Irish trainer Seamus Mullins has took to this difficult period in the world like a natural with no complaining just getting on with it and with Racing being few and far between he has turned his interests to something else.
If this was a normal time for Mullins he would be readying his yard for a big summer campaign with the handler having about 30 horses at his stables at the moment.
However, with most of the yard on furlough or being turned away, he is now stacking shelves in Waitrose to keep himself busy, which truly is a remarkable thing to do during these hard times.
(Credit Racing Post) The Irish handler explained: “The Sunday after racing was shut down in Britain I was having lunch with my daughter-in-law, who is the team manager in the local Waitrose [in Salisbury], and she told me they are desperate for staff and that they couldn't keep up with the workload. I seem to be on the cheese aisle and yogurt aisle, I never knew there was so much cheese in the world!
“I had already taken the decision to furlough my staff, the majority of the horses had been put out to grass so it's not like I was in a position to take money out of the business so I said to her that I'd be more than happy to do a few shifts each week. It would give me something to do and, more importantly, it would keep things ticking over financially.”
Mullins added: “I am a single man and how many replays of Goodwood and Royal Ascot can you watch on Racing TV? I thought to myself, 'why not go in and do my bit to help out?' I'm not medically trained and I can't go and do a shift in a hospital or anything. The few quid comes in handy, I'm putting it towards my pension."