Team Ride Away is a family team new to Team Chasing this year (2010). Based near York we wear the racing colours of Team Captain Stephen (Spud) Clark and all the team members have ridden winners (PAP or under rules) wearing the colours. Spud inherited the colours from his Grandfather in law who owned the 1949 winner of the Chester Cup called John Moore.

We can be spotted (or heard!) walking the course with the Captain and his Deputy seriously discussing ground lines and tactics and the other 2 trying to trip each other up, doing impressions of various racing personalities and generally taking the p**s!

Stephen "Spud" Clark - Team Captain

Stephen is CEO of Ride Away an Equestrian Superstore and Mail Order Company that sells everything for horse, rider and much more besides. www.rideaway.co.uk. Having ridden 2 winners as a conditional jockey Stephen trained as a farrier and in 1980 established Ride Away with his wife Angela. Often seen giving instructions with a certain hand gesture known to the team as "the hand of wisdom"!

Ruth Carr - Deputy

Ruth is Stephens daughter. She trains flat racehorses from the yard she took over from her Grandfather, David Chapman, in 2008. www.ruthcarrracing.co.uk. Ruth rode for several years as an amateur riding 28 winners on the flat, 8 over hurdles and 20 PAP before she decided that eating was more important than riding horses in races! Ruth's is obsessed with checking the Team Chasing website and sending very frequent emails to the rest of the team.

Richard Clark

Richard is Stephens son and has been a qualified farrier for 8 years. He had a handful of rides as an amateur on the flat, winning on Sharp Hat twice. He has also ridden 10 Point to Point winners. Rich is lead singer in a local band called The Zooms. www.myspace.com/thezoomsuk Rich annoys Ruth and Rach by always looking ultra stylish in the post chase photos!

Rachel Andrews

Rachel is Stephens niece and Ruth and Rich's cousin. Previously renown locally for riding anything Rachel has retired from riding as an Amateur but has ridden a winner over hurdles, a Hunter Chase winner as well as numerous Point to Point winners. Rach is also known as super groom and can often be seen crying with laughter.

Due to the various abandonment's this Spring we had our first run in the Fernie Novice followed by 2nd place in the Warwickshire Novice on very soft ground.

It was then a very long summer for an addicted Team Ride Away to wait for a third run. After lots of schooling and practising we were all ready for the Belvoir Novice and set off from the start gate like scalded cats only to mess it up by going far too fast and far too tight! We had two unseated riders, several refusals and no brakes on the pull up that involved scaring a poor fence judge to death by jumping the wire and a random hedge! We skulked off home with our tails between our legs with serious discussions of going for a safe, steady clear the next week.

Mission accomplished at the Atherstone but with racing in our blood the Bogey Time classes aren't for us so after a Sunday at home when the Meynell was off the Intermediate at the Bicester was our aim. Driving into the box park we spotted fence 2 with a blue number on it - "if the Intermediate are the blue numbers I'm going home now" was heard murmured! A let down by the lead horse who isn't as brave as we thought slightly spoilt the round but there'll be no returning to Novices now we're hooked by jumping bigger and bigger hedges and, long term, hope to be having a go at the Opens (can anyone tell us which is the easiest to start with!)