Trainers

Former City of London financier Nicholas Alexander comes from a famous family in the sphere of National Hunt racing in Scotland, insofar as his late father, Cyril, trained Subaltern, the winner of the Foxhunters’ Open Hunters’ Chase, over the Grand National fences, at Aintree in 1967 amd his daughter, Lucy, won the conditional jockeys’ title in 2013. Following the death of Cyril Alexander, in 1992, Jim Barclay was employed to train under licence at the family yard, Kinneston Stables, near Scotlandwell, Perth and Kinross. However, winners proved few and far between for Barclay – his highest seasonal tally was just five, which he achieved in both 1994/95 and 1996/97 – and, dissatisfied with results, Alexander Jr. decided to train the horses himself, under permit, in 2002.

In five seasons as a permit holder, Alexander struggled to make much of an impact and it was a similar story in the first few years after he took out a full training licence in 2007. However, at the end of the 2011/12 National Hunt season, his neighbouring trainer Sue Bradburne retired and became his assistant, bringing with her horses and owners. In 2012/13, Alexander upped his seasonal tally to 28 winners and has continued, more or less, in similar vein ever since.

website: https://www.kinneston.com/

Social: https://www.facebook.com/Kinneston1

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Email: nicholasalexander@kinneston.com

Formerly an amateur National Hunt jockey, with a handful of winners to his name, and successful point-to-point trainer, Richard Bandey first took out as full training licence as recently as October 2018. However, he made a promising start to his time in the professional training ranks, winning with just his fourth runner in that sphere.

Firmly established at Plantation Farm in Wolverton, near Tadley, on the edge of the Hampshire Downs, Bandey holds combined licence, for all that he has yet to saddle a winner on the Flat, albeit from relatively few runners. His wife, Kate, who is a qualified veterinary surgeon, oversees the health and well-being of the horses in his charge.

Although hardly prolific in the early years of his career, Bandey enjoyed something of a breakthrough season in 2021/22, when he saddled 19 winners from 79 runners, at a hearty 24% strike rate, and amassed £212,243 in total prize money. A virus in his yard, which led to a run of three months without a winner, between December and March, restricted his seasonal tally to 13 winners in 2022/23, but, in 2023/24 so far, he has added eight more to his career total.

website: http://www.plantationfarm.co.uk/

Email: info@plantationfarm.co.uk

Based at Lancashire Racing Stables in Barnacre, near Garstang, approximately ten miles north of Preston, Stella Barclay has held a dual-purpose training licence since May 2018. Barclay and her partner, Paul Clarkson, have owned the yard since the late eighties, but, having served a lengthy apprenticeship as assistant to Bruce Hellier, Richard Ford and Mike Hammond, she did not make the transition to the professional ranks in her own right until much later.

While she holds a combined licence, Barclay has enjoyed the bulk of her success on the Flat. After drawing a blank in that sphere in her inaugural campaign, she has gradually increased her winning tally season-by-season, culminating with a career-high 20 winners in 2023. That total came from 266 runners, at a modest 8% strike rate, but her total earnings, of £153,246, were also the highest of her professional career so far.

Big races win on the Flat have proved elusive, as they have under National Hunt Rules, where a career total of just seven winners from 156 runners, at an overall strike rate of less than 5%, tells it own story. That said, hitherto long-standing maiden Ensel Du Perche appears to have turned over new leaf in 2024, winning two of his four starts over fences and collecting just shy of £9,000 in prize money.

website: https://www.lancashireracingstables.co.uk/

Email: stella@lancashireracingstables.co.uk

Nowadays, farmer-turned-trainer Nigel Twiston-Davies operates one of the most successful National Hunt yards in the country. From his base at Grange Hill Farm in Naunton, Gloucestershire, he has sent out over 1,500 winners, including 17 winners at the Cheltenham Festival and two Grand National winners.

Formerly a moderately successful amateur rider, Twiston-Davies learned his trade under the auspices of Fred Rimmell, Kim Bailey and David Nicholson, before starting training, under permit, in 1981. He saddled his first winner, Last Of The Foxes, at Hereford the following year, but agricultural recession finally forced him to abandon his farming interests and, in 1989, he took out a public training licence.

In 1992, Twiston-Davies saddled his first winner of the Scottish Grand National, Captain Dibble and, in 1994, his second, Earth Summit. Four years later, in 1998, the latter would complete a notable career treble by winning both the Welsh National and the Grand National. However, it was his second Grand National winner, Bindaree in 2002, which renewed his appetite for National Hunt racing and caused him to abandon plans to wind down his training operation and return to farming. His notable Cheltenham Festival winners include Imperial Commander in the Ryanair Chase in 2009 and the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 2010, Blaklion in the RSA Chase in 2016 and Ballyandy in the Champion Bumper in the same year.

Nigel now shares the day-to-day running of Grange Hill Farm with his son, Willy Twiston-Davies, who has developed into a highly talented trainer in his own right. The father-and-son partnership has produced several high-profile winners, including Duke of Love taking the Grade 2 Peterborough Chase at Huntingdon in 2023 and Frodon’s impressive victory in the 2024 Denman Chase at Newbury. They’re having a successful 2026 season ranking top ten in the top jump trainers list.

Website: https://twiston-davies.co.uk/

Contact: https://twiston-davies.co.uk/contact/