TRAINER TALK: JO PRIEST
- jakeexelby
- 2 days ago
- 8 min read
Jo Priest, who trains a string of 11 pointers at the historic Caradoc Court stables in Herefordshire – where John Edwards enjoyed so much success under rules with the likes of Pearlyman and Yahoo – has long held a reputation as one of the shrewdest handlers in the business. Last season, she enjoyed a strike rate of over 25%, and eight of her ten horses won – four first time out. She enjoys a 100% record this season too, her Karaktere D’Enfer having taken a Young Horse Maiden at Chaddesley Corbett on his pointing debut, denting some reputations from the ‘sales yards’ in the process. Jake Exelby paid her a visit recently to find out more.
Following a successful career in the saddle, primarily riding the horses owned and trained by Mel Lloyd, Jo has been training pointers – apart from a brief spell in the mid-noughties with a rules licence – for over 20 years, and last year was her best yet, with eight winners. Czermno gave Jo her first ride at Eyton-on-Severn in 1993 and her first winner at Weston Park later that same year. Then in 1994, she was joint-champion Ladies Novice Rider (with Samantha Wallin), three of her wins coming on Couture Tights. “He was my favourite, and the best horse I rode,” recalls Jo with a glint in her eye. I won twelve on him in total, ended up buying him, and had him for the rest of his life. I had a proper relationship with him.”
Jo moved to Caradoc during Covid. “I’d been training at Upton-on-Severn,” she explains, and I got one of the small business grants they were offering. That paid for the move, with enough left over to see me through when there was no racing and I wasn’t earning. It was supposed to be temporary, but I was asked if I’d like to stay, said ‘yes’, and the rest is history!”
“It suits me here,” continues Jo. “It’s an old traditional yard, with well-established gallops. We’ve got schooling fences, an all-weather woodchip gallop, a round carpet gallop for a warm-up, then two grass gallops – a river meadow and a steep hill. And we can hack the horses ten for ten minutes and use Tom Symonds’ deep sand.”
“The training’s gone better since the move,” Jo goes on. “And I’m enjoying it more than ever. I’ve picked up new owners and more horses. People enjoy coming here – everyone knows the history of Caradoc and owners get personal treatment – and the results speak for themselves.”
The agenda for the morning is three sets of work – two up the all-weather and one over the fences. First up are Sam Lee on Master Tim, a four-year-old owned by Peter Burke, who’ll start out in a point-to-point bumper, and Shannon Nixon on last season’s Chaddesley Corbett winner Llandinabo Lad, who’ll be out later in the season. “Shannon bought Western Cowboy (who won at Didmarton last year) from Will Badlan and will have her first ride on him soon,” Jo tells me.
Next to go are Shannon on Karaktere D’Enfer, Sam on Laugusto, an unraced five-year-old owned by Robert Jones, who also has Bitterley winner Is Our Otis with Jo, and Will Badlan on Costafortune. “He’s aptly named,” smiles Jo, as he didn’t cost me a penny, even though he was bought for £55,000 as a three-year-old. He’ll run for my Mum and Dad, Sue and Martin and, if he doesn’t make a racehorse, he’ll be a nice hunter.”
“I think Laugusto will be nice,” she adds with fingers firmly crossed. “He’s well-bred and is very similar now to Is Our Otis when we first had him. I’ll be disappointed if he can’t win a point-to-point bumper.”
We finish by watching Western Cowboy (Shannon), Is Our Otis (Sam) and Millsbridge (Will) school over four fences. Millsbridge is homebred by Steve Whistance, for whom his dam Milly Malone won a point and two chases. “He’s by Blue Bresil, ran for Adrian Wintle under rules and is a similar type to Thais Toir (who won a Maiden for Jo and Whistance last season). Steve just wants to win a race with a homebred.”
I ask Jo about her enviable first time out record. “I don’t like going to the races when I don’t have a chance, as used to happen sometimes when I trained under rules. Having a horse costs owners a lot of money and I like to work them hard and feed them harder! If you’ve got the fittest horse, you’ve got a chance of winning even if you’re not the best in the race.” Jo confirms how the facilities at Caradoc get her horses fit. “Even on an easy day, when you’re going for a hack, you go up banks and canter across meadows. It feels fun to the horse, but they’re working hard. It’s the same for novice riders,” she adds. “It’s one thing to be able to gallop in a straight line, but the river meadow really tells you whether someone can ride.”
Jo has a reputation for supporting novice riders, who were responsible for half her wins last season, two of which came in the hands of Will Badlan. “I’ve known Will since he was six,” Jo says. “He bought his first pony from me. He’s a great lad, who works hard. Shannon’s another hard worker from a non-horsey background. She does roofing for a living, so she’s really strong. She comes in from Stourbridge at least three times a week and does three or four lots. She’s come on leaps and bounds in the three months she’s been here.”
Jo explains why she’s so supportive of the novices. “I’m not from a horsey background either, so needed someone like Mel Lloyd to have faith in me. Someone asked him once why he was putting up a novice girl and he replied, ‘Jo’s in my yard mucking out seven days a week – she deserves to ride.’ I needed that help, and I want to help others.” As well as her young riders, Jo will be using Zac Baker – “He fits in with the team, I love the way he rides and the owners love him” – and today’s work rider Sam, who’s ridden three winners for her at a 100% strike rate again this season.
The one horse not taking part this morning (Striking Out, has yet to come back in and Jo is awaiting delivery of A Mighty King, a new horse from Ireland bought for Will Badlan) is Kauto No Risk, four times a winner from eight starts, who missed last season. “He’s costing me a fortune in vet’s bills”, laughs owner John Hargreaves – who also co-owns Karaktere D’Enfer with Justin Hoskins – “He won’t be out for a while, as he’s a better horse with the sun on his back. I think he’s got a big race in him. He’s not a Cheltenham horse, but we might target the John Corbet at Stratford – he’d beaten the 2024 winner of that race the previous month.”
John also part-owned the horse Jo nominates as the best she’s trained, Ballyboker Breeze. “I got him from Jason Maguire,” she says. “It took me two seconds to say yes when Jason asked if I wanted him. He was electric to watch in a race, a lovely horse with star quality, and was also a ‘nice person’. He still comes back to the yard every summer.” However, she holds regrets about what might have been. “We lost out with Covid – 2020 would have been his best season.”
It’s quite normal for Jo not to have had many runners by mid-late January, as she admits. “I only brought Karaktere D’Enfer in early, as there aren’t many opportunities. January’s a difficult month – you have to travel – so what’s the incentive to get horses in early? Anyway, most of my horses want better ground. More of the horses will start running in February and there will be lots of opportunities over the Easter period.”
“They need to sort out the fixture list,” continues Jo. “I don’t understand the logistics of the areas – you have nothing for several weeks, then two on the same weekend. For example, Bitterley and Sandon both race on Easter Saturday, and will attract the same horses. And…” – she’s on a roll now – “Someone has to have the authority to overrule people objecting to meetings being rescheduled!”
Jo doesn’t have any full-time members of staff, but also on hand to help with the horses when I visit is Tilly Davey, a high-level eventer, who rides a lot of the flat work at Caradoc and who has done dressage with Kauto No Risk. “Tilly comes in Monday to Friday,” confirms Jo, “While Vicky Adams does weekends. Then (trainer-rider) Joe Neal is here three days a week, and I also want to mention Alice Garfield, who runs the Caradoc Estate. She’s so helpful – she harrows the gallop and puts up the schooling fences.
Work done, Shannon tells me how she got the pointing bug. “I’ve always had horses, but just as a hobby, but I’d never galloped a racehorse before I spent a month at Justin Brotherton’s in the summer – Justin’s a lovely person and Will and Sam have been supportive too. When I was there, I decided to buy Western Cowboy and jumped in at the deep end! I’ve been having jockey coaching with Charlie Poste but I’m leaving plans for my first ride in Jo’s hands!”
“We need to do more to encourage riders like Shannon,” suggests Jo. “It’s so flipping expensive in your first year, when you may only have two or three rides. Your licence, medical, coaching and equipment cost up to £1,500 – plus there’s the time you have to take out of work. I think there should be more help towards the cost of equipment – under rules, you can borrow it from a shared pool.”
Having won a Young Horse Maiden already this season – albeit not one of the GB Bonus Series and not with a horse to sell – Jo has firm views on these races. “Sales horses don’t contribute to the sport – they get one entry, one run, then you never see them again. So, should a percentage of revenue from sales horses go back into pointing? We throw in loads of money, our horses stay pointing and the crowd get to know the horses. I want people to follow the likes of Karaktere D’Enfer.”
John has an innovative idea. “Wouldn’t it be better to have a bonus for horses who go through the grades?” he asks. “It wouldn’t stop them going under rules afterwards, and my argument to the BHA would be that putting money back into pointing would get the sport into better health by creating more opportunities. If you encourage people to leave, the sport will keep shrinking. There has to be a long-term plan and a big picture strategy – otherwise, we’re just reducing the sport to fit the horse numbers.”
As someone who’s spent over 30 years in the sport, Jo has seen a lot of change. “The ground conditions are so much better now,” she confirms. “Take someone like Jim Squires at Chaddesley Corbett. He does a phenomenal job, and you know you can trust what he says.” And what does she miss about the ‘old days’? “I’d like to go back to a time when you had to hunt your pointers,” she replies. “We still hunt ours when the Ledbury meet here – about half a dozen times a year – and we’d like to go out more but just don’t have the time.”
“It was more low-key then,” Jo says. “You didn’t have the big professional yards, and everyone was on a level playing field. One of the biggest trainers when I was riding was Sheila Crow – she’d be small now.”
I conclude by asking Jo what she loves about a sport to which she’s dedicated most of her life. She smiles once more. “I just love horses. I’ve always loved horses.”
Comments