Trainers

One of the most successful and respected trainers of his generation, and a winner of six Classics, William Haggas is consistently in the top three in the UK trainers’ championship. Based at Somerville Lodge yard in Newmarket, he trains for some of the most high-profile owners in the sport, including the Royal Family, Cheveley Park and Shadwell. Renowned for his patience and skill in not rushing his horses onto the racecourse, he is a master of his trade.

Based at the historic Kingsclere Stables in Hampshire, Classic-winning trainer Andrew Balding has an outstanding record on the international stage. His yard is one of the best equipped and most beautiful private training grounds in the UK with upwards of 200 stables. The gallops at Kingsclere are extensive and include three all-weather surfaces, two grass gallops and a set of schooling fences. Andrew and his team starred in the hugely popular Amazon Prime documentary, Horsepower.

A Tipperary native, Quinn was a jockey both in Ireland and the UK before joining the training ranks. Assisted by son Sean, the team have around 65 horses split between their two yards in Malton in North Yorkshire, where the facilities include gallops, paddocks, schooling grounds, a treadmill, indoor school and an equine spa. John's exceptional training talent is exemplified by stable star, Highfield Princess - beaten off a rating of 57 in her first handicap back in 2020, she went on to become a multiple Group 1 winner just two years later.

Charlie joined the Kingsley Park team on a full-time basis in 2016 before joining his father Mark on a joint training licence in January 2022. They saddled 176 winners in Britain as a partnership and in August 2022, Mark became the first and only trainer to saddle 5,000 winners in Britain. In January 2023, Charlie took over the licence at Kingsley Park and has already enjoyed winners in his own name, whilst Mark remains heavily involved in the Middleham operation as his assistant. As a qualified vet, Charlie ideally positioned for understanding the physical demands of their horses and how best to help them excel on the racecourse.

As the winning-most female racehorse trainer in history, and only the second to win the Grand National (with Mon Mome in 2009), Venetia is renowned for her consistent performance at the highest level. Her horses regularly compete for top honours throughout the Jump season, and have gained numerous successes at the Cheltenham Festival. Venetia’s beautiful Aramstone Stables in Herefordshire have an impressive 50 turn-out paddocks, as Venetia is a great believer that all her horses should spend time each day out in the field at grass.

Eve trains from the historic Woodway in Blewbury, Oxon, a village at the foot of the Berkshire Downs section of the North Wessex Downs, about 4 miles south of Didcot. In her career as a trainer, Eve has time and again shown her ability to compete at a high level with inexpensive horses. This has been borne out in 2023 alone by Group 3-winning two-year-old, Juniper Berries, who cost just 28,000gns and is rated 100, along with Jumby, another Group 3 winner this year who cost just 45,000gns (rated 109). One of Eve's best known horses in recent history has been the hugely popular Accidental Agent, winner of the Queen Anne at Royal Ascot in 2018 and a stalwart ever since.

Cheltenham Festival-winning trainer Jamie is heading into the 2023/24 Jumps season on a roll. Jamie has his best ever season in 2022/23, with 45 winners highlighted by stable star Ga Law winning the Paddy Power Gold Cup at Cheltenham’s November meeting and the brilliant mare You Wear It Well having a fine season, culminating in victory in the Jack De Bromhead Mares’ Hurdle at The Festival. Jamie has an impeccable CV, having been assistant trainer to two greats of the sports, Paul Nicholls and Nicky Henderson. It’s therefore no surprise that he has already trained nearly 400 winners in his relatively short career as a trainer. Folly House Stables in Lambourn is home to Jamie’s growing yard, where he hopes to add a number of new boxes over the next year as demand for his skills increases.

Timeform describes Stuart Williams as ‘a conjurer of a trainer. One who can transform an apparently moderate animal into a frequent winner’. That’s certainly how he’s respected across the industry, as a trainer with a great talent for finding improvement in horses that come to his yard from other trainers. There is no greater example than his current stable star Quinault, who joined Williams from Charlie Appleby, and ran up a six-time winning sequence over the summer, going from a rating of 59 to 90. Williams is based in Newmarket at Diomed Stables on the Hamilton Road, which backs onto the racecourse training grounds, and has excellent facilities with 70 stables, turnout paddocks and a state of the art equine solarium. Stuart is training the Racing TV Members powered by RaceShare horse, Lir Speciale.