Kingsclere

SAKHIR, Bahrain--It has been a big year for Harry Davies. Having made his first appearance under rules aboard Battered (GB) for Hugo Palmer at Southwell on January 11, Britain's fastest-rising apprentice is currently engaged in his first overseas riding job at the Bahrain Turf Club, where he is working for leading trainer Allan Smith.  In the weighing-room, Davies is as fresh-faced as they come, but then that's no surprise as he is still only 17. In conversation, however, he has the maturity and quiet confidence of someone twice his age....

There is much to admire about the team at Kingsclere, especially during a season when Andrew Balding has been in or near the top spot of the trainers' table throughout. But one particularly admirable facet to the Balding stable is in its sourcing of young stock at the yearling sales.  Key to that process are the trainer's mother, Emma Balding, and Kingsclere's racing manager, Tessa Hetherington.  The duo can regularly be spotted forming an advance party on the sales grounds, sifting through the catalogue to ensure that they are left...