A CHANCE encounter with top American steeplechase trainer Leslie Young at the 21 Club in Cheltenham some 10 years ago was the catalyst for what has since been a thriving career for bloodstock agent Hamish Macauley.

Over the past decade, the 33-year-old has sent out dozens of horses to the USA, mostly Irish point-to-pointers. He found a niche in the market that has been hugely successful, so much so it was a major factor in Leslie Young landing the steeplechase trainers’ title three times in a row between 2022 and 2024.