Sherwood also recalled the bodyblow just before his cancer diagnosis when the sale of Rhonehurst, where he had trained for 37 years, almost finished his career.

The yard, which Sherwood had sold in 2002 and subsequently rented, was bought by owners Jim and Claire Bryce, who installed Sherwood’s one-time assistant Warren Greatrex, with Sherwood informed of the plans just days before Rhonehurst changed hands.

"It hurt," he admitted. "It's still a touchy subject but life goes on. I don't blame Warren, and his wife Tessa still buys my horses, but I don't think it was handled particularly well.

"At the time it felt raw. I know it's only bricks and mortar, but I had been at Rhonehurst for such a big part of my life and wanted to finish my career there."

The situation was made worse by his only option in Lambourn appearing to be the Uplands stables Greatrex was vacating, but Charlie Mann's decision to hand in his licence, meaning he needed a tenant at his Neardown yard, gave Sherwood "light at the end of the tunnel".

He said: "I came here and thought it was lovely. It's a sweet yard, the staff love it and the horses are very relaxed."

Sherwood added: "I've got no complaints whatsoever but it has taken me a year to get used to it. I also don't want to go back to Rhonehurst and see it.

"That's probably pathetic of me, but I loved Rhonehurst, absolutely adored it. All my training career had been spent there. All my good memories were there, including the memories of six Cheltenham Festival winners and a Grand National. I'm probably being wet and soft but it really was a wrench."

Read more from Oliver Sherwood in The Big Read, available in Sunday's newspaper or online for Members' Club Ultimate subscribers from 6pm on Saturday. Click here to sign up.

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