Phillips in Grand victory (From Ledbury Reporter)

Phillips in Grand victory

4:03pm Friday 3rd February 2012 in Sport

CALLOW End husband-and-wife trainers Alan and Hannah Phillips are celebrating after their horse claimed victory in the Shepherd Neame Kent Grand National at Charing.

Kilbeggan Blade, formerly owned by Henrietta Knight and among the shorter priced horses for the 2009 Aintree Grand National, was ridden to a two-length success by 23-yearold stable girl Ally Stirling.

Alan Phillips said: “We’ve had Kilbeggan Blade since July and have really given him a lot of TLC after he had a year off racing.

“It was certainly a nice price for him to win at (20-1) in the Kent Grand National and Ally gave him a confident ride.

“Our yard is solely run by Hannah and I and we are able to give all of the horses a lot of individual attention — and that has paid off with Kilbeggan Blade.

“We train three horses to go pointto- pointing and hunter chasing, while we also educate young horses for flat yards and do a lot of breaking too.”

Kilbeggan Blade, who at 13 was the joint oldest horse in the race, had not won a point-to-point for six years but earned nearly £100,000 in prize money under rules.