Kate Walton Racing - The Team

 

The Team

Kate Walton - The Trainer
Kate has been involved in racing all her life and is the daughter of one of Middleham's most successful trainers Sam Hall. She successfully rode as a lady amateur, winning the ladies Derby on Voucher Book. Whilst raising a young family she successfully ran a livery yard and trained her own horses before deciding to continue the family tradition and obtain a licence to train both Flat and National Hunt Racehorses. Since taking out her trainers licence in 2001 the number of winners and amount of prize money has increased every year. With her background she certainly has the knowledge and scope to benefit both horses and owners. She is always available to help and advise. Visitors are always most welcome to view the horses.
 
Sam Hall was known as a legendary trainer especially of handicap's and boosted a great success rate winning the Ayr Gold Cup, The Ebor Handicap (3 times), The Yorkshire Cup, The November Handicap (5 times), The Cesarewitch, The Lincoln, The Magnet Cup, The Royal Hunt Cup and what is now known as the Dewhurst. He also finished runner up in the trainer's championship. Growing up within this environment is where Kate's grounding began and where her desire to work and train Racehorse's developed.

Richie McGrath - Stable Jockey
Born and raised in County Tipperary, Ireland, Richie came to England at the age of 16 to Jonjo O'Neill's yard. He successfully rode as a conditional jockey for Jonjo for 9 years before deciding to stay in the North when Jonjo moved South. Since then he has ridden for a number of trainers and is a great asset at the yard. He has had many big race winners including the Scotish National, Victor Chandler and Red Square Vodka. He rides out at the yard regularly and is included in the schooling and working of the horses. He is also married to Kate's daughter Nicky.

Rebecca Howell - Head Girl
Rebecca has a great depth and understanding of every horse at the yard. She developed this skill working for the late Dan Enrico, whom she worked for, for 10 years before joining Kate 2 years ago. She is a great asset to the yard and is responsible for the day to day running of the yard when Kate is away.
 
 

Christine Munro
Christine grew up on a remote Scottish Island and has grown up with ponies and has had her own point to pointer. She has spent time working for Lucinda Russell and Julie Wilson. She is very good with the horses and is a delight to have in the yard.
 
 

Hannah Wragg
Hannah has been at Kate Walton racing for 2 years and has ridden a winner for Kate on the flat at Redcar. She is responsible for the care of Nevertika and Huka Lodger.
 
 
 
 

Ashley Hopkins
Ashley joined us this season as a work rider but his role goes far beyond this. Ashley has a great depth and knowledge of horseracing and was previously head lad for Micky Hammond. He rides out daily for us but also goes racing regularly as he is very good with the young horses at the races. He is also very good with reading form and is a pleasure to have at the yard.
 

Henry Brooke
Henry is the youngest member of the team and is a budding amateur rider. As well as having 2 point to pointers of his own, he is also going to ride Billie John who is a great stalwart of the yard.
 
 
 

Alan Horrocks
Alan is responsible for the all the yard duties and we would be lost without him. Alan has worked in racing all his life and was a very successful jockey. More recently his son Nathan Horrocks has had success in National Hunt Races.
 

Back Specialists - John Patterson
Horses can suffer with back problems to the same degree that humans can. Kate is a great believer in ensuring that the horses need to be healthy and fit and one aspect of this is to ensure that their backs are ok and they are not experiencing any pain which could influence their performance.
 
In order to make sure the horses' backs are ok John Patterson visit's the yard once a week to check over potential runners and any other horse in the yard which has been showing any sign of discomfort in their back.
 
John is a trained vet which allows him to understands all aspects of the horse. John has specialised to become a Horse Chiropractor and he is excellent in ensuring horses' backs are aligned allowing them to perform at the top of their game. He often has to rotate vertebrae which would have been affecting the horse's performance.
 
To supplement John's work Kate is also a strong believer in Bowen treatment which is also used regularly on the horses within the yard. The Bowen technique is a gentle remedial therapy which stimulates the body to rebalance itself and promotes healing, pain relief and recovery of energy. Bowen therapist's treat horses holistically to ensure that the horses are healthy and well.

Vets
We use a local vet Stirks and Associates who specialise in horses and have a great depth in knowledge.

Blacksmiths and Dentist
Horses need shoeing regularly and we have a team of farriers who visit the yard once a week to shoe the horses. They are able to visit at other times through the week if required.
 
As with humans horses need to be seen by a dentist. If their teeth are not checked regularly it could result in them having sore mouths or not been able to eat their food properly therefore affecting their performance. We have an equine dentist who visits the yard three times a year to check the horses teeth.