Hen Knight/Jim Lewis

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Whats going on? Just reading the James W piece in the Racingpost today. What did Hen Knight say yesterday? Sounds like they are not the best of friends anymore and it was noticeable that she did not attend the meeting.
 
From yesterdays RP:-

Horse Racing: Knight disappointed by split with owner

Published: 06/01/2008 (Sport) By Jon Lees and Lee Mottershead
OWNER Jim Lewis has taken away the last horse he had in training with Henrietta Knight, ending one of the most successful partnerships in recent jump racing history.
And while Lewis yesterday insisted he had not severed his ties with the trainer of his triple Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Best Mate, Knight's comments on the split suggested that it had been far from cordial.
Lewis has moved Oumeyade to Paul Nicholls and now has four horses with the champion trainer, his connection with Knight maintained only by the sidelined Impek, who has not raced since October 2006.
Knight trained 56 winners in the Lewis colours, with Best Mate and Edredon Bleu being the stars of their association. Those wins included the Gold Cup three times with Best Mate and the King George VI Chase with both Best Mate and Edredon Bleu, who also won the Queen Mother Champion Chase and six runnings of the Peterborough Chase.
The trainer said yesterday: "We had some great days together and you cannot do more for a man than we did for him, so it's disappointing when loyalty flies out of the window. However, we wish him well for the future."
Oumeyade ran for Knight in December but has subsequently moved to join Lewis's other horses, including yesterday's Tolworth Hurdle winner Breedsbreeze and a half-brother to Knight's Racing Demon, Great Mates, with Nicholls.
Lewis said yesterday "The only horse I have with Hen now is Impek, who unfortunately is intermittently lame, and if you can't train them they are never going to get the races. I think we just have to say that we have a lovely pet."
Asked if he would still have horses with Knight, he said: "For sure. There's no split. I sent her a text this morning wishing her the best of luck. It said, 'Let's come first and second in either order and let's come home safe', and she sent a reply saying, 'Thank you Jim. Let's hope you are right'.
"It's been a long time since Hen came to me with a horse. The last four horses I've bought, Paul Barber or Paul Nicholls or Liam Burke have come to me with a horse. I did say if you come to me with a horse in the usual sequence, which is pedigr performance, video, I'll consider buying one. How could you split with somebody who has given you so many good times?"
THE BEST OF JIM AND HEN
December 1997 Knight and Lewis kick off nearly ten years of success together with Edredon Bleu at Leicester, his fifth start for the pair
March 1998 Edredon Bleu wins the Grand Annual Chase at the Cheltenham Festival before going on to take the first of four consecutive Peterborough Chases that November, sparking the beginning of Knight's iron-like grip on the race
March 2000 Edredon Bleu takes the Champion Chase by a short head in an epic battle with Direct Route
April 2000 Best Mate wins his first Grade 1, the Mersey Novices' Hurdle as a five-year-old
December 2002 Best Mate wins the first of two King Georges for the Knight-Lewis team
March 2003 Best Mate initiates his unbeaten record in the Gold Cup, seeing off Commanche Court by a length and three-quarters
December 2003 An 11-year-old Edredon Bleu follows up Best Mate's victory the previous year by taking the King George, his tenth Grade 1 or 2 victory, before Best Mate wins the Ericsson Chase by nine lengths at Leopardstown two days later
March 2004 Best Mate emulates the mighty Arkle as he completes a hat-trick of Gold Cup wins
November 2004 Best Mate wins his final race, the William Hill Chase at Exeter
November 2005 Impek holds off a field of 11 to win the Peterborough Chase yet again for the pair
October 2006 Impek carries the Lewis colours to victory in the Haldon Gold Cup for the fourth time, a year after Best Mate was killed in the race
January 2007 Reach For The Top gives the partnership their final victory together in a maiden chase at Folkestone
 
The trainer said yesterday: "We had some great days together and you cannot do more for a man than we did for him, so it's disappointing when loyalty flies out of the window. However, we wish him well for the future."

Oh dear. There is absolutely nothing wrong with moving horses to a new trainer if all his bills are paid up and it's a real shame that Henrietta had to make a public comment like that.

There is possibly more to the story (form both sides) , but still, comments like hers do smack a bit of sour grapes to me.
 
As I said on FF (where, interestingly, accusations are being made that she forces her owners to buy expensive horses that are useless :suspect: ) :

Firstly, Henrietta Knight is the last person to blurt out ill-thought out, rash comments to the press.

Secondly, no-one here knows what actually went on so is not in a position to criticise anyone on the subject matter in hand.
 
Originally posted by Shadow Leader@Jan 7 2008, 03:16 PM
Firstly, Henrietta Knight is the last person to blurt out ill-thought out, rash comments to the press.
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The trainer said yesterday: "We had some great days together and you cannot do more for a man than we did for him, so it's disappointing when loyalty flies out of the window. However, we wish him well for the future."

So when you say she is the last person to...................etc. You mean Charlie Mann hasn't given an interview to the racing press since they spoke to her! :)
 
appears to me, that if you want a cheltenham horse then you take it to nicholls. its a shame on the good smaller trainers like Hen, but people move on.
 
It's easy to feel sympathy for both sides on this one, but at the end of the day it's the owners that pay the bills/indirectly the wages of trainers and stable staff alike..Business is business after all..
 
Originally posted by Shadow Leader@Jan 7 2008, 02:16 PM
Firstly, Henrietta Knight is the last person to blurt out ill-thought out, rash comments to the press.

Secondly, no-one here knows what actually went on so is not in a position to criticise anyone on the subject matter in hand.
Click to expand...
As with most things, people can only comment on what is reported in the press , unless of course you know something different, SL? shrug::
 
No, I know no different, Kathy.

Much as in any relationship though, no-one here really knows what has been going on, bar as you say, what has been reported in the press. Which we all know can be misleasding at best and downright fictitious at worst, on occasion!

What I was saying with regard to it all Maruco is that Hen isn't the sort of person at all to come out with rash statements to the press [ whilst knowing fully about that quote] so I can only assume that something has happened which has upset her greatly for her to say such a thing to a hack.
 
Brian Hartigan knows.............he always does.

I'm somewhat surprised that Jim has moved his last horse to Paul Nicholls as Oumeyade can surely only win a race inside a greyhound, to coin a phrase. Impek isn't sidelined either ~ he's been retired so the link between Jim and Hen has essentially been severed. I suspect that I know the root of the issue but it's a guess on my part and speculation doesn't help the situation.
 
You'd think that after all those Gold Cups and KG6s that Lewis would show a bit of loyalty to Hen and Terry, wouldn't you?
 
I agree with SL. Unless people know the background (and I don't), then on what basis are people offering opinions?
 
Just a glory hunter but thats his right.
No loyalty though considering not only BM but Edradon and Impek
Actually tosser springs to mind :D
 
Don't see why Lewis should get a lot of stick for this. He might not have had too much choice in where Breedsbreeze was trained given I've read he bought him off Paul Barber.

It's not like other top owners don't spread the wealth every now and then - Johnson has horses with Pipe, Monteith, Powell, Lavelle and Nicholls and you couldn't say all placement of his horses where well thought out.
 
Putting horses with more than one trainer is a sensible idea with all the viruses that are around these days.

But to do what Lewis has done just seems rather tawdry.
 
What Lewis has done is tawdry ?

Loyalty ?

Who are we to judge this issue.

So Lewis has a horse with Paul Nicholls and not Henrietta Knight. So what. Whats Best Mate got to do with it ? Nothing. There must be a reason why he doesn't have a horse with her and whilst loyalty is a virtue it can also be misplaced if you allow it to override every issue that may arise. Barking mad Knight may have driven Lewis round the bend, up the wall and down the banks for all we know, in which case could anyone blame him for taking a break ?!

Biggest non-story for a long time ( which is an excellent oxymoron though I say so myself!)
 
Originally posted by uncle goober@Jan 7 2008, 09:39 PM
What Lewis has done is tawdry ?

Loyalty ?

Who are we to judge this issue.
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It would be really helpful if you could post a list of racing issues upon which it is inappropriate to comment, so I won't make such misjudgements again.
 
Agree entirely with Uncle Goober on this. Non event, the press are bored and looking to stir something up.
Galileo, also interesting that Paul Nicolls did not attend either, he was at Wincanton as well. Then Ruby rides a treble for him!
 
I see no reason why he should not have a horse in a new yard which is the case with Breedsbreeze. It appears his others have moved later, but again, without knowing the facts I'm another who would be unwilling to speculate why they have been moved, other than to say that perhaps Jim fancies going racing with one of his own horses a bit more often. In my experience though it is rare for an owner to move horses without good reason, and Jim Lewis doesn't strike me as he's the type to do a 'Persian War'. And Hen maybe on the mad side of eccentric but she's not a particualry volatile character and I really find it hard to believe that they've had a major falling-out of any sort.

Dom, my previous post was totally tongue in cheek and just a bit of playing on words for my own amusement. I couldn't resist given the Inca story yesterday knowing what a paragon of virtue some of the press boys are.
 
I'd be less than certain that there is any falling out over this and wouldn't be at all surprised if Jim Lewis has something in training with Hen next season if she finds something suitable.

If you are suggesting some sort of secret love triangle Warbler give us some warning so we have some chance of keeping our dinner down. Nobody needs that mental image!
 
That was a childish post Venusian.

I didnt say it was inappropriate to comment, merely inappropriate to judge.
 
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