08 April 2010 Trainers in Profile - Nick Kent
by Carolyn Tanner
Nick Kent is the latest Trainer to be featured in our Profile series.
Nick is one of the Midland area's leading trainers, and he has ridden over 40 winners between the flags. He combines his equestrian activities with running a wedding venue at the family home, Newstead Priory, www.newsteadpriory.com
For how long have you been training? Six years.
Where are you based? Brigg, North Lincolnshire.
Do you combine training with another job or profession? I'm the licensee at Newstead Priory (see intro) but there are four of us involved, the others being my mother, my partner Jane and my sister Lucy. We accommodate the whole day - the ceremony, meal and evening reception. We cater for about 40 weddings per year.
Are you from a racing background? And if not, how did you get started in Point-to-Pointing? Not racing, but there were always horses about. Dad hunted and team chased, while Mum bred and showed Welsh Mountain ponies. I hunted, but got the racing bug when Simon Whitaker, the son of Richard Whitaker who trains at Scarcroft near Leeds, asked me if I wanted to bring a horse I'd been loaned, and was hunting, for a gallop to see if it would Point-to-Point. I did go to the yard, but without the horse as the owner who loaned it had sold him as a show hunter for 10k, so I rode one of Simon's. It was a brilliant experience! I got run off with and had the mickey taken out of me for riding so long, but I still loved every minute of it.
What training facilities do you have available? A straight mile woodchip gallop, an outdoor ménage, a horse walker and a grass schooling area.
How many horses do you train, and are they just for yourself and your family or for outside owners as well? About ten horses, all for outside owners.
What was the first winner you sent out? - name, Owner, Rider, date, course? It was Ramirez in the Lincolnshire Hunts Members race at Market Rasen in January 2004. He belonged to the late Kit Cottingham who also owned Newgate Wells on whom I won a Maiden division later in the day (I was first jockey back then!).
Of which horse performance are you most proud? When Quarter Masters, who had returned from a tendon injury, won a Hunter Chase at Market Rasen in 2006. It was my first ride back from a broken wrist.
Did you race-ride before you started training? Yes. I haven't retired yet, contrary to what people may think!
Who has been most influential on your training career? Kit Cottingham, because he gave me the opportunity to train.
Which jockeys do you use regularly? Simon Walker and Steve Magee.
What car do you drive? A Land Rover.
What kind of music do you like? Just about anything, though I don't like Radio One.
What are your favourite films and TV programmes? Film is Enemy At The Gates. TV is Sky Sports.
Describe your perfect night in and perfect night out: In is watching the replay of the winner we have had that day, champagne while lying in a very hot bath, then our own home-grown lamb shank with dauphinoise potatoes and a good bottle of red. Oh yes, and feeling cold tendons at late stables.
Out is good food and drink with friends and a driver to bring us home.
Where do you like to go on holiday? If we had time the ideal holiday would be watching England play a Test Match in the Caribbean, with some sailing and fishing thrown in.
Who would be your ideal travelling companions to the races? My partner Jane.
Who are your biggest heroes in racing? Ruby Walsh and John Francome.
What has been either your own funniest incident, or the most amusing thing you have seen or heard at the races? Seeing my mate Matt Mackley looking like Frankie going to post after I had put his irons to the top hole when he wasn't looking (they were soon dropped at least a foot!). Or maybe when Patrick Millington came back into the weighing room having been tailed off and blamed us all for going too fast!
Which particular horse would you like to train - either in Points or under Rules? Still looking for it! Otherwise Mister McGoldrick - he hasn't missed a season, has had 85 runs and won 350k in prize money.
If you hadn't taken up training what would you have done instead? If I'd been good enough I'd have liked to have been a professional cricketer. I'm a left-arm spinner and play as often as time allows.
Which horses do you have at the moment that you would consider to have good potential? Farmer Frank. He had a fall at Leicester, but it doesn't appear to have knocked his confidence. All being well, he'll Hunter Chase for the rest of the season. His owner-breeder Roger Jackson has been very patient, so I hope he'll be rewarded. [Nick's judgement has already been vindicated, as he wrote this prior to Farmer Frank's Towcester victory on Easter Sunday.]
What are your favourite courses and meetings? And for what reasons? Brocklesby Park, because it's just up the road. And I love Cheltenham.
What ambitions do you have in racing? Originally it was to just train a winner, now it's to train a winner at Cheltenham!
What do you consider to be the biggest challenges for Point-to-Point trainers? In our area, it's got to be Lord Daresbury!!
What is your opinion on December racing? There are not enough meetings near to us to justify getting horses ready so early.
What are your opinions on the changes in Point-to-Pointing in recent years, and what developments do you think would benefit the sport in the future? In Hunter Chases: 1) To exclude licensed trainers (JP could always send his over-handicapped horses to a Point-to-Point yard); 2) More races to have the condition that horses must have run in a Point-to-Point; 3) To exclude Hunter Chase wins from the "must have not won more than three Steeplechases" condition.
In Points: Point-to-Point starters to have had at least one day's racing with a Jockey Club starter and to be banned from the bar when officiating - that goes for the judge as well!!
