26-year-old Bradley Gibbs has been one of the most successful faces on the Welsh pointing scene since he rode his first winner in 2011. Best known for his associations with David Brace and his own father, also David, Bradley took the plunge this summer and decamped from his Pontypridd base with fiancee Claire Sherriff to a new yard near Hatfield, just north of London. Cromerhyde Farm, run by Claire’s father Julian, houses a dozen pointers, who will be trained and ridden by Bradley.
I went to find out why he left Wales and what he hopes to achieve the day before racing at Chaddesley Corbett and must have brought him luck, as he sent out his first three runners from Cromerhyde and all won easily (although Maiden winner Fier Jaguen was subsequently disqualified for missing a marker) – progressive youngsters Highway Jewel and Premier Magic stepping up to Open class to overturn 2019 Cheltenham Foxhunters winner and useful Hunter Chaser Wishing and Hoping respectively.
My first question to Bradley is an obvious one – why move to Hertfordshire? “It’s a massive opportunity,” he admits. “We had no room to expand at home – we had no gallops and had to work the horses up the side of a mountain – whereas here we’ve got 360 acres, including a five-furlong straight gallop, a big field that gives us a one and a quarter mile round gallop and schooling fences… and we’ve just got planning permission for a new barn that has 24 stables. The horses are currently housed in Julian’s old grain store!”
Claire joins us at this point and tells me how her involvement came about. “I wasn’t interested in racing until I met Brad when I was working for the Glamorgan Hunt. Then Dad bought My Coranna, who won seven for us including the Dunraven Bowl – the Welshman’s Gold Cup – See U Again Son, who won a Fontwell Hunter Chase, and Nuevo Molino, who won three. It spiralled from there and Dad owns four now.” Bradley and Claire sadly lost both My Coranna and See U Again Son soon after their career highlights, but they still have Nuevo Molino – in foal to Mountain High – and introduce me to her Ask foal.
Julian’s interest in racing goes back generations. “The pink and black are my mother’s colours,” he confirms. “She loved racing and I grew up going to the Enfield Chace meeting when it was held at Friars Wash. I used to ride, but not any more – I break, rather than bounce!” Another key member of the team is busy local girl Zoe Hughes, who combines working for Bradley and Clare five or six mornings a week with helping at a livery yard and taking a part-time university course.
“Dad’s had horses all his life,” says Bradley of how his interest in pointing came about. “I started showjumping and Mum and Dad would take me round the country – I won championships when I was a teenager on a pony called Lettie. Then Dad bought me a palomino called Charlie, named after my granddad. He only paid about £300 for him but we won the first ever pony race in Wales as we got him so fit.”
Bradley had his first ride, three days after his 16th birthday, on Lilia’s Lad – named after his niece – but it wasn’t an auspicious start. “She’d fallen four times for four different jockeys before John Mathias won on her, then she fell again with me too,” recalls Bradley. Indeed, it took the youngster 30 rides and nearly a year to enter the winners enclosure, but he was never disheartened. “I was born in May, so had very few rides in my first season,” he explains. “And I was always driven – I wanted winners. After my first, on Cinaman at Ystradowen, I picked up a spare in a Maiden that same afternoon which won. Then I won at Cothelstone the day after, so went from none to three in 24 hours.”
Bradley has been third and fourth in the national jockeys title and confesses, “I’d love to win it, but you’ve got to have a lot of ammunition. Unless you’ve got 20-30 horses in your yard, you haven’t got a chance.” “It’s not just about quantity, it’s the cost,” adds Claire. “Some of these yards spend up to £50,000 on a horse. My Coronna cost just over £3,000, See U Again Son less than that. But now you have to spend at least £10,000 to get anything decent.” Bradley agrees. “The high end of the market has gone through the roof, so the middle and bottom end have gone up too.”
I ask what Bradley’s father David, who’s been training the pointers successfully at their Ynysybwl home, think about his son upping sticks? “There’s definitely no rivalry,” grins Bradley. “Dad’s delighted for us. Claire and I have been together for seven years, the plan has always been for her to take over the farm and we’ve been talking about this for a couple of years, so he knew it was on the cards. A lot of Dad’s owners have sent us horses – we’ve got a great bunch, and they seem happy to let me decide where the horses are going to run.”
Bradley confirms that he intends to continue to cross the Severn Bridge on a regular basis. “We’ll have to play it by ear, and you have to take what you can get this year, but – as long as Welsh pointing goes ahead (two fixtures have been cancelled so far) – we’ll be heading there. But I fear for this season – while Wales doesn’t rely wholly on English entries, we don’t have enough horses to justify putting on meetings without them, especially with no crowd.”
While Bradley is the named trainer, he confirms that “it’s definitely a joint operation.” Claire jokes, “Brad told Dad that I’m in charge of rugs, how they look and the bills, while he does the feeding and training.” In reality though, she confirms, “I do the paperwork but we go through the planner together, work out how long it will take to get to the course, which races are likely to split…” As for how things will pan out once they’re settled at Cromerhyde, Claire admits, “We knew we’d need someone to come and help, and we’d be knackered without Zoe – we really miss her when she’s not here! The next step would be another work rider – I’d rather stay in the yard looking after the little things, like putting cream on cuts for example! I learnt about all that working at the Hunt kennels.”
Bradley adds that the long-term plan is to take out a professional licence, after “Training as many winners as I can, attracting more owners and getting bigger. But we’d definitely keep training pointers too (in Claire’s name) and do it as a dual thing.” Talking of professionalism, Bradley is guarded about the increasing influence of licensed trainers in the amateur game. “I’m not sure about it,” he tells me. “Bigger trainers running ex-rules horses in point-to-points to freshen them up before going Hunter Chasing means it’s difficult for smaller trainers and those who haven’t got the budgets – we need to make our horses, we can’t buy them.”
He does, however, intend to take on the more experienced outfits in one way. “The plan is to race four-year-olds to sell on,” confirms Bradley. “In the past, we used to buy older horses with form – Rio Bravo was seven – as we didn’t have the space or facilities at home to bring on youngsters, because it's a lot of hard work. You can’t just take them up a mountain! There are more options now,” he continues. “I think the four-year-old only races are great and it’s brilliant that they’ve put the weights up (for the 4yo-5yo Maidens) as some of the better jockeys couldn’t ride in them before. And I like the older horse Maidens. Take Dawnie Boy – he’s six, and these races give him opportunities where he doesn’t have to take on a £50,000 store or give a lot of weight away.”
Bradley and Claire may not have been too affected personally by the lockdowns this year – “We spent the first one working for David Brace and here, we don't leave the farm except to go shopping,” he laughs – but he is worried about the finances of point-to-pointing without crowds. “Dad helps run the Ystrad Taf Fechan meeting,” he adds, “So I know how much it costs to put on a fixture. Crowds are the money-earner and I don't think it’s feasible long-term without them.” Claire agrees, saying, “I don't see how it can survive unless it goes back to normal – owners don't mind paying the bills if they can see their horses run. You need something to look forward to and it’s hard to justify the cost if you’re not able to go racing. Owners are the most important part of the sport – without them, there wouldn’t be trainers!”
Talk turns to what Bradley and Claire would do if I put them in charge of the sport and – unsurprisingly for two twenty-somethings – they have some innovative suggestions. Claire goes first. “Most meetings are run really well,” she says. “The Beaufort, for example, is in a different league. But certain hunts should be given help to improve things – maybe there could be a team of people, nationally or regionally, who can go round and help out. On the gate, car parking, fence stewarding… It would get more people involved and take some of the pressure off the organisers.”
Bradley is also in favour of pooling resources, adding, “I think meetings in each area should work together – sharing things like the jumps, wings, marquee hire… Areas could club together to buy Easifix fences, which would save time, effort and money. Sometimes I think they work against each other…” Claire joins in. “A lot of hunts share a track and everyone needs to work together and chip in. Why not advertise for volunteers in the racecards? People like Zoe, and those she works with in the livery yard, would be ideal. It can be daunting to get involved.”
On that note I say goodbye, little knowing I’d be clapping them into the winners enclosure three times the next day!
Bradley’s Five to Follow
Brother Byrne
A nice horse by Kayf Tara who’s owned by the Redlands syndicate, who run the Bonvilston point-to-point course. He’s been second and third in Irish points as well as falling at the last when upsides. Fell when leading and going well at Barbury.
Bradley galloping Brother Byrne
Captain McGinley
Came to me from Beverley Thomas, who’s scaling down her training operation. Second in the Cheltenham Intermediate Final in 2019 and still eligible for Intermediates with a penalty. May go back to Cheltenham again.
Claire schooling Captain McGinley
Dawnie Boy
A six-year-old, who’s had a few runs in Ireland and was placed twice and just behind (the useful) Silver Hallmark when falling once. Won impressively at Barbury.
Claire on Captain McGinley and Bradley on Brother Byrne
Highway Jewel
Owned by the Highway partnership – Sid Codell, John Griffiths, Welsh rugby international Corey Hill, Darryl Phillips and Adrian Simpson – who’ve had horses with us for a few years. It was a massive shock to see her demolish such a good field at Chaddesley Corbett – I’d have been delighted to be in the frame – and I hope she can win another Open like that, which would entitle her to go to Cheltenham.
Rio Bravo
Came from Graeme McPherson and Julian bought him at the sales because he liked the name! We barely galloped him before his first run, but he was still second, then won three in a row in 2019. Also still eligible for Intermediates.
Bradley and Rio Bravo
