Hello, and thank you for reading my first blog, which I am very excited about writing for Horse & Hound. I’m looking forward to keeping you updated on my news and telling you more about the special equines in my life. But first, let me introduce myself.
After a good grounding in eventing, I sold my FEI event pony on the night of the Pony Club championships and bought three racehorses with the proceeds. I began riding in point-to-points and things quickly progressed for me. Now aged just 27, I hold a full jump trainers’ license and have a complete yard of National Hunt horses.
Stars of the stables
Jump racing is fairly quiet in the summer, yet this is our time to try to steal some winners. I had a cracking win at 33-1 with our 10-year-old gelding Prince Tom at Newton Abbot this July.
It’s a ruthless world, though, and when it comes to buying horses my willpower goes out of the window and I can’t be responsible for my actions.
You see, after months – if not years – of scrimping and saving, my sister Roz had finally managed to get enough money to buy herself a new car – something she was incredibly excited about. After hearing that she had a stash of cash, I decided to put the money to better use and spent her hard-earned savings at Doncaster sales, on a lovely filly called Bramble Vodka (pictured above). It was well worth Roz’s sacrifice, though, because Bramble Vodka was fourth on her debut – although I’m not sure Roz saw it in quite the same way! Who needs a new car anyway?
We have a few more new horses in the yard that we have bought for owners and a couple still to sell. As long as they perform as well as Prince Tom and Bramble Vodka, I will be one very happy jockey. Do look out for them, as there are one or two that look set to be very promising. And please, come and say hello if you see me out and about.
Our targets for this year are to have a lot of fun, enjoy plenty of drinks at the races and most importantly, to try to have a few more winners. I would be delighted if you would join me for the ride and follow our progress.
Alex.
