Mike has been involved in horses all of his life, First of all through the pony club being part of the tetrathlon eventing and showjumping teams qualifying for finals in all disciplines. Mike is hugely competitive in anything he does resulting in qualifying for Horse of the Year Show twice on home produced youngsters. He has jumped many Grand Prix's both here in the UK and in Ireland. He was lucky enough to win the British Showjumping National Championships at Stoneleigh in 2017, This is Mike's own way of getting his adrenaline fix.
Mike had over 100 rides in Point to Point and rode over 10 winners including winning 2 hunter chases on 2 unbroken gelding whom he produced himself.
Mike at first had a permit in 1995 then applied for a full license in 2012 and due to his success and demand, he was granted his combined license later that year. He started out with 8 stables in 1995 but with high demand he built another 7 in 2015. He quickly outgrew again and built another 10 stables in August 2017 and by September they were all full to the brim.
Mikes aim has always been to have 25 licensed stables which results in having 30-35 racehorses being stabled/kept at West Loudoun to allow for 25 to be in training at all times. This may seem bad business to not continue to expand but mike strongly believes that 25 is a good number for him to train and give his personal attention too.
Mike has trained 6 furlong up to 2 mile winners on the flat and National Hunt racehorses over all distances. The yard has enjoyed a lot of success with relatively cheaply bought horses including the recent Ayr winners Shankill Castle & Sophie P who was purchased from a field unbroken from New Hall Stud in Ayrshire and was rated 104 on the flat which made her the second highest rated horse in Scotland and was subsequently sold to America for £168,000.00.
Mike and the yard are continuously looking to improve the facilities on the yard to provide the highest possible care for the horses which they are lucky enough to have under their care and control always remembering that racing is a fantastic and enjoyable sport which we are all privileged to be apart of.
