FEATURE BEN PAULING
and eat good food, play golf and your children can run wild,” says Ben. It’s no coincidence that you will find a free five-hour crèche for children aged three-plus on a Sunday. “Sundays are already legendary and there’s a great atmosphere,” says Ben “We received this text message from a friend a few Mondays ago: ‘Thank you so much for yesterday. Epic! I’ve just been back to the club to scoop up various bits of lost property, which included two pairs of socks, a pair of trainers, a pair of child’s jodhpur boots, a handkerchief, a trailer and a pony!’ “That is everything we want Naunton Downs to be.” Celebrations went on into the early hours following Global Citizen’s victory at last season’s Cheltenham Festival and Pauling is hoping for more success this term. “I have been to sales all over the UK and Ireland this summer and we have a really exciting bunch of stores for the next couple of years. I am lucky to have some great owners who continue to support me,” says Ben. With a strong start to the current campaign, life at Naunton Downs could not have started any better for the Pauling team. “It’s always a really exciting time. We have had a strong summer with some lovely winners. The team and I can’t wait for the new season to properly begin.”
Owner experience is also a high priority. The golf course clubhouse is a stone’s throw from the stables and a short canter from the Home of Jump Racing – Cheltenham. Inside, yard sponsor Fitzdares has created The Fitzdares Cotswolds Club – its first rural outpost – where owners, locals and golfers alike can enjoy wall-to-wall live sport and outstanding food in splendid surroundings. There is also Willoughby’s restaurant, which is a more relaxed space that’s open for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day, or where you can just enjoy a coffee and a catch up with friends. “We wanted to create somewhere that we would love. A place where you meet friends, have a few drinks
The new yard is truly spectacular and already offers some of the finest training facilities in the UK. “Everything we have tried to create here is for the horses’ health and well-being,” says Ben Every stable in two of the barns has an ‘ensuite pen’, where the horses can enjoy the fresh air all day. Each individual stable on the yard has fitted memory- foam rubber matting, which encourages the horses to lay down and supports their joints when they are standing up. “My assistant, Tom David, discovered this while spending time at Henry De Bromhead’s yard in Ireland, where he first saw it being used. It was originally used in cattle barns,” Ben explains. “It is also more economical long term, as it uses less shavings.”
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