LATER this year, Dr. Richard Newland and I, will break new ground in sending out our first runners under a joint licence.

Whilst having two names on the race card has been common practice in Australia for some time, it is only recently that the concept has taken off this side of the world. Even then, for the most part, it has largely been amongst family or two established trainers joining forces.

As far as I am aware, this is the very first time that a solely National Hunt operation has switched to dual purpose, by way of bringing in a rookie trainer to oversee the flat side of the business.

It is a hugely exciting new venture; one that both Dr. Newland and myself are really looking forward to.

My interest in racing can be traced back to my Irish mother’s side of the family. Although she moved to England in the late eighties, she always retained close links with home.

My grandparents, Kathleen and the late Vivian Kennedy are well known within Irish racing circles. My grandmother makes racing silks, while my grandfather had been a jockey before later enjoying a successful career as a trainer.

Their sons, William, Niall and the late Vivian Jnr also became jockeys, while Niall now runs an equine laundry service on the Curragh.

Summers

Growing up, I spent my summers in Co Kildare, where Vivian still trained a string of 25 horses. Having been bitten by the racing bug, I used to come over to a pony camp in Dublin where I learned how to ride.

From 15, I spent my weekends and summer holidays at Paul Webber’s yard in Oxon, where Will (Kennedy) was based. During those years, I travelled around a lot with Will, getting to see him ride at the big meetings such as Cheltenham and Aintree.

During my A levels, I used to drive up to Newmarket to ride out for trainers Neil King and John Berry before school. After finishing in school, my first full-time job in racing was with Nigel Twiston-Davies. Having acquired my amateur licence at 17, I had my first public ride in the charity race at the Cheltenham November meeting.

The following March, I also competed in that same race, this time on a horse trained by Gordon Elliott. By that time, I had had a handful of rides in point-to-point races (thanks to Gaye Williams) under my belt. I then moved to trainer Alan King where I spent the next five years. Having worked towards getting my conditional jockeys’ licence, I rode as a conditional for a couple of seasons.

Bad fall

However, following a bad fall at Wincanton in which I broke my jaw, Alan proposed the idea of me becoming pupil assistant, as he felt I would make a good trainer. During the 18 months I spent in that role at Barbury Castle, one of the highlights was seeing Smad Place, a horse I rode out every morning, win the Hennessy Gold Cup.

In 2018, I moved to Lambourn to become pupil assistant to Charlie Hills. At the end of that first year, Kevin Mooney stepped down as assistant trainer, affording me the opportunity to take on that role.

Essentially the job involved overseeing the overall operation, in terms of doing the board for morning lots, organising staff, checking legs, going racing, liaising with owners and general day to day duties. With 120 horses and 30 staff, that was a big undertaking in itself.

Insight

Being involved with such a well-established successful yard gave me both a great eye for a racehorse and an insight into how to train them. Battaash was a superstar, winning the King’s Stand Stakes, Nunthorpe Stakes, four King George Qatar Stakes and being crowned champion sprinter. At his peak, he was rated 127, one of the best horses of his generation.

Phoenix Of Spain winning an Irish Guineas at the Curragh was very special given my links with the locality, albeit I was racing in the UK that afternoon. Equilateral, a horse I used to ride out at home, won three times in Meydan while under my supervision. Khaadem, another smart sprinter I rode out every morning, won the Golden Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot this year.

For the last year or so, I had it in my mind to start up training in my own right. Initially, Richard (Newland) and I discussed the possibility of me renting part of his yard, with each having separate licences.

That idea quickly fell away but he came back a while after with a proposal to evolve the business as a dual-purpose training operation.

Equal partners

We would both be equal partners in terms of training, having an input into the overall running of the business. However, in a departure from the norm, I would have responsibility for the flat side of it, while Richard would continue to train the National Hunt string.

The primary objective is to grow the whole operation side by side, developing it into one of the leading dual-purpose yards in the country. Richard built the new training facility just four and a half years ago, having bought the land and worked from the ground up.

Comprising of 114 acres, it has gallops and turnout paddocks to rival any in the game. I have no doubt that not only is it a great place to train horses but also an incredible space for them to enjoy life.

Horse welfare is of paramount importance to us both; sharing those same values is a solid starting block from which to build.

Yearlings

Over the last few months, we have bought 20 yearlings at the sales. Seven have already found owners, so we are busy sourcing clients for the remainder. I am very strict on the type I want to buy, they must be good physical specimens with the pedigrees to match.

We will also be active at the upcoming Horses In Training Sales, as having seven or eight older experienced handicappers, gives us a foundation for next year.

Those horses will be the mainstay over that first 12 months, as in some cases, the two-year-olds may need time, or develop into better three-year-olds.

The objective will be to hit the ground running and train a few winners, then hopefully get results with the juveniles next season. If we can do that, I would hope we can attract bigger owners and breeders in time, thus affording us the opportunity to train better pedigrees.

I start the trainers’ course at the end of this month; with three modules to complete, and the aim would be to have the licence this side of Christmas, or early in the New Year at the latest. After that, an early winner or two, would be just what the doctor ordered!

Jamie Insole was in converstation with John O’Riordan