Category: News

National Champions! 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!

Seasonal Best Beaten! Holiday Fund’s win at Dunsmore on Sunday 13th gave us our 30th winner of the season! This was a special win for the team as it meant we surpassed our best tally of winners, which we achieved last season. It has been another huge team effort to get to this point and none of this would be possible without our hard working staff who have battled another tough winter! Now we are fully into Spring, it does make life on the yard a lot easier. The waterproofs have disappeared and there is not an endless pile of pads and outdoor clothes that constantly need drying on a daily basis. I am sure the tack appreciates a break from getting wet every day too!  We had a busy Easter Weekend with plenty of runners, both Point to Pointing and National Hunt! Barford Groover had her second start over hurdles for us at Newton Abbot, finishing 4th and gaining her handicap mark. She is a very tough mare and it will be exciting to see her in handicap company.    Flete Park has not always been the most successful track for us but Noble Blue stormed home a fence clear to give Rose Vickery and Friends Of Sylvie a third win of the season. He was purchased privately through Darren O’Dwyer and has been great fun for the owners since joining us back in December. Caspers Court ran another great race to give Hannah some more points towards her Devon and Cornwall Ladies Championship bid! It is great to see Casper running so well and he is really enjoying the switch to Points. Clondaw Drake did not take to the unique track of Flete and unfortunately pulled up but lives to fight another day.   On Bank Holiday Monday, we took 5 runners to Trebudannon, which has been a lucky hunting ground for us!! El Capitaine got the day off to a good start by winning the Members Race under Josh, which was Captain’s fifth win of the season. He was purchased through JD Moore, from Killen Glebe, in May of last year having had a spell under rules for Tom Dreaper. The Kings Writ ran another cracking race to finish 2nd in the Ladies Open under Hannah and he still shows his enthusiasm for the sport at the age of 14! Cue Jump returned to the track in the 3m Maiden after making her debut last season to finish 3rd, beaten 6 lengths.   Knock Off Sox made his racecourse debut for us after he was purchased as a 3 year old at Goffs UK Store Sale last May. He was very recognisable at the Sales due to his chestnut coloured sock. He was very professional on the day and having taken the lead coming into the last, he showed a little greenness by shortening into it before rallying back at his opponents to come home a head in front. It is a great sense of achievement to win with a youngster on their first outing and he had been doing everything right at home and showed all the right signs that he should go well!   A good Easter weekend saw us reach 33 winners Pointing and therefore we are level with Gina Ellis’ yard with 5 weekends of the National season left to go. Josh is also joint with James King for the Men’s National Jockey Championship too so all to play for! Top Picture: El Capitaine Middle Picture: Holiday Fund Bottom Picture: Knock Off Sox

Super Start To Spring The delay in a more recent blog just shows how busy we still are at Blackmore Farm. As most National Hunt yards seem to quieten down, we are still extremely busy with the Pointers! The team is still endlessly working hard and it is showing in the huge amount of success we are having.    The Point to Pointers are in rude health and Sparkling Duke’s win at Maisemore made it winner 29 for the season, which equalled our seasonal best tally which we gained last season. A huge achievement from the team and a credit to them all.   Clondaw Drake continues to be in great form and has won at both Buckfastleigh and Trebudannon, now totting up 5 wins for the season for John and Sonia Gardener. He had been on Kayley’s radar for some time before purchasing him and it is amazing that he has shown the ability that we thought he had. Hannah and Emilie have both been hugely influential in the making of this horse at home and he has been very rewarding. Punch Perfect is another to have turned into the horse we thought he could be and took the Maiden at Buckfastleigh with ease giving Blackmore Racing Club another winner. He has since been purchased by Dan Cherriman, who rode him at Bitterley to finish 2nd and we wish them the best of luck together in the future. El Capitaine made it 4 winners for the season at Kilworthy and came home unchallenged. Purchased privately from Chris Jones through JD Moore, he has truly been a superstar for Ivan Thompson and we must also thank Redmills who have very kindly been powering him on their Define and Shine!  We were lucky enough to have a treble at Trebudannon and a 4 timer across the board with a winner at Maisemore Park. Clondaw Drake got the day rolling taking the Intermediate. Hannah and The Kings Writ made all and came home 30 lengths clear of their nearest rivals to take the Mixed Open in tremendous style. Buddah Castle supplied Blackmore Racing Club with their third winner of the season by winning the Maiden. Albeit being green, he is definitely a horse for the future with time and is for sale. At Maisemore, we had a brilliant day. Idaho Fire made his debut to finish 2nd, with the winner being sold on to Willie Mullins. Sparkling Duke won a 15 runner Maiden for horses 6yo and over. It was his first run for the yard having been purchased privately out of Joe Tizzards. He did it easily enough although looking a little green in front. The two bumper horses ran with huge credit. About Time Too made her debut and showed a huge amount of guts to battle all the way to the line to finish 2nd. Will To Power took a big step forward from his debut run to finish 2nd in the other division. Another amazing day for the team.   Five Quarters backed up his first two starts over hurdles with a win at Chepstow under Josh. Marie Walters and Kevin Pearce purchased Five Quarters after his 2nd in a Point to Point at Larkhill and the form of the race has worked out really well and he will give them plenty of fun in the future. Bruce Gobbler ran a very promising race at Taunton to finish 5th under Callum Pritchard. He was only beaten 4 lengths and hopefully can reward the House family with a winner soon! Barford Groove made her debut for us at Wincanton, which was also her debut run over hurdles and put up a very pleasing performance under Sean Houlihan.    We will begin to start roughing off a few National Hunt horses and it will not be very long until the pressure washer is back out and the paint brushes will start appearing again! The next generation of youngsters will start to be educated and before we know it, summer will be around the corner! First though, fingers crossed for some rain!! Main Picture: Sparkling Duke winning at Maisemore Park Below: Clondaw Drake at Buckfastleigh Far Below: Katie & Five Quarters

And Into Spring We Go! First and foremost, we sadly have to start with Sixteen Letters. Unfortunately we lost him at Badbury Rings whilst he was doing the job he loved the most. He had been a huge yard stalwart for the past 9 seasons, picking up 16 wins along the way and a further 16 placings. Adored by John and Floss Symes, who purchased him when he first arrived at Big Brook, before moving with the team to Blackmore Farm. He refused on all accounts to ever walk whilst being ridden and even after doing his work, still considered there was the slimmest of chances of going up the gallops again on the way home! He was most recently loved and cared for by Hannah and he will be missed immensely by the whole team here at Blackmore Farm.   Since our last blog we have been at various Point to Points starting with Buckfastleigh. Clondaw Drake ran a huge race in defeat to come 2nd in the Intermediate and Whitsand Bay ran a blinder for his seasonal debut run to finish 3rd behind him. Noble Blue backed up his Maiden win to take the Restricted but was pushed all the way to the line by Liwah. It was another gallant run from her and she will get her day soon! It was not long before El Capitaine was back in the winners enclosure two weeks later, when taking the Restricted under a penalty at Kingston Blount and Talimar Pearl was back to form and battled hard to win the Restricted at Badbury Rings. It was so lovely to have Paloma Blue back in the winners enclosure for the first time since his win at the Cheltenham Hunter Chase evening back in 2023. He needed his first run of the season at Milborne and still showed plenty of enthusiasm for the game when cantering home unchallenged at Larkhill on the 2nd March. We had a mixed day at Charlton Horethorne with a couple hot fancied runners disliking the ground but Outside Adesa did not seem to mind it and won the Maiden for a new owner to us, Simon Rushworth. Outside Adesa arrived just before Christmas and after falling at Milborne, we were happy for him to just get a clear round!!! Looking ahead to this weekend, we have entries at both Cothelstone and Buckfastleigh again.   Diamatiste became the 6th winner to come from the Chaddesley Corbett Maiden back in December 2023 and galloped the rest of the field into submission when coming home in front at Exeter under Josh for David and Steph Stevens. Vol Royale made a pleasing debut for us to finish 4th at Kempton for new syndicate, Kayley Woollacott Racing Club. Lucky Bere keeps running into the placings with a 3rd at Warwick under Callum Pritchard and 3rd at Sandown under Josh. Five Quarters ran a brilliant race at Chepstow to come 3rd and looks like he is going to give his new owners a huge amount of enjoyment.   We have a few new recruits here at Blackmore Farm. Sparkling Duke has come from Joe Tizzard’s and will now head Pointing for his new syndicate. He schooled and galloped around Charlton Horethorne Point to Point this morning and should be out in a couple of weeks. Another new face is Buddah Castle, who made his racecourse debut at Charlton Horethorne in the Young Horse Maiden and should give Blackmore Racing Club a lot of fun over the coming weeks!   Onto Cheltenham week and the hotly anticipated Blackmore Farm Sweepstakes will soon be underway. Bun’s tactic is to choose Number 2 through the whole card as she is too busy lambing to study the racing but still wants to enjoy the fun. Tom takes it to the other extreme and chooses all the big priced runners in the hope that we feel sorry for him and double his points if something does get into the winners enclosure!   Top Picture: Outside Adesa Below: Sparkling Duke Far Below: Buddah Castle (Sarah Stockham)

The Fabulous Four at Chipley Spring, we hope, is soon upon us and although the last few weeks have not been so wet, we have endured a colder period and some crispy mornings. The horses continue to be in good form and we have been lucky enough to enjoy some celebratory breakfasts courtesy of Ivan Thompson who runs The Sausage Shed and Josh, who keeps Mortimers Bakery in business.    It was lovely to get Paloma Blue back on the track after a whole year off. He needed the run, which we knew he would and hope we can get his head in front next time out. The rest of the day at Milborne was pretty mixed! Unfortunately Purdy, who works for us, took a bad fall on her own horse in the Ladies Open and ended up spending several days in hospital before having her collarbone operated on. She has a long road of recovery ahead of her and we wish her well!    The postponed Chipley meeting ended up being a huge success for Josh and the team. 5 runners and 4 winners! Lucky Lara started her seasonal campaign in the Hunt Race which she won well for long standing owners Terry & Rachael Hamlin. Ted The Thief won the Maiden Race getting the better of debutant Goosey Lucy and gave Blackmore Racing Club their first winner of the season. The club enjoyed 5 winners last season and hopefully this is the start of the ball rolling for them. Our third winner of the day was Important Notice, who romped home in the Intermediate under a penalty for Tom & Sally Dalley of Stables Business Park. This was his second winner of the season from 2 runs and we could possibly look at a Hunter Chase for him next. El Capitaine brought home the four timer for Josh when taking the Restricted very easily. He is another recruit from Ireland who has enjoyed the switch to Point to Points and gave his owner, Ivan Thompson, a second win of the season. The Kings Writ ran another brilliant race to finish 3rd under Hannah Morgan in the Novice Riders to round up a brilliant day. A huge shout out to Izzie Taylor and Zena Williamson, who both held down the fort at Chipley with 5 horses!   Our Dylan continues to deliver under rules for 4Racing Owners Club. He ran brilliantly at Taunton to finish 2nd by ½ length under Josh. Vol Royale made his debut for us, after being purchased by Kayley Woollacott Racing Club, after he came home in front at Dunsmore Point to Point when in the hands of Will Biddick. Ben Godfrey gave him a good ride and he will be a better horse over hurdles. Lucky Bere ran another creditable race at Warwick under Callum Pritchard to finish 3rd by ¾ length. Seventeenothree has ran well in two bumpers and looks to make her debut over hurdles on Saturday at Wincanton.   We took 6 youngsters to Larkhill for their Schooling Trials Day. We ran three over hurdles over 2m and three in the Bumper, again over 2m. These days prove crucial for the young horses education and hopefully they can continue in the future. We also took 3 to Chipley Park to school around the day after racing to get a blow and some more education into some who hopefully will be on the track soon. Again, we are very grateful for these opportunities and hope more can come arise in the future!   Onto this weekend, we have entries at both Buckfastleigh and Larkhill and hope the success can continue!   Cover Photo: Ted The Thief and Blackmore Racing Club winning at Chipley Second Photo: Idaho Fire, Unnamed Shirocco and Unnamed Jet Away at Larkhill Schooling Trials Third Photo: Whitsand Bay schooling at Chipley Park under Darren Andrews. Photo by Brian Phipps