JAMES OWEN RACING

JAMES STARTED HIS CAREER AS AN AMATEUR JUMP JOCKEY, WORKING FOR ROD SIMPSON AND NOEL CHANCE AS WELL AS SPENDING SOME TIME WITH MALCOLM BASTARD AND WORKING AT THE BREEZE UP SALES IN HONG KONG. HE THEN MOVED TO NEWMARKET TO WORK AND RIDE POINT-TO-POINTERS FOR THE TURNER FAMILY. JAMES RODE OVER 130 WINNERS AND WAS CROWNED EAST ANGLIAN CHAMPION JOCKEY NINE TIMES BEFORE JOINING JOHN FERGUSON’S NATIONAL HUNT OPERATION AS ASSISTANT TRAINER.

 

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BRANCHING OUT WITH HIS OWN THRIVING PRE-TRAINING BUSINESS, JAMES AND HIS WIFE JENNY RELOCATED TO GREEN RIDGE STABLES WITH JUST A HANDFUL OF HORSES IN 2015. THIS QUICKLY EXPANDED BEYOND EXPECTATIONS AND GREW TO OVER 80 HORSES, INCLUDING BLUE-BLOODED STOCK FROM THE LIKES OF THE GREDLEY FAMILY, GODOLPHIN, RABBAH BLOODSTOCK, WILLIAM HAGGAS, HUGO PALMER, JAMES FANSHAWE AND GEORGE BOUGHEY TO NAME A FEW. HIGHLIGHTS DURING THIS PERIOD INCLUDED PRE-TRAINING TWO CLASSIC WINNERS AND MULTIPLE GROUP WINNERS.

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ALONGSIDE THE PRE-TRAINING BUSINESS JAMES BEGAN TO TRAIN PUREBRED ARABIANS TO RACE UNDER RULES, A SPORT FOR WHICH HE HAS A LENGTHY ASSOCIATION, WITH HIS PARENTS HAVING BRED AND TRAINED PUREBRED ARABIANS AND JAMES HAVING RIDDEN THEM TO SUCCESS IN RACES HIMSELF. WITH FANTASTIC SUPPORT FROM THE LATE H.H. SHEIKH HAMDAN AL MAKTOUM, THE ARABIAN OPERATION WENT FROM STRENGTH TO STRENGTH AND JAMES HAS SECURED THE ARO TRAINERS CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE FIVE TIMES TO DATE. JAMES CONTINUES TO BE INVOLVED IN ARABIAN RACING AND IS HELPING TO DEVELOP THE SPORT, ATTRACTING NEW OWNERS FROM ABROAD AND TOP-QUALITY HORSES.

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IN JANUARY 2023, JAMES TOOK OUT HIS NATIONAL HUNT LICENCE AND, WITH INCREDIBLE SUPPORT FROM THE GREDLEY FAMILY, BEGAN TO BUILD UP A TEAM OF HORSES TO COMPETE IN THIS SPHERE. STARTING WITH JUST 12 LICENCED BOXES, THIS VENTURE HAS BEEN FAR MORE SUCCESSFUL THAN EVER EXPECTED AND THE YARD HAS CHALKED UP 48 NATIONAL HUNT WINNERS TO DATE AND IS OPERATING AT A 20% STRIKE RATE (AT TIME OF WRITING). HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE BURDETT ROAD WINNING THE GRADE 2 JCB TRIUMPH TRIAL JUVENILE HURDLE AT CHELTENHAM, AND TOO FRIENDLY WINNING THE UNIBET SUMMER HANDICAP HURDLE AT MARKET RASEN.

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IN JANUARY 2024 JAMES EXTENDED THE LICENCE TO A COMBINED LICENCE AND ADDED FLAT HORSES TO HIS STRING. WITH A SUCCESSFUL CAMPAIGN IN THIS SPHERE TOO, THE YARD HAS 25 WINNERS ON THE BOARD SO FAR AND GAINED FURTHER BLACK-TYPE SUCCESS WITH WIMBLEDON HAWKEYE FINISHING A CLOSE THIRD IN THE GROUP 2 SUPERLATIVE STAKES AT NEWMARKET