Page 49 - The Hunt - Spring/Summer 2023

IF HENDRIKS COULD PERSUADE MOTHER NATURE TO PROVIDE IDEAL WEATHER FOR STEEPLECHASE RACING, IT WOULD BE THE DAY AFTER A SOAKING RAIN.
“IF IT RAINED A TON ON FRIDAY AND WE RACED ON SOFT GROUND ON SATURDAY, IT WOULD BE PERFECT,” HE SAYS.
and enhance his endurance. It isn’t easy
to say no to the temptations that can derail training, but Hendriks is intent on maintaining his edge. “At the beginning
of the season, those horses will come out like a scalded cat. You have to be fit, you have to be light and you have to be 100% prepared,” his mother notes. “I get anxious about safety.”
Hendriks recently spent a month in Ireland, where steeplechase racing is a national passion. He rode for celebrated trainer Gordon Elliot, who has 250 horses under his tutelage. He and Elliot were on the rail when unbeaten mare Honeysuckle, winner of more than £1 million, thundered to victory in a Grade 1 race. “It’s a huge part of the culture, as big as football is for us,” Hendriks says. “The roar from the crowd behind us was unbelievable, like an NFL game.”
On this side of the pond, Hendriks and his family are ardent supporters of jump racing and the hunt clubs that are the life blood of the sport. “The hunts are the glue that keeps it all together,” he says.
If Hendriks could persuade Mother Nature to provide ideal weather for steeplechase racing, it would be the day after a soaking rain. “If it rained a ton on Friday and we raced on soft ground on Saturday, it would be perfect,” he says. “The temperature would be slightly cool, about 55 degrees for the horses.”
If he had to pick a favorite mount, it would be He’ll Do, a 7-year-old jet-black gelding with white socks and a lightning- bolt blaze. His mother is part owner of He’ll Do, who lives on her farm. “I’ve ridden him a lot and won four races on him,” says Hendriks. “He’s a big boy—a beast. I admire him because he doesn’t
have much natural ability, but he puts it out there every time he goes out. He keeps stepping up to the bar.”
The secret to Hendriks’ success? “Good horses,” he says. “I keep it simple and help them get to where they need to be to win.” SL
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