Support Team

The running of an operation as large as Kingsclere is extremely labour intensive and with the inclusion of part time staff, there are over fifty people employed at Park House. With the majority of staff directly involved with the riding and general care of the horses in training at Kingsclere, attention to detail is a priority. At present there are 64 full time staff who look after 4 horses each; they work from 7am until 12.30am carrying out stable duties and morning exercise and from 4pm until 6pm when the horses are groomed and some are exercised. Overseeing the day to day running within the yard, is Andrew’s assistant, Chris Bonner (pictured below), who offers a wealth of experience and boasts an enviable record over the Grand National fences as a jockey.

There is a good balance of stable staff at Kingsclere, with many of the more experienced lads having worked and lived at Park House for many years and a talented group of younger riders showing huge promise for the future. They are all well catered for with accommodation and regular meals provided for the single staff, as well as five flats and twenty cottages for the senior staff and married employees.

The staff are managed by three senior Head Lads, Nigel Walker, Kevin Hunt and Dylan Holley who are responsible for welfare of horses within their respective yards and for ensuring that there is a high standard of work maintained within the yard. Our senior travelling staff Richard ‘Chad’ Phillips, Leanne Masterton and Vavara Batsman are all familiar faces at the racecourse.

Throughout the year the travelling of horses to and from the races is an important feature of any racing yard and Kingsclere has three horseboxes in operation, which are used exclusively for horses trained at Park House. These vehicles are maintained to meet all welfare requirements to ensure that transportation is safe and comfortable for horses and humans.

As with any training establishment the maintenance of the yard and the gallops is also a priority and there are three full time gallop men employed to ensure that the facilities at Kingsclere are maintained to the highest possible standards. Overseeing entries, declarations, accounts and the payroll are amongst the large number of important duties of a racing office and another key figure essential to the smooth day to day running of operations, is racing secretary Lindy Rees. She is also responsible for ensuring that all horses are legal and have the correct documentation at all times.

In addition Nathaniel Barnett helps Andrew with the race programming for all the horses and is the secretary to the Kingsclere Racing Club.  The newest member of our team is Sarah Blyth who will be based in the office helping Lindy but also ride out and help with owners on ride out mornings.

We must not forget Mary Gee who has worked at Kingsclere for many years, keeping an eagle eye on the books!