A new season is underway here at The Beeches Farm and after an exciting 2025/26 campaign, there is plenty to look forward to.
The new season got off to a good start with winners arriving early and a promising team of new horses beginning to take shape. With a mixture of established horses, exciting young horses and some new faces, we’re looking forward to another busy season and, most importantly, enjoying the journey with our owners along the way.
The new season got off to a fantastic start with Catwalk Girl providing an early winner when winning on chase debut at Huntingdon in the very first week of the new season.
Catwalk Girl produced a promising performance for her owners and yard sponsors, 45 The Green Dental Practice. Catwalk Girl was ridden by James King, who partnered her to victory in her first point-to-point start for us.
Helen Mobley, Katie Sunderland, Catwalk Girl, Chloe & James King
French Diablo is a horse we’ve always been fond of, and after a luckless juvenile season, he won well at Stratford for John Wybrand and The French Diablo partnership. Under a determined ride from David Bass, he was off the bridle early but in typical David bass fashion, he never gave up and won well.
Bassy, French Diablo & Chloe
Alongside the early-season runners, the summer also brought the start of the sales season — always an exciting time as we look to restock the yard and find some new faces for the season ahead.
I particularly enjoy training juveniles, and I feel the way we train suits them. After the success we enjoyed with our juveniles last season, which took us to some fantastic days on the racecourse, I was keen to find the next batch of young horses with the potential to give our owners those same experiences.
So, off we went to Tattersalls for the July Sale, with the aim of finding some exciting prospects. We came away with two horses in See Blue and Diligo, both of whom we’re really looking forward to getting to know over the coming months.
Diligo is a lovely big, imposing type and one that really caught our eye at the sale. He had only ran twice in Ireland but is a horse that should improve with time and hopefully find his niche over obstacles.
Diligo
There was also plenty of interest surrounding him as he became Amo Racing’s first jumps horse, with Richard Sheppard owning the other half. The combination attracted a great deal of media attention and made Diligo one of the more talked-about purchases of the sale.
See Blue was another exciting addition to the yard from the Tattersalls July Sale. A three-year-old gelding who has already shown plenty of ability on the Flat, he won first time out at Kempton and finished second on his next two runs. With a rating of 86 on the flat, we’re expecting him to be very competitive in juveniles this winter. See Blue is in a new syndicate and there’s still 1 share left. Please get in touch if you’re interested.
See Blue
We’ve also recruited winning flat filly, Miss Pretty which is owned by Ownaracehorse.com and Tom Slater. She will hopefully thrive over hurdles this winter. She has taken to The Beeches like a duck to water, her work is very pleasing and she is extremely natural over hurdles. I’d put her on your watchlist!
Broomhilda is another new recruit which we are very fond of. She joins our juvenile team as an unraced horse with a very good pedigree. Her Dam was half sister to the dual Grade 1 winner Petit Mouchoir and seven times winner Pravalaguna. Broomhilda has shown an incredibly forward attitude at home, and all the jockeys that have ridden her at home to date have been super positive about her. John Wybrant is the lucky owner.
Later in summer we visited Tattersalls Ireland where we purchased a Shirocco gelding recently named Sixteen Stars which is closely related to dual winner Just Her Type who we purchased from the same sale 3 years ago. He is currently being broken in and seems very straightforward and has a lovely nature. Owned by Ed Mulligan.
We enjoy purchasing families we have previously done well with and we bought another 3-year-old by Kap Rock out of winning mare Isityourself. This filly is full sister to Kap In Hand, who is going to make his racecourse debut in the next couple of weeks. She is half sister to our prolific Land Girl’s Luck, and Bumper winning Fusee De Pouche. We can’t wait to watch this filly follow in her family’s footsteps. She is for sale, so please visit our horses for sale page and get in touch if you’d like to purchase her. You can’t go too far wrong buying from this winning family.
Horses For Sale – Max Comley Racing: Monday the 7th of Septemberin May, we headed to Goffs we managed to pick up four lovely types for this coming season: Walk The Hall, Into The Park, Jackpot Cauveliere and a 3 year old Logician gelding. Walk The Hall is a dual Irish point to point winner, and every bit a chasing mare, Owner’s Lynn and Elaine Johnson will have a lot of fun with this mare. Into The Park is a dual winner under rules gaining a mark of 126 over hurdles. Over the winter he should be a fun horse for SW Racing. The former Irish point to point winner Jackpot Cauveliere was bought to go hunter chasing and point to pointing with for this coming season. Jackpot Cauveliere won his point to point by an impressive 11 lengths and has had a decent campaign under rules for his previous trainer. We are looking forward to seeing him progress over the winter for our amateur Aimee Jones. Last but not least the incredibly imposing grey Logician gelding. He will need time to develop, but he is every bit a staying chaser in the making. Owned by Hoof and Hustle racing
Jackpot Cauveliere, Walk The Hall, Logician 3 year old & Into The Park
Another of our summer purchases who is already a firm yard favourite is Timely Salute (aka Tiny Tim). Whilst he may not be the biggest horse in the yard, in fact I think he is the smallest horse I’ve ever trained, he proved at Newton Abbot that size certainly isn’t everything!
A very small gelding who came to us from the Flat, Timely Salute was another of our summer juvenile recruits and one we felt had plenty of potential to make the transition to hurdles. He had shown enough on the Flat to suggest there was ability there and had a extremely good pedigree to match.
In a fantastic bit of timing, Jeremy Hill actually bought Timely Salute just an hour before he went to post at Newton Abbot. He certainly didn’t have long to wait for a return on his investment! Under Tom Broughton, Timely Salute travelled well, jumped with plenty of enthusiasm and put the race to bed before the second-last. He quickly went clear on the run-in to win his hurdles debut by an impressive 12 lengths.
It was a brilliant introduction to his new career over hurdles and a particularly memorable first day for Jeremy as his new owner to the yard and a first winner under rules.
Timely Salute winning at Newton Abbot
August saw us welcome our owners to The Beeches Farm for a fantastic Owners Weekend — one of the highlights of the summer and a brilliant opportunity to bring everyone together away from the racecourse. We hosted a staff family and friends BBQ on the Friday night which was the calm before a busy weekend. It was a lovely evening where the staff let their hair down and showed their family their favourite horses and enjoyed some great food cooked by our ‘jack of all trades’ handy man Nigel. Luke Broughan entertained us throughout the evening with his talent on the guitar and the party was enjoyed by all late in to the night.
The Saturday was all about giving our owners the chance to see behind the scenes, meet the team and, most importantly, spend time with their horses. We enjoyed showing everyone around the yard and facilities, introducing some of the younger horses and giving owners and visitors an insight into what goes on behind the scenes at MCR on a daily basis.
There was plenty of time for good food, drinks and plenty of racing chat, with owners travelling from all over the country to join us. The atmosphere was exactly what we hope ownership at MCR is about — relaxed, friendly and great fun. Nigel organised the food and Luke was on the guitar again for a brilliant day.
On Sunday, we opened the doors to the wider community around the yard where owners friends and family, suppliers, members of the local village and friends of the yard joined us for a really enjoyable open day. Rob Latimer was on the guitar creating a brilliant atmosphere and guests were also entertained by local magician Daniel Chard. Nigel again provided incredible food and the day was a all round success.
A huge thank you to everyone who came and helped make the weekend such a success. Our owners are at the heart of everything we do, and weekends like this are a great reminder that racehorse ownership is about so much more than watching your horse run. A big thank you to our exceptional team who worked extremely hard to made the weekend seamless and thoroughly enjoyable.
We are already looking forward to doing it all again next year!
This year we hosted National Racehorse Week for the first time, opening the doors at The Beeches and welcoming 150 people who wanted to learn more about the world of racing and see what goes on behind the scenes at a training yard.
It was a great day for the team and something completely different for us to be involved in. We were able to give visitors a real insight into the daily routine of a racehorse, from how they are cared for and exercised to the work that goes into preparing them for the racecourse. I hosted a stable tour introducing all the horses, Anna provided a interesting feed and nutrition talk, Aimee, Jack and Sean showed the tack used for racing and equipment jockeys wear on a race day, and David Bass did a simulator demonstration and answered questions about being a jockey and the lifestyle of a professional jockey.
Bassy & Jack really getting into the spirit of National Racehorse Week
As we look ahead to the new season, we are delighted to welcome some fantastic new faces to the MCR team.
Anna Johnston joins us as our new Head Girl. Anna is a fantastic rider with a wealth of experience, having worked in some of the biggest yards in the country, including those of Willie Mullins and Paul Nicholls. Alongside her practical experience, Anna holds a Master’s degree in Veterinary Epidemiology and Animal Science and spent a year in Hong Kong studying injuries in racehorses. She brings an enormous amount of knowledge, experience and enthusiasm to the yard, and we are very excited to have her as part of the team.
Sean Clarke joins us as our new Conditional Jockey. Sean is an experienced and talented rider, and we are delighted to have him on board. His experience in the saddle will be a huge asset to the team, both at home and on the racecourse, and we look forward to seeing him in MCR colours throughout the season.
Grace Churton joins us after graduating from the Royal Agricultural University. Grace comes to racing with a background in showing and side-saddle riding, and has embraced the transition into racing with huge enthusiasm. She is absolutely loving life at the yard and has settled into the team incredibly well. We are delighted to have her with us and look forward to watching her continue to develop within racing.
Ahmad Hasan has joined us as our new Yard Man, having come to MCR from the Northern Racing College. Ahmad has been an absolute joy to have around the yard and has settled into the team brilliantly. He has particularly enjoyed taking his favourite horse, Snooker McCrew, racing, and has quickly become a familiar face on the racecourse. Away from the horses, he has also fully embraced life with the MCR team, including joining the boys for trips to the gym after work! His enthusiasm and positive attitude have made him a fantastic addition to the yard.
Tommie O’Brien has also joined the MCR team, bringing with him a fantastic history with both Max and the yard. Tommie originally rode out for Max during his point-to-point days and was aboard Knockaderry Flyer, the very first horse Max ever had in training, when he rode him to victory.
Tommie has ridden some of the very best horses in the sport, including the brilliant Energumene and has built up an incredible depth of experience along the way. His experience, knowledge and horsemanship are second to none, and we are delighted to have him back working alongside Max and the team. It is particularly special to have someone who has been part of the journey from the very beginning now back at MCR as we continue to grow.
We are incredibly excited about the season ahead and feel we have a fantastic team in place both in the saddle and behind the scenes. A huge welcome to Anna, Sean, Grace, Ahmad and Tommie.
We have some lovely horses this season, and some exciting ownership opportunities so please take a look at our horses for sale page if you wish to get involved.
Max