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Hugo Palmer

admin October 1, 2026

Hugo Palmer began training in his own right at Kremlin Cottage Stables in Newmarket, Suffolk in 2011 with a string of 11 cheaply-bought, syndicated horses. He saddled his first winner, Steady The Buffs, ridden by Adam Beschizza, in a two-year-old maiden auction stakes race at Brighton on May 9, 2011. Palmer broke into double figures for the season for the first time in 2013, but thereafter steadily increased his seasonal tally, peaking with 87 winners from 508 runners in 2018, at a strike rate of 17%.

Palmer enjoyed a breakthrough season in 2015, saddling Covert Love to Group 1 wins in the Irish Oaks at the Curragh and the Prix de l’Opera at Longchamp and amassing over £1 million in prize money in a season for the first time. The following season, he saddled his first and, so far, only British Classic winner, Galileo Gold, in the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket. The Paco Boy colt was beaten in the Irish 2,000 Guineas at the Curragh, but resumed winning ways in the St. James’s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot.

On August 8, 2021, Palmer added another Group 1 winner to his carry tally, Ebro River, ridden by Shane Foley, in the Phoenix Stakes at the Curragh. The following March, he was recruited by former England footballer to replace the previous incumbent, Tom Dascombe, at Manor House Stables, his training establishment in Malpas, Cheshire. From his new base, Palmer saddled a winner with his very first runner, Noman, in a mile-and-a-half handicap at Leicester in April 1, 2022 and, in so doing, reached the landmark of 500 career winners.

Since making the move from Newmarket, Palmer has continued to thrive, saddling a further 10 Pattern winners at home and abroad. Most notably, he sent out the Too Darn Hot colt Glacius to win the Grade 1 Saratoga Derby Stakes at Saratoga, New York on August 8, 2026.

Eve Johnson Houghton

admin October 1, 2026

Based at Woodway Stables, near Blewbury, Oxfordshire, Eve Johnson Houghton is the daughter of the late Fulke Johnson Houghton, who sent out over 1,200 winners – including the 1978

King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes winner, Ile De Bourbon – from the family yard between 1961 and 2007. Formery an accomplished amateur rider, Johnson Houghton became assistant trainer to her father in 2000 and took over the training licence following his retirement at the end of 2006.

Starting with a string of fewer than 20 horses, Eve Johnson Houghton saddled her first winner as a trainer in her own right, Robustian, ridden by Steve Carson, in a mile handicap at Pontefract on April 10, 2007. Her inugural season yielded 22 winners, but Johnson Houghton enjoyed her most successful campaign, numerically, in 2024, when she saddled 56 winners from 486 runners, at a strike rate of 12%.

At the time of writing, Johnson Houghton has saddled two Group 1 winners, the home-bred Accidental Agent, who sprang a 33/1 surprise when winning the Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot in 2018, and Zavateri, who won the National Stakes at the Curragh in 2025. Other notable winners for the yard include the cheaply-bought juveniles Chipotle, who won the Windsor Castle Stakes at Royal Ascot and the Two Year Old Trophy at Redcar in 2021, and Havana Hurricane, who won the Windsor Castle Stakes, again, in 2025, despite costing less than 20,000 guineas between them.

More recently, the Lucky Vega colt Night In Vegas has proved an excellent money-spinner, justifying favourtism in both the £200,000 Tattersalls Somerville Auction Stakes at Newmarket and Weatherbys £300,000 2-Y-O Stakes at Doncaster, in August and September 2026, respectively, collectively worth nearly £374,000 to winning connections. He holds potentially lucrative late-season entries, so may not be finished yet.

David O’Meara

admin October 1, 2026

Nowadays based at Willow Farm in Upper Hemsley, near York, North Yorkshire, David O’Meara was formerly a successful National Hunt jockey, notably winning the Fox Hunters’ Chase, over the Grand National fences at Aintree, on Bells Life, trained by Philip Hobbs, in 2000. He quit the saddle in 2008, initially to set up a livery yard at Great Habton, near Malton, North Yorkshire, alongside former weighing-room colleague Anthony Ross.

Less than rwo years later, though, O’Meara took over the training licence at Arthington Barn Stables in Nawton, North Yorkshire and saddled his first winner, Simple Jim, ridden by Silvestre De Sousa, in a handicap at Redcar on June 19, 2010. Fast forward less than a decade and O’Meara reached the landmark of 1,000 career winners, under both codes, courtesy of Betsy Trotter, ridden by Harrison Shaw, in a fillies’ handicap at Wolverhampton on October 5, 2019. The following sunmer, he reached the same landmark on the Flat, alone, when Sudona, ridden by Daniel Tudhope, justified favouritism in a handicap at Pontefract on July 7, 2020.

O’Meara saddled 100 winners in a season for the first time in 2013 and went on to repeat that feat for the next 11 seasons running. Indeed, on the last occasion he did so, in 2024, he enjoyed his most successful season so far, financially, amassing over £2.3 million in prize money. At the time of writing, he has saddled seven Group 1 winners at home and abroad, the first of which was G Force, ridden by Daniel Tudhope, in the Sprint Cup at Haydock in 2014 and the last Estrange, also ridden by Tudhope, in the Pretty Polly Stakes at the Curragh in 2026. A lightly-raced five-year-old mare, Estrange has, so far, won six of her nine starts for O’Meara and amassed just shy of £700,000 in prise money.

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.