National Hunt announcement & our exciting new National Hunt horse

Background

I am delighted to announce that I have been appointed as the new National Hunt Racing Manager of Chelsea Thoroughbreds, one of the leading racehorse syndicates in the UK.

Having been involved in horse racing for my whole life and having spent most of my weekends on a racecourse somewhere around the country, this is my dream job and I feel privileged and extremely lucky to be given this unique opportunity. My family have been big supporters of the National Hunt game for many years and, as a family, we are hugely passionate about racing. There is no doubt that racing is in my blood and I have enormous enthusiasm for the sport!

After graduating from Cardiff University in 2020, I threw myself into the fast-paced world of tech sales in the City. However, racing came calling so I decided to ditch my career in the City and apply for the BHA Development Programme, which I graduated from in September 2022. This included spending several invaluable months working with the ROA in Reading, where I gained a real insight and overview of the industry.

Horses

Alongside our very successful current jumps horse Knickerbockerglory (trained by Dan Skelton) we are also very excited to announce that we have recently purchased a new National Hunt horse for the season. ‘Juri’ (pictured) is an unraced four-year-old by Sea the Moon out of Josephine Blanche and was bought at the Derby sale in 2021 by Aiden Murphy. His trainer, Olly Murphy said ‘Juri is a lovely son of Sea the moon and he has been with me at Warren Chase for a year. He has done plenty of schooling and has had a few away days as well and has shown me plenty of ability. I can’t wait to get him started.’

Jockey Adrian Heskin (who sat on Juri several times before we bought him) said ‘Juri is a very exciting young horse. Since the first time I have sat on him he has always impressed me. He’s a very naturally athletic horse with a flawless temperament. He rides with plenty of class and is a very sharp type. By a great sire and a fantastic pedigree being closely related to many winners. I have schooled him over hurdles and he jumps very well, he really enjoys it. He looks to have a very exciting career ahead of him.’