THE fledgling training career of Irishman Paul Fitzsimons has had a major boost following the success of the three-year-old filly Tassmania in the Danish 1000 and 2000 Guineas. Paul started his love affair with horses in show jumping, before going to R.A.C.E.at the age of 15. He was apprenticed to Reg Akehurst and won on his first ride in public. He also partnered several winners for champion trainer Richard Hannon.

Paul started to train at Saxon Gate in Lambourn in 2010 but sold the yard five years later to concentrate on his broodmares and working as a remedial rider for Brian O’Rourke Bloodstock. Married to Helene in Sweden in 2017, the couple bought a farm outside Skurup, in the south of the country. While he has other business interests, he has also recommenced training.