TRAINER TALK: WILL THIRLBY
- jakeexelby
- Jan 11
- 8 min read
Based at Grendon, near Atherstone, Will Thirlby is one of an increasingly rare breed in the sport of point-to-pointing nowadays, a farmer-trainer-rider. After a promising start to his career as a jockey, with a high of 12 wins in 2018/2019, Will went to study at the Royal Agricultural College, before returning to help father Tim run the family farm – with 2,000 dairy goats to milk daily, it is the second largest such operation in the country – and then started training in his own right, notching an initial success with Colibri Bleu at Garthorpe, following which he proposed to partner Annabel James, using a plaiting band as a makeshift engagement ring! Jake Exelby paid him a pre-Christmas visit to learn about the 26-year-old’s plans, both for his string of seven this season, and beyond.
With Will out galloping Colibri Bleu when I arrive at his Fields Farm base, I am greeted by Annabel, who gives me a stable tour. “We only had five runners last year, none before February, and we’ve already had five this season, so it’s keeping us nice and busy,” she smiles, adding, “My role in the yard is to run Will’s life!” As well as Colibri Bleu and Dingley winner Tony’s Tipple, the yard houses maidens Sofana – “A wonderful little mare who’s been fourth twice but did a leg schooling so had a year off before coming back at Garthorpe” – and Miracle Millions, who was off for nearly 1,000 days before returning this season, along with two new purchases. “Chiroqui Princess came via David Phelan from Ireland, where she was second three times, and is an absolute sweetheart, and Colonel Whizz is a gorgeous boy we bought at Doncaster. He was rated 98 at his best for Olly Murphy.”
However, the apple of Annabel’s eye is ‘Ollie’, an unraced and unnamed 4yo by Passing Glance. “He’s my favourite to ride… but unfortunately he’s a sales horse!”
Returning to the yard, Will confirms his fiancée’s plans. “My current ambition is to have one – Ollie – to sell on at a profit and one, hopefully Colibri Bleu, who can go through the grades from Maiden to Open. He’s grown up a lot since last year and is a different horse – he was running a fantastic race before falling at Garthorpe.” As for the profile of the horses he trains, “I’m definitely looking for maidens – I’m getting priced out of the more experienced horses I’ve had, like Get On The Yager and Here He Comes.” Another side project for Will and Annabel is breeding, and they’re currently looking for a stallion to send the mare Sion Hill, who suffered a fracture on her Cocklebarrow debut but remains in their barn as a broodmare for owners Lily and Tom Dalby.
Will also confirms, again with a smile, what Annabel said about their respective roles. “I decide what the horses do each day, and when they’re ready to run. But Annabel’s the voice of reason, my sounding board – she tells me when I need to buck up my ideas!”
I talk to Will about his facilities as he saddles up Chiroqui Princess. “We’ve got two gallops – one carpet, that used to be woodchip – and one deep sand. “I’ve copied the best,” he laughs. “I went to work for Willie Mullins for three months when he was putting his in and was with Tom Ellis when he did the same. Tom was one of the first (British pointing yards) to have deep sand and it’s helped him be successful.”
Colonel Whizz - who was to go on to finish a good second at Ampton on his pointing debut - and Becca Collins accompany Will three times in each direction round the one-and-a-half-furlong gallop and Becca tells me afterwards, “I’ve been working for Will for just over a year. I used to be in the Army, with the Kings Troop, and rode in their point-to-point race several times – my best finish was second. But I’ve got no desire to ride in a proper point-to-point – I prefer showjumping!”
Work (with the horses at least) over for the day, we return to the farmhouse and talk over coffee. “I’m not really from a racing family,” Will admits, “Although my Dad – Tim – and Mum, Victoria, both race-rode. Dad had a mid-life crisis, got divorced, stopped smoking, lost three stone, and started racing! I think he had seven rides, and fell three times, while Mum had a go just for fun with one horse and won at Welbeck. She was a three-star eventer and found pointing easy compared to that!”
As for Will’s own riding background, “I’ve been riding since I could walk, did pony club and competed in the Prince Philip (Mounted) Games until I was 17 – I won the World Pairs in Denmark. I progressed to pony racing with a mare called Princess Propellor. We won at Garthorpe, then raced in the Charles Owen series at rules tracks. That was a different league – I was up against the likes of the Bowen brothers and McCain sisters.”
Will’s pointing career began on horses trained by Tim, and his partner Kirsty Smith, who passed away in 2022. “I idolised her as a trainer,” Will says sadly. “She had an eye for detail, loved her horses, and was the driving force for my own passion.” His first rides came on Oryx Falcon at Thorpe Lodge aged 16 – “You always remember your first jump, we just hacked round at the back and finished seventh of eight: nowadays I’d pull up but continued because of the buzz and excitement” – and his first win a month later, on Arkose.
Will recalls Arkose fondly. “He was a lovely old horse, who we bought from Sam Hutchinson. We won the Members at Dingley then, next season, we won a Timico Mixed Open at Ampton. I was just seventeen and remember being sat in behind Gina and Jack Andrews, then bolting up. We went to Cheltenham for the Mixed Open Final that year.”
The best horse Will rode for Kirsty was probably Ardkilly Witness, who took him to the Cheltenham Foxhunters in 2019. “I remember going to Jamie Snowden’s to try him out,” he laughs again, “And couldn’t hold one side of him! So, I said, ‘I’ll have him’. Cheltenham was one of the best days ever. We were outsiders, but it was a great day out, and the build-up was incredible. My aim is to get back there, and I’d also like to ride round Aintree, but you need the right horse.” As for the future, “Will I be doing it when I’m 50? Probably not, but I think I’ve got another ten years in me, then I’ll carry on training.” Annabel chips in mischievously, “He wouldn’t know what to do without a stable full of horses!”
Will is refreshingly honest about the reasons his winning tallies each season slowed down after what was a breakthrough season. “I’d been working for Tom Ellis since my A-Levels and was riding good horses, including Master Templar, who bolted up at Ampton. Through Tom, I got to know Fred Hutsby. I’d ride out and school for him and had a few winners, including Downbythestrand at Stratford. After that, I went to Alan King’s – I thought I’d turn professional, but changed my mind, and lost the momentum I’d been building in points.”
Covid, a series of injuries including a broken leg and collarbone, then Kirsty’s passing, didn’t help Will’s career in the saddle, but did convince him of his true vocation. “I came home to help Dad run the farm, and to train the pointers, which is something I always wanted to do. I want to be a farmer-trainer, the way pointing used to be. But I think I’m a generation too late – farmers don’t train horses any more due to the cost and there’s nothing you can do about it. It’s a lot more professional now,” continues Will. “That’s not meant to be a negative, but fewer farmers with horses makes the field sizes smaller, and that’s why there aren’t as many jockeys either.”
“The biggest killer is the cost of owning a racehorse,” Will states. “And the lack of hunts down here makes a difference. We’re farmers, and used to hunt with the Atherstone, but it doesn’t exist any more.”
However, rather than bemoan the state of the sport, Will is positive about the future. Dismissing my customary question about what he’d do if put in charge of the sport – “I couldn’t do the job: it’s incredibly difficult” – he praises the new ‘blue mic’ social media content, “It’s wonderful, and you’d hope it’s bringing in more horses,” as well as the new GB Pointing Bonus Young Horse Maiden Series. “Ollie’s going to be aimed at one of those,” he confirms. “It’s a fantastic initiative. There are lots of entries, plenty of runners and a real buzz around it.”
“Syndicates are the way forward,” he adds. “Take Peter Bennett, a long-time owner with us, who’s had the likes of Black Valentine – he’s now involved with Miracle Millions and Tony’s Tipple. We’ve got room for more owners and would like to form more syndicates – we’re looking for people to come into Colibri Bleu. Outside owners make it more sustainable for us in the long-term and, just as importantly, syndicates bring new people into the sport. Part of the fun is going back to the lorry with your owners after racing – it’s not the same if it’s just the two of you.”
Mention of Tony’s Tipple again makes Annabel’s face light up as she reminisces about their win at Dingley. “I never watch Will ride,” she admits sheepishly. “I just listen to the tannoy. I heard the commentator say, ‘He’s going too wide,” but we’d walked the course beforehand and decided to go wide, for the better ground. Will knows the horse inside out – that’s a perk of riding them yourself every day.”
Will agrees. “You ride with a different confidence when you train the horses you ride in races. Yes, it’s difficult to juggle training and riding – and you can’t ride out at other yards – but I do it because I love it. It can be hard work – I feed the goats between 6am and 9am, ride until 1pm, farm in the afternoon, then go to the gym in the evening. I’ve learnt a lot from Tom Ellis,” he adds. “How to train a horse, how to get it fit… and how to be the last to leave the horsebox park!”
Asked for a final word, Will turns serious. “The Injured Jockeys Fund and Oaksey House were fantastic when I broke my leg – they had me running on a treadmill just three weeks later. The work they do should be better advertised in the pointing world. I know they have stands at some meetings, and ads in the racecards, but why not have banners round the paddock at every fixture, and dedicated races to promote them more. Without the jockeys, there would be no racing to enjoy.”
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