July 2026

Joseph Patrick O’Brien

admin July 4, 2026

Born in County Tipperary on May 23, 1993, Joseph Patrick O’Brien is the eldest son of perennial Irish Champion Flat Trainer Aidan O’Brien. Before taking out a training licence on June 3, 2016, he was a two-time Irish champion jockey, in 2012 and 2013, on the latter occasion with a record 126 winners. On the opposite side of the Irish Sea, he won the 2,000 Guineas and the Derby on Camelot, trained by his father, in 2012 and the Derby, again, on Australia, also trained by O’Brien Snr., in 2014.

Based at Owning Hill, near Piltown, County Kilkenny, Joseph O’Brien made a flying start to his training career, saddling his first winner, Justice Frederick, ridden by his younger brother Donnacha, in a seven-furlong maiden at Gowran Park on June 6, 2016, just three days after obtaining his training licence. He also wasted little time in chalking up his first Group 1 winner, Intricately, again ridden by Donnacha O’Brien, in the Moyglare Stud Stakes at the Curragh on September 11, 2016.

O’Brien has since added another 44 Group 1 and Grade 1 victories to his career tally. On the Flat, highlights include winning the Melbourne Cup twice, with Rekindling in 2017 and Twilight Payment in 2020, the Irish Derby with Latrobe in 2018, the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot with State Of Rest in 2022 and the Oaks with Thundering On in 2026. Under National Hunt Rules, his winners at the highest level include Banbridge in the King George VI Chase at Kempton in 2024 and Home By The Lee in the Stayers’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival in 2026.

On August 6, 2022, O’Brien reached the landmark of 1,000 career winners as a trainer when Al Riffa won a maiden at the Currgh. He has since saddled the same horse to win three Group 1 races, including the Irish St. Leger, back at the Curragh, in 2025.

Mickey Bowen

admin July 4, 2026

Michael ‘Micky’ Bowen is the eldest son of Peter Bowen, the now-retired patriarch of a famous Welsh dynasty, which also includes leading National Hunt jockeys Sean and James Bowen. Formerly a point-to-point jockey and trainer, Mickey Bowen shared a training licence with his father for the 2024/25 National Hunt season before taking over at the family yard at Yet-Y-Rhug, near Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire in time for the start of the 2025/2026 campaign. Indeed, he saddled his first winner as the sole licence holder, Gavin, ridden by his younger brother Sean, in a handicap hurdle at Ffos Las on May 6, 2025.

At that stage, Bowen said, “We had 45 winners last year, me and dad, so if we got to 50 this year it would be great. We’ll just keep trying to train more winners and go from there.” In fact, his inaugural season at the helm yielded 51 winners from 325 runners, at a strike rate of 16%, and just shy of £593,000 in prize money. He tried, and failed, to add his name to the roll of honour for the Summer Plate at Market Rasen, which his father won eight times between 1997 and 2022; the pick of his challengers, Courtland, ridden by 5lb claimer Shane Fenelon, held a clear lead three out, but weakened in the closing stages to finish second, beaten five lengths.

Nevertheless, Mickey Bowen remains a trainer to keep an eye on at the Lincolnshire venue, where he has saddled eight winners from 32 runners so far, at a strike rate of 25%. Of the other National Hunt courses where he has saddled 10 or more runners, his highest strike rates have come at Hexham (36%), Kelso, Newton Abbott and Perth (all 30%). Sean Bowen has a 26% strike rate for the yard since his older brother took over.

Neil Mulholland

admin July 4, 2026

Born and raised in Glenavy, Country Antrim, Neil Mulholland began his career in racing by riding work for Ian Duncan and Aidan O’Brien during the school holidays. He subsequently became apprenticed to O’Brien and rode his first winner for the yard, Petalus, in a mile-and-quarter maiden at Listowel on September 27, 1996. As, by his own admission, a ‘journeyman’ jockey, he went on to ride over 100 winners on the Flat and under National Hunt Rules, on both sides of the Irish Sea, before taking out a training licence.

Since June 2012, Mulholland has been based at Conkwell Lodge Stables, a state-of-the-art training facility in Limpley Stoke, near Bath, Wiltshire, where he holds a dual-purpose licence. However, he is predominantly a National Hunt trainer, enjoying his most successful season in that sphere, numerically, in 2016/17, when he saddled 108 winners from 556 runners, at a strike rate of 19%. Mulholland brought up his maiden century with victory for Espoir De Teilee, ridden by Noel Fehily, in a ‘bumper’ at Ffos Las on April 9, 2017. Afterwards, he told the ‘Racing Post’, “To be alongside the likes of Nicky Henderson, Paul Nicholls, Philip Hobbs and Dan Skelton in sending out 100 winners is something to be very proud of and it means an awful lot, especially as I’m not from a racing background.”

By contrast, on the Flat, Mulholland has not reached double figures for a season since 2018, when he saddled 19 winners from 137 runners, at a strike rate of 14%, and amassed over £135,000 in prize money. All of big race wins have come ‘over the sticks’, with The Druid’s Nephew in the Ultima Handicap Chase at the Cheltenham Festival in 2015 and The Young Master in the Bet365 Gold Cup at Sandown in 2016 the standout highlights.

Sam England

admin July 4, 2026

Samantha ‘Sam’ England once said of her preferred, unisex forename, “Everyone thinks I’m a bloke! I don’t really care.” Prior to turning her hand to training, and marrying jockey Jonathan England, in 2016, she rode 31 winners under National Hunt Rules – nearly half of which were for West Yorkshire trainer Joanne Foster – in her maiden name, Samantha Drake. Nowadays, Sam England is based at Manor Farm, Guiseley, West Yorkshire, which is owned by her parents and where her father, Robert Drake, initially trained a small string under permit.

England made the perfect start to her career as a licensed trainer, saddling a winner with her very first runner, Star Presenter, ridden by husband-to-be Jonathan, in a handicap chase at Catterick on January 27, 2016. On February 5, 2016, she saddled Raktiman, also ridden by Jonathan England, to victory in another handicap chase at the North Yorkshire venue, taking her record to two winners from her first four runners. On the Flat, England opened her account on December 22, 2016, courtesy of My Renaissance, ridden by Andrew Mullen, in a handicap at Wolverhampton.

Big race success has so far proved elusive, under either code, but England has gradually improved her seasonal tallies, year-by-year. On the Flat, she enjoyed her most successful season so far, numerically and financially, in 2025, when she saddled 22 winners from 167 runners, at a strike rate of 13%, and amassed over £220,000 in total prize money. Likewise, in the National Hunt sphere, he most successful season so far, numerically, came in 2025/26, when she saddled 32 winners from 203 runners, at a strike rate of 16%. Her prize money total that season was not quite her highest ever, but was only £10,000 or so shy of the career-best £297,038 she achieved in 2022/23.

Ed Walker

admin July 3, 2026

Formerly assistant trainer to Roger Charlton and Luca Cumani, since December 2016, Edward ‘Ed’ Walker has been based at Kingsdown Stables in Upper Lambourn, near Hungerford, Berkshire, where he holds a dual-purpose training licence. That said, his emphasis is very much on Flat racing.

Walker started training in his own right in October 2010 from a small, rented yard at St. Gatien Cottage Stables in Newmarket, whence he sent out his first winner, Riggins, at the first time of asking in the Listed Hyde Stakes at Kempton on November 27, 2010. Thereafter, Walker lived a nomadic existence, relocating four times to yards in Newmarket, including the former base of the late Sir Henry Cecil, Warren Place, before finally settling in Upper Lambourn.

Walker enjoyed his most successful season, numerically, in 2024, when he saddled 74 winners from 440 runners, at a strike rate of 17%. His seasonal tally dropped to 68 winners in 2025, but he nonetheless amassed a career-high total of £2.1 million in prize money, thanks in no small part to half a dozen Pattern winners on British Soil, including Royal Fixation in the Group 2 Lowther Stakes at York.

Walker saddled his first Group 1 winner, Starman, in the July Cup at Newmarket on July 10, 2021. He has since added five more to his career tally, notably including Ten Bob Tony, who sprang a 50/1 surprise when winning the Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot on June 16, 2026. Of his unlikely victory, Walker said, “Of course it wasn’t expected. We came here to scoop up some prize-money and finish as close as we could. He’s just a legend.” His four other winners at the highest level have all come overseas, three at Longchamp, including Makarova in the Prix de l’Abbaye de Longchamp on October 6, 2024, and one at the Curragh.

James Owen

admin July 3, 2026

Born on November 6, 1979 and raised in Oxfordshire, James Owen enjoyed a successful career as an amateur jockey, pre-trainer and Arab horse trainer before turning his hand to training under Rules. Formerly nine-time East Anglian champion point-to-point jockey, Owen established James Owen Racing, as a pre-training business, at Green Ridge Stables in Newmarket in 2014. However, in early 2023, in an effort to boost his numbers, he took out a licence to train under National Hunt and Flat Rules.

As a licensed trainer, Owen saddled his first winner, Father Of Jazz, in a novices’ hurdle at Kempton on May 1, 2023, the opening day of the 2023/24 National Hunt season. That season, as a whole, yielded 38 winners, including Burdett Road in the Grade 2 Prestbury Juvenile Hurdle at Cheltenham, and Owen increased his seasonal tally to 60 winners in 2024/25 and, again, to 83 winners in 2025/26. Under National Hunt Rules, his biggest payday, so far, came courtesy of Burdett Road, again, in the Greatwood Handicap Hurdle at Newbury in November 2024.

On the Flat, Owen saddled 63 winners in 2024 and 117 winners in 2025. His best Flat horse so far, the Kameko colt Wimbledon Hawkeye, provided him with memorable victories in the Group 2 Royal Lodge Stakes at Newmarket in September 2024 and the Grade 3 Nashville Derby Invitational Stakes at Kentucky Downs in August 2025; the latter represented far and away his biggest payday so far.

On June 17, 2026, Owen recorded his maiden Royal Ascot winner, after 19 previously unsuccessful attempts, courtesy of Rogue Diplomat, ridden by Harry Davies, in the Royal Hunt Cup. Having seen the aforementioned Wimbledon Hawkeye narrowly beaten in the Wolferton Stakes the previous day, the trainer said of his landmark victory, “We’ve been knocking on the door, and to get our first Royal Ascot winner is unbelievable. I’ve got a great team, this is what we want and we’ve got it. We’ll keep going now.”