On Sunday we managed to secure the Foran Equine Champion Trainer award at Kingston Blount, when Caspers Court won by a head under Hannah Morgan. We sat pretty comfortable at the top of the leaderboard going into the final weekend but with Hannah and Casper beating Young Rich from the Ellis yard, it meant we could not get caught. 

It has been an amazing season for Josh and everyone at Blackmore Farm. We have had 43 winners from 113 runners, operating at a 38% winning strike rate. A further 25 seconds and 19 thirds meant 77% of our runners finished in the top 3! We supplied 6 different jockeys with winners across the season. Josh, Hannah, Izzie Hill, Will Biddick, Darren Andrews and Jack Stenhouse. 

A big highlight of the season was Wadebridge in December, where we had 5 winners on the card! We had a brilliant start to the season and it put us at the front of the leaderboard from a very early stage. Gina has kept us on our toes throughout and pushed us every weekend, so we are thrilled to get the job done. With the highs, come the lows and losing our stable stalwart Sixteen Letters was very hard to swallow. He was a complete hero for us all and will always be incredibly missed! 

Josh had an incredible season in the saddle, riding 45 winners and finishing 2nd in the Tattersalls Jockey Club Sales National Men’s Championship. Josh’s best season previously was 22 winners, so to double his best and finish 2nd in the leaderboard is a great achievement. Hannah had a fabulous season riding 6 winners and therefore finishing 3rd in the Highflyer Bloodstock National Ladies Novice Jockey Championship. El Capitaine was runner up in the Connolly’s Red Mills Champion Point To Point Horse leaderboard with 7 wins and Clondaw Drake finished 4th with 5 winners. John and Sonia Gardener finished 3rd in the Isuzu Leading Owner Championship with Clondaw Drake supplying them 5 winners and Holiday Fund another 3. 

We have set the bar pretty high for next season and will spend the next few months refuelling, restocking and giving the yard its annual clean. We look forward to celebrating at the National Awards at Cheltenham Racecourse in July with all the team. Before we know it, horses will start to come back into work and we start all over again!