Category: News

43 winners for the season! As the National Point to Point season begins to draw to a close, we hit 43 winners at Cothelstone on Wednesday, which equalled our best seasonal tally that we achieved last season. Young Lucas Murphy was in the saddle aboard Clondaw Drake, for John & Sonia Gardener. They won the Conditions (Level 1) for Novice Riders by ¾ of a length extending John & Sonia’s lead in the Isuzu Leading Owner Championship to 14 winners.    We enjoyed a treble at the second Flete Park meeting with Ghost Jury, Hearts Corner and Cherry Lane. It was lovely to see Ghost Jury get her head in front for 4Racing Owners Club. She has not had the most successful time under rules, so it was good to see her back in Point to Points and in the winners enclosure! Hearts Corner made easy work of the Ladies Open under Ellie Callwood and Caspers Court finished 3rd in the same race. The final race of the day was won by Cherry Lane, owned by John & Sonia Gardener. She came to us last August after we purchased her privately from her breeder. She has learnt a lot in a short space of time having been pretty much untouched when she arrived. A big credit goes to Hannah and Alyce, who have both worked very hard with her – she is very much a chestnut mare!   Bank Holiday saw Penarthur make his debut at Eyton-on-Severn in the GB Pointing Bonus Maiden. He finished 2nd for Bear Pen Racing and looks a lovely prospect for next season. Also on the same day, Beacon Edge won his third Open of the season for John & Floss Symes at Vauterhill. The following weekend we were at Holnicote and Upcott Cross with nine runners across the weekend. Diamonds And Denim won the Maiden easily for the Flap & Flip Club under Josh and is now for sale. Both Ghost Jury and Getaway Drumlee finished 2nd in their races respectively and lost nothing in defeat. Upcott Cross saw Woodstock Octo win his sixth race of the season, this time taking the Novice Riders under Lucas Murphy and Make Idaho Great won the Intermediate. Crystal De France made a pleasing debut for Blackmore Racing Club to finish 2nd and we will look to go again at Upcott’s second meeting with him. Dance Ifyoucan unfortunately fell four from home on his last run of the season, which is a shame, but he’s in one piece and will be an exciting horse for Kayley Woollacott Racing VI for next season.    We have a good bunch of horses out on their summer holidays and it is lovely to see them wind down and enjoy sunbathing. We have started clearing stables out ready for pressure washing, painting and creosoting!    We have two competitive weekends left of the Point to Point season before we can properly start winding down and a busy week next week with Goffs Store and Horses In Training Sales at Doncaster!

The Magic 50! It has always been a target to better our previous seasons but a milestone that we have always wanted to achieve is 50 winners across both yards. Last weekend, we achieved this and the magic 50, soon became 52!    Both Woodstock Octo and Al Gasparo extended their unbeaten tally when winning their respective races at Dunsmore on the 12th April. Woodstock Octo took his fifth race of the season when coming home in front in the Intermediate under a penalty for John and Sonia Gardener. Al Gasparo won his fourth race this season when taking the Mixed Open by 2 ¾ lengths under a 7lb penalty for John and Floss Symes. Dart Of Ginger made a pleasing debut for Jeremy Barber in the Mares Maiden and will definitely improve for the experience.    Onto last weekend, Make Idaho Great was another to remain unbeaten when coming home in front in his Restricted under a penalty at Flete Park. We split across the country on Sunday and headed to both Cotley and Lower Machen. Clondaw Drake was the 50th winner to be sent out of Blackmore Farm this season, when he took the Conditions Level 2 under Darren Andrews for  John and Sonia Gardener at Lower Machen. He has had a frustrating season due to no fault of his own so it was great to see him back in the winners enclosure. This gave John and Sonia Gardener another winner and put them two wins in front for the National Leading Owner Championship. 50 soon became 51 when Talimar Pearl won the Members Race at Cotley giving David Churches a winner under Josh.  Arty Dodger ran a very pleasing race at Lower Machen in the Flat Race and it was great to see him show plenty of promise being a homebred of his owner, Becky Roach.    The same weekend, Knock Off Soxs and Our Dylan made the long journey to Bangor On Dee for the last runs of their season. Both ran great races to finish 4th and 3rd and will now enjoy their well deserved summer holidays! The National Hunt horses are really winding down now with only a couple left in to run. Noble Blue finally got the win he deserved at Taunton on Wednesday evening. He has been unlucky on his starts over hurdles this season having bumped into a couple well handicapped horses and clipped heels when another runner crossed into his path and annoyingly left Josh no option but to come out the side door. Noble Blue has been a great horse since joining us last season and it’s wonderful to add a hurdle win to his CV for owners Friends Of Sylvie.    Reaching the 50 winner mark for the season is a huge achievement. Our National Hunt season has exceeded everyone’s expectations this year and to end it with 17 winners is a huge achievement from our small yard. We finished on a 20% win and 46% placed strike rate with just under £130,000 prize money. It was a bitter pill to swallow to only have five National Hunt winners last season, but we were very confident going into the 2025/26 season with the best team of horses we have had!    We currently sit on 35 winners heading into the last five competitive weekends of Pointing. Our best season is 43 winners, so fingers crossed we can reach another seasonal best over the coming weeks!

Five Winners Over Easter Weekend! We are very lucky to say that the horses continue to be in great form and the winners keep on coming! We have had plenty of luck at Trebudannon over the past few seasons and this has also been enjoyed this year. Their first meeting was held on the 29th March where we sent four runners down. We enjoyed a double with Important Notice taking the Mixed Open and Woodstock Octo won the Intermediate, both under Darren Andrews. Josh was otherwise engaged at Maisemore but it was great for Darren to step in and help him achieve his 5 winners on the day! Tilly had her second ride aboard Caspers Court and with their debut run not going quite to plan at Wadebridge, it was lovely to see them have a clear round and finish 4th! Unfortunately, Getaway Drumlee pulled up under Hannah. Nothing came to light so we will draw a line through this and see him out bouncing again soon!   The Easter weekend started off the perfect way with two runners and two winners at Cherrybrook on Saturday. Hannah gave Talimar Pearl a beautiful ride to come home in front in the Conditions Level 3 for David Churches. This was Talimar’s first win of the season and he truly deserved it. He gives his all every time he runs and is a complete pleasure to have in the yard. Our second winner of the day came from Holiday Fund with Josh on board. Holiday has been a little frustrating this season, but it was great to see him produce the goods here. He is a very versatile horse and has run on all different types of ground but he does appreciate the sun on his back so hopefully there is more to come from him this season.    Onto Easter Monday and back to Trebudannon. We took six runners down and came away with 3 winners. Important Notice returned back to the track, this time with Hannah in the saddle. He ran in the Ladies Open alongside Caspers Court and Tilly. Hannah and Important Notice won for Tom and Sally Dalley and Tilly had another safe round under her belt! We were delighted to see Seventeenothree finish 2nd in the Maiden and Cherry Lane finished behind her in 4th. Hearts Corner backed up his win in the Westcountry Champion Chase by winning the Cornish National for Becky Roach over the extended trip of 3m4f. He won by an impressive 20 lengths and he remains unbeaten this season. Champagne Blue made his second appearance for us in the 3 mile Maiden and despite a blunder at the last which caused Josh’s saddle to slip and nearly unseat, the partnership stayed intact and he won comfortably. This was a great result and gave Blackmore Racing Club their second winner of the season!     Taunton on the 9th was a day of mixed fortunes! Lau And Shaz ran with huge credit against a horse that cost £360,000. She has been a brilliant horse this season and definitely has an exciting career in the future over fences. Noble Blue was so unlucky to be hampered by a horse that bumped the rail and therefore ended up clipping heels and unshipping Josh. Both are fine and will be back to fight another day!

Another Milestone Achieved! Blackmore Farm hit a huge milestone when Vol Royale came home in front meaning we reached over £100,000 in prize money. For some yards, this is achieved very easily but for a small yard with only 12 licensed boxes, it is a great testament to everyone’s hard work and what a great season we are enjoying. It was lovely to see Vol Royale back to winning ways after a disappointing run at Chepstow. Things just did not go our way on his handicap debut so it was back to Hereford where we knew he liked it and he won by 1 ¼ lengths. Harry Cobden gave him a very uncomplicated ride and it is great for Kayley Woollacott Racing II to enjoy their third win with him.    El Capitaine made his chase debut at Newbury two days later and although looking a little flat footed turning in, he stormed home from the back of the last and won very comfortably. Ben Jones gave him a great ride and it was lovely for owner Ivan Thompson! We enjoyed a Sausage Shed Breakfast this morning which is always well received by the staff. Our Dylan made the step up to 3 miles at Wincanton under Josh on Monday 24th and although being the outsider of the field, Josh was never in doubt and gave him a cracking ride to win by ½ length. He has turned into a wonderful horse for 4Racing Owners Club and this is the sixth win they have enjoyed with him!   Yesterday, we had the Behind The Scenes Raceday at Taunton where we had the Kayley Woollacott Racing Syndicates & Blackmore Racing Club sponsored race which was a great initiative. It was won by Ede’iffs Lad, for Kathy Turner and was ridden by Darren Andrews. Darren is a regular work rider here at Blackmore Farm so it was great to see him win the feature race. We had Knock Off Soxs run in the 2m3f race where he finished 4th beaten 10 lengths.    The Pointers have continued to run well. Hearts Corner won the West Country Champion Chase at Buckfastleigh for Becky Roach. Champagne Blue made his debut for Blackmore Racing Club and finished 2nd in the Maiden. He will be back out again soon. We took four runners to Kilworthy and came away with two winners and two seconds. Dance Ifyoucan won the Maiden giving Blackmore Racing Club their first winner of the season. We purchased the horse when we went over to Ireland and saw him finish 2nd in the Maiden at Ballycrystal. We really liked him and a week later, he was with us at Blackmore Farm! Make Idaho Great took the Restricted for John and Sonia Gardener in great fashion after only winning his Maiden two weeks earlier at Charlton Horethorne.    We have continued to go up to Chard Equestrian with Jabeena Maslin, who has been great with our babies, teaching them various jumping techniques. It is great to have seen a glimmer of Spring in the past two weeks and it is nice to wave goodbye to the dreadful wet winter. We could do with a drop of rain to keep the ground in good conditions for a little while longer however!

Super Six Weekend! We are nearly through the first half of March and what a busy month it has been already! It is so nice to see the sun and hopefully the Point to Point season will be without any interruptions going forward.    We took four Maidens to Badbury Rings at the end of February, with Docket Man coming home in front giving The Oaks Partnership their first winner. He was purchased privately in January having ran twice and is learning all the time. He nearly got taken out by a faller but after an incredible recovery from Josh, the partnership remained intact and he went on to win comfortably! Electric City made his debut for us and his newly formed syndicate, Kayley Woollacott Racing V. He ran very well to finish 2nd behind a smart 4yo of Will Biddicks. Electric City backed this up by winning the GB Pointing Bonus at Didmarton, providing us with the first leg of our treble at the meeting! Didmarton turned out to be a successful day with Beacon Edge taking the Mixed Open for John and Floss Symes. Hannah rode her first winner of the season aboard Getaway Drumlee to win the PPORA Club Members Conditions (Level 3) for Susan Morgan and Sharon Rushton.    Our good weekend continued into Sunday, at Charlton Horethorne, with another treble which made it 6 winners across the weekend from 9 runners. Micky Haller made his debut in the GB Pointing Bonus and albeit showing greenness, ran with a huge amount of credit to win going away. He has since gone through the ring at the Tattersalls Cheltenham Festival Sale and sold to Ryan Mahon and Dan Skelton for £75,000 and also qualifies for the £25,000 bonus being British bred. John and Sonia Gardener have another nice prospect in Make Idaho Great, who was a recent purchase out of the Irish Point to Point field. He’s been showing all the right signs at home and won the 3m Maiden on his first start for us. Al Gasparo remains unbeaten since we purchased him last summer and he won giving John and Floss Symes two Mixed Open winners across the weekend!    Woodstock Octo reappeared two weeks after his Restricted win and headed back to Larkhill under a penalty where he won easily. He is another very exciting horse for the future!   Kayley has been enjoying her best National Hunt season and we are now up to 13 winners, which for a small string, is great! Diamatiste and Stratton Oakmont went to Ascot where Diamatiste lapped up the atmosphere to run a huge race and finish 2nd! Stratton Oakmont got stuck in traffic turning for home but still ran well. It seemed a step in the right direction after his disappointing run on the previous occasion. Sparkling Duke has definitely been one of our talking horses of the season and he headed back to his beloved Ffos Las on the 1st March. This was his third run at the track, which he clearly enjoys and showed great battling attributes to win by ½ length. He is now 3 from 4 under rules for us and 1 from 1 in Points. He has risen in the weights but hopefully there is still more enjoyment to be had with him!    Onto this weekend, we have runners at Cothelstone and Buckfastleigh!