The Racing Life of Jenny Carr
‘I’m still known as Mad Jenny Carr around home.’ Racing may not have been the only crazy aspect to Jenny's life but it was a part of her...
Jo O'Neill
- Jul 12
- 6 min
An Interview with Former Trainer Robin Dickin
Robin Dickin, a Shropshire lad born in Ludlow, rode his first winner on his first ride in August 1967 at Warwick over five furlongs. The...
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Jo O'Neill
- Jul 5
- 4 min
An Interview with Jockey Stan Sheppard
Jockey Stan Sheppard had a brilliant season. Yet, with his family pedigree, it isn’t surprising. His Grandfather, Roger Guilding, rode...
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Jo O'Neill
- Jun 28
- 7 min
June 2022 Blog
June has been a busy month, filled with sunny days and the eager anticipation of horses soon to be coming back into training. Some horses...
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Jo O'Neill
- Jun 22
- 8 min
The Racing Life of Britt Cowper
Britt Hounslow, nee Cowper, has lived in a few places… ‘I was born up the road from Old Trafford in Manchester in August 1965 (yes I am...
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Jo O'Neill
- Jun 14
- 3 min
An Interview with Top Trainer Tim Easterby
To the question, at what point growing up did you know you wished to be a trainer? Tim Easterby, 60, answered a simple but heartfelt,...
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Jo O'Neill
- Jun 8
- 11 min
An Interview with Racing Photographer Dominic James
Previously, Dominic James was a graphic designer as well as a former owner of a design agency, but he never strayed far from his love of...
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Jo O'Neill
- Jun 2
- 3 min
Deeds not Words
Emily Davison was an educated woman. She had been a literature student at Royal Holloway College and had self-funded her studies at...
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Jo O'Neill
- May 26
- 6 min
May 2022 Blog
May hasn't been that quiet and relaxed. The yard stayed busy. Many horses went out to the fields on their holidays, but a lot of...
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Jo O'Neill
- May 18
- 4 min
An Interview with Champion Conditional Kevin Brogan
In winning the Conditional Jockey’s Championship, Kevin Brogan, 22, has followed in the footsteps of Sir AP McCoy, Harry Cobden and his...
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Jo O'Neill
- May 12
- 6 min
Michael Appleby's Top Team
Here is a selection of short interviews with a range of trainer Michael Appleby’s staff, all recorded in person by Kirsty Whitbread....
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Jo O'Neill
- May 6
- 2 min
An Interview with Michael Appleby, Racehorse Trainer
Michael ‘Mick’ Appleby did not have a horsey childhood. Mick’s Grandfather took him along to their local tracks of Pontefract and...
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Jo O'Neill
- Apr 26
- 6 min
April 2022 Blog
April can be summed up as winners, winners and more winners. It was a glorious end to a good season. We notched up eighty-two victories,...
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Jo O'Neill
- Apr 19
- 8 min
St. Paddy's Days
An Interview with Groom Paddy Trainor 'I have my real family, Sam and Shannon are my rocks, they’ve stood by me through injuries and we...
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Jo O'Neill
- Apr 10
- 10 min
The Racing Department of Haddon Training
Haddon Training provides qualifications within the working environment throughout England and Wales in many equestrian disciplines,...
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Jo O'Neill
- Mar 28
- 7 min
March 2022 Blog
March started in the best way with File Illico (Lilo) winning at Leicester for owner, the Honourable Mrs Lizzie Wills, and groom Alex...
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Jo O'Neill
- Mar 23
- 6 min
An Interview with Trainer Adrian Wintle
‘I love what I do,’ declares trainer Adrian Wintle. The former top amateur jockey reflects on a successful riding career in which he rode...
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Jo O'Neill
- Mar 9
- 8 min
19th March 2010
I could not believe that I was actually leading up in the Cheltenham Gold Cup - the biggest race of the National Hunt season. As a groom,...
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Jo O'Neill
- Mar 2
- 6 min
February 2022 Blog
I hadn’t fallen off for a couple of seasons, so I was well overdue. The string was trotting down the new path towards the bottom of the...
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Jo O'Neill
- Feb 24
- 3 min
An Interview with Former Owners George and Angie Malde
George and Angie Malde had a lot of fun owning several successful racehorses. These include dual Welsh National winner Bonanza Boy who,...
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Jo O'Neill
- Feb 18
- 6 min
The Racing Life of Karen Sharpe
An Interview with Karen Sharpe: Regional Liaison for the IJF Karen Sharpe works for the Injured Jockeys’ Fund in the role of Regional...
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Jo O'Neill
- Feb 10
- 4 min
An Interview with Jockey Richie McLernon
Richard ‘Richie’ McLernon, 35, is from Mallow in County Cork and has many family connections to racing. ‘I was born into a racing family...
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Jo O'Neill
- Feb 1
- 8 min
January 2022 Blog
We started 2022 in the best way when Judicial Law won over hurdles at Exeter. It was our fiftieth winner of the season but, the middle of...
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Jo O'Neill
- Jan 27
- 3 min
An Interview with Head Lad Wayne Jones
Wayne Jones describes his childhood as ‘not particularly horsey’ but that did not stop his adolescent dreams of being a jockey. He grew...
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Jo O'Neill
- Jan 21
- 9 min
An Interview with Eloise Quayle - Clerk of the Course at Newcastle Racecourse
Eloise Quayle enjoyed a pony-mad childhood in Morpeth, Northumberland, surrounded by a few ponies, her mum’s ex-racehorse and a horse...
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Jo O'Neill
- Jan 13
- 3 min
An Interview with Hannah Dean - Head of Travelling to Ben Pauling
Hannah Dean, nee Worgan, grew up in the Welsh-English border village of Undy, Monmouthshire, alongside ponies and the Pony Club, often...
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Jo O'Neill
- Jan 4
- 12 min
December 2021 Blog
December had many very busy moments; some were great and others weren’t so great. The weather or traffic, to name a couple of factors,...
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Jo O'Neill
- Dec 28, 2021
- 5 min
An Interview with Top Trainer Lucinda Russell
Lucinda Russell was a pony-mad child, pony-clubbing and riding eventers and showjumpers. She originally grew up in Edinburgh but the...
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Jo O'Neill
- Dec 17, 2021
- 5 min
An Interview with Dominic Toole - Stable Manager at Epsom Downs and Sandown
Dominic Toole, in his capacity of stable manager, is an integral part of every Derby Day at Epsom Downs and all the Flat and Jump...
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Jo O'Neill
- Dec 9, 2021
- 6 min
The Racing Life of Ollie McPhail
Many racegoers have seen pupils let out of their classrooms for a day at the races, often brightly coloured with the old silks they wear....
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Jo O'Neill
- Dec 2, 2021
- 7 min
November 2021 Blog
`November largely consisted of mucking out and then going racing as I was still the temporary head of travelling. The winners always...
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Jo O'Neill
- Nov 25, 2021
- 2 min
An Interview with Trainer Philip Hobbs
For three decades Philip Hobbs has been a top trainer. Based near Minehead in Somerset, the yard had been associated with many Festival...
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Jo O'Neill
- Nov 18, 2021
- 5 min
An Interview with Racing Groom Gemma McQuillan
Gemma McQuillan loves working with racehorses and wouldn’t be happy doing anything else. She was born in Gloucestershire but grew up in...
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Jo O'Neill
- Nov 9, 2021
- 5 min
An Interview with Derek Thompson - Former Stable Manager at Aintree Racecourse
‘Racing people are wonderful,’ says Derek ‘Dec’ Thompson, the former stable manager at Aintree Racecourse. He has been retired for over...
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Jo O'Neill
- Oct 31, 2021
- 8 min
October 2021 Diary
On 25th September, seven of us sweated our way over, under and through the Inflatable 5K round Cheltenham racecourse. AJ O’Neill, Nick...
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Jo O'Neill
- Oct 25, 2021
- 10 min
An Interview with Top Owner Miss Jayne Brace
There is no lovelier owner then Jayne Brace, who got into racehorse ownership through her family’s involvement in racing over the years....
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Jo O'Neill
- Oct 15, 2021
- 3 min
An Interview with Top Owner Mrs Cherry Jones
Cherry Jones grew up amongst horseracing, her parents having had studs at Cokethorpe and later Chaddleworth. Cherry has continued to...
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Jo O'Neill
- Oct 5, 2021
- 6 min
An Interview with Top Owners Geoff and Donna Keeys
‘So many of the memories we’ve got and the stories we can tell are due to racing,' says owners Geoff and Donna Keeys. They discovered...
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Jo O'Neill
- Sep 29, 2021
- 7 min
September 2021 Diary
September is a peculiar month, sitting at the backend of summer but often too warm to be classed properly as autumnal. The yard was busy...
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Jo O'Neill
- Sep 23, 2021
- 10 min
An Interview with George McGrath - Chief Executive of NARS
George McGrath may not have been the most committed jockey, prioritising socialising and partying but was always proactive and forward...
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Jo O'Neill
- Sep 15, 2021
- 3 min
An Interview with Johnson White, Assistant Trainer to Philip Hobbs
Racing might be in Johnson White’s blood but he still carved his own way in National Hunt. He was a decent amateur jockey and...
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Jo O'Neill
- Sep 10, 2021
- 5 min
An Interview with Ex-jockey Liam Cooper
At the beginning, Liam Cooper only had a loose connection to racing through his uncles, John and David Goulding, who were both good...
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Jo O'Neill
- Sep 3, 2021
- 7 min
An Interview with Monica Wakefield - Sea Pigeon's Groom
I met Monica Wakefield, nee Jones, when she visited Jackdaws Castle. Years had passed since she worked as a groom but she clearly...
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Jo O'Neill
- Aug 28, 2021
- 6 min
August 2021 Diary
The annual fortnight without any jump racing meant that August had been quiet for runners, but the yard had still been hectic due to many...
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Jo O'Neill
- Aug 16, 2021
- 9 min
An Interview with Anthea Leigh - Clerk of the Course
An Interview with Anthea Leigh – Clerk of the Course at Cartmel and Raceday Manager at York Anthea Leigh is the daughter of the late Gold...
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Jo O'Neill
- Aug 10, 2021
- 7 min
An Interview with Champion Gentleman Amateur Tommie O'Brien
Despite the disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic, amateur jockey Tommie O’Brien had a wonderful season, ending in winning the...
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Jo O'Neill
- Aug 3, 2021
- 4 min
An Interview with ex-jockey Conor Shoemark
It didn’t start with horses and racing for former jump jockey Conor Shoemark. In fact, it was pretty much every sport but riding. ‘I was...
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Jo O'Neill
- Jul 27, 2021
- 8 min
July Diary 2021
June ended with a double at Southwell with Knight Destroyer (K-Dog) and The Composer (Comp) both winning over fences. K-Dog is a yard...
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Jo O'Neill
- Jul 20, 2021
- 5 min
The Racing Life of Helen Donnelly
Helen Donnelly spent over twenty-five years working as a head of travelling for a number of trainers, including Jonjo O’Neill and Ferdy...
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Jo O'Neill
- Jul 7, 2021
- 4 min
An Interview with Racecourse Photographer John Grossick
There is a lot more to Grossick Racing Photography than racing photos. However, racing is a specialist part of the business that started...
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