Champion national hunt trainer Paul Nicholls described an evacuation of a number of his horses Jan. 4 as a "short-term drama" after flooding near his yard in Somerset resulted in members of his team being surrounded by water.
Nicholls and his staff were forced to move six horses from their stables in Highbridge after a nearby river burst its banks. This led to the yard in Ditcheat being flooded, with water reaching as high as the horses' knees.
Nicholls, assistant Charlie Davies, and long-serving head lad Clifford Baker led the operation at around 10:30 p.m. Thursday and took the six horses involved to another yard. The water had disappeared by the morning and the incident did not alter the 14-time champion's routine Friday morning.
Nicholls said: "I'd never seen rain like it on Thursday and the river burst its banks and backed up all the drainage. It's happened once before but not for about 10 or 15 years.
"We got to the horses and they were floating, with the water and shavings up to their knees. We just got them out and safe, dried them off and moved them for the night and you wouldn't know any different.
"First thing this morning the water had gone and the gallops and everything was back to normal. It was a bit of a short-term drama but everyone's okay."
Storm Henk has battered Britain this week, with the southwest experiencing torrential rain described as the wettest spell the clerk of the course at Chepstow—notorious for its grueling conditions—had seen after abandoning Sunday's meeting.
Heavy rain also has forced Sandown's Premier fixture on Saturday to be abandoned while Wincanton, the closest track to Nicholls' Ditcheat beat, is subject to an 8 a.m. inspection ahead of its Saturday card. Racecourses such as Huntingdon, Worcester, and Stratford have also been completely flooded after the rain caused nearby rivers to burst their banks.
