There are many family dynasties in point-to-pointing, the Chanins from Devon are one of the most notable, and Ian is the latest of them to be making a mark on the sport as a producer of young horses.
A successful jockey in his time, he now runs a joint-training operation with father Robert just north of Exeter, with Robert focusing on older progressive pointers and Ian concentrating on commercial youngsters to sell to race under rules. The pair are based just a stone’s throw from the Dunsmore track (where Robert’s brother Norman is Clerk of the Course) and Jake Exelby popped-in the morning after the season’s opening fixture – where Noble Don and Call Simon both finished second – to talk to them about a life in the sport, and how they see its future.
Call Simon in fine form after his Dunsmore second (all photos Caroline Exelby)
With Ian and brother Tom – a successful jockey in his own right with over 60 winners between the flags and a Hunter Chase, and a key part of the family operation – riding work, I start by sitting down to talk to Robert about his career. “I started riding when I was 16,” he tells me, “Mostly on family homebreds, many of which had Holcombe in their name. My first winner was on Holcombe Scar and the best horse I rode was Royscar, whose dam was a Holcombe. I retired when I was 25 – I slipped a disc in my back and had a mortgage, children, and responsibilities! Dad only used to have the one pointer, so I was happy with one or two winners a year and rode about a dozen in total.”
Robert explains how his career progressed from training to riding. “Royscar was the last of Dad’s homebreds and after that, I became joint master of the Silverton for ten years. That’s how Ian and Tom learnt to ride properly – we only had a two-horse trailer so one of them always had to hack to the meet and back. They’d be covered in mud from head to toe. My first pointer after that was Royal Rumour, who won a Cherrybrook Maiden with the late Richard Woollacott – Ian’s cousin Edward was supposed to ride but got injured. That win got us hooked and my joint-master – Andrew Knox – supported us with horses, then the boys started to get contacts. It’s changed so much over the years – we used to buy cheap horses to progress through the grades, and now there are no cheap horses and Ian sells his winner on!”
“My best horse was probably Kirkleigh,” Robert continues, “Owned by another great supporter, Sue Trump. He won 12 points and three Hunter Chases for us, mostly ridden by Tom, although Ian won the Exeter Intermediate Final on him. Then there was Byerley Bear, who won 12 out of 15 points, and Mcsolo – another for Sue Trump – a genuine pointer who won eight races.” He cites his career highlight as being, “Seven winners in a row in December 2013 and January 2014, including three from Byerley Bear. I was sure I’d have an eighth, but the horse flopped and pulled up, so I told (point-to-point journalist) Granville Taylor it was time I retired!!”
Though a keen hunting man, Robert admits, “We don’t hunt our pointers now as you can’t cut corners training when you’re busy and need to do it properly – you can’t take them hunting three or four times a week and still get them ready for racing. Anyway, since the ban,” he continues, “Hunting’s not been the same, and we now get our kicks from winning races.”
Robert admits to concerns about the future of pointing. “We’re likely to have a change of government,” he predicts, “And how will it carry on if they ban hunting? Who’ll build the courses? Dunsmore’s our local track and it’s all done with free labour to support the hunts. Costs have gone up and it’s about 25% more expensive than it was before Covid. My wife Maureen questions my sanity, but we do it because we love pointing and it’s all about the teamwork. We’re a small hunt and Norman’s been Clerk of the Course for the Silverton fixture for over 40 years.”
Maureen, according to Robert, has been unable to watch her sons ride ever since Ian suffered an injury at Lifton. “He fell at the ditch,” recalls Robert, “I saw him walking back so told her he was OK, but it turned out he’d broken both wrists and had to be airlifted to hospital. Mind you,” he continues with a wry smile, “She’d missed Ian’s first winner because she was on holiday – I had to phone her and tell her.”
I watch Ian and Tom ride second lot with Robert and Ian’s wife Becks, a farrier who rode successfully under her maiden name, Rebecca Barnett. “I rode for four seasons, and had six winners,” she smiles, “But stopped because I broke several ribs and – when I did – I couldn’t go shoeing on a Monday! I rode a lot of maidens – the ones the boys didn’t want to ride! My first win was on Get Smart for Linda Blackford and other good horses I rode were Major Matt and Gorgeous Girl, the latter for Robert.”
Tom leads Ian up the gallop
As Ian (on a 3yo Passing Glance filly out of useful chaser Miss Tenacious) and Tom (on maiden Ballynagloch, returning from a year off with injury) canter past us up the all-weather gallop, which rises at a steep gradient over its three furlongs, Robert continues his story. “Our Stone Valley Stables is 400 feet above sea level here, we’re fortunate to have fantastic views, and you can see Norman’s farm down below – they call it Chanin Valley! We’ve got about a dozen horses between us, and Ian built the new yard – just before Covid, when he and Becks came back to live here. His yard is for the youngsters, breakers, and pre-trainers, while most in my yard are owner-bred. It’s just evolved that way.”
The view over "Chanin Valley"
As Robert’s sons return to the yard, Ian dismounts and talks me through his training routine. “The all-weather gallop is good for teaching horses to settle, and we do the fast work on arable land over the hill. It’s tricky with youngsters – you want to leave room for improvement (when you sell them), but you want to prove you can train them too! Taking them to the sales is a bit like running them in a race – things can go wrong.”
Talking of sales, Ian tells me about two of his recent success stories. “We sold Tip Top Mountain to my friend Robert Walford after he’d won at Wadebridge, and he’s won six chases. Then Jamie Snowden, who I used to ride against, bought Doc McCoy after a Great Trethew win, and he scored last month. He’s targeting the EBF Final and Jamie says it’s great to have a British pointer going for a race like that.”
Although, in his words, Ian is “Picking up the pace with store horses,” he admits to not having the budgets to compete with some of the bigger commercial operations. So how does he make it pay? “It’s not all one-way traffic,” he tells me. “You can spend a lot of money for no return. I’m in no rush with mine – I keep them happy and healthy and run them when they’re ready, not before. Take Tip Top Mountain – he was nearly six and having his third run at Wadebridge, so people were negative about his chances at the sales, but he made £30,000. We’d been running him during Covid, in the gaps between lockdowns – training then was incredibly stressful.”
Ian nominates the Miss Tenacious filly and a Desinvolte gelding, “Who’s I bought from Peter Nolan and is from a good French family,” as ones to follow this season and explains why he’s not afraid of taking on the higher-profile yards. “I tend to run mine in the Goffs and Tattersalls races – they’re the sponsors and if you want to be in their sales, you need to run in their races. I wouldn’t go looking to win a three-runner race because the horse wouldn’t sell.” He smiles wryly. “I don’t tend to look at the opposition too much. It’s like in the recent Rugby World Cup – if you stay in your own half, you can’t go on the attack!”
He shares his father’s concerns about the future of pointing when quizzed about his own plans. “We’ll have to see what happens with the financial climate,” Ian admits. “I like bringing on young horses, but if the Labour party finishes off hunting, will pointing continue? If not, a switch to rules would be an obvious move.”
Winding back the clock, Ian tells me about his riding career. “Dad bought Barton Rose and I had my first ride on him when I’d just turned 16, finishing second at Flete Park. We then fell at Holnicote and won at Bratton Down. I then went to work for Robert Alner and my riding improved jumping hedges out hunting – I still feel that sort of practical experience is better than the modern-day assessments and hunting still has a place for jockeys.”
“I’ve ridden winners from four furlongs to four miles,” continues Ian, laughing. “The latter was at Eggesford on Kingscliff and the former in the Fegentri Series in Norway – that was good fun.” Cheltenham Foxhunter winner Kingscliff is an obvious standout among horses Ian rode, but he speaks most fondly of The Wealerdealer. “The highlight was winning the Intermediate Final on him at Exeter,” Ian confirms. “I bought him for £1,200 with the specific aim of winning that race and I owned, trained, and rode him myself. We bought him from Richard Woollacott, and he went back to Richard’s and won a hurdle for him, before getting chinned on the line in the inaugural Timico Mixed Open Final at Cheltenham. I rode just short of 100 winners – I think it was 98 – and retired due to a combination of a bad back and not having any standout horses,” Ian tells me. “I still enjoy schooling but miss the buzz of race-riding.”
Ian does not hesitate when I ask the first thing he’d do if he was in charge of the sport. “It’s important to increase the appeal of owning a pointer, so I’d start by making it mandatory to give 8-10 passes for owners every time they make an entry. After all, you’re only giving away a piece of paper and the people who come spend money on the three Bs – beer, burgers, and betting! It’s especially important for syndicates – take Noble Don’s owners at Dunsmore (where Ian’s 4yo finished second and was accepted for the Tattersalls Cheltenham sale, making £26,000). They did all the above, bought racecards and shopped at the trade stands. Prize money’s never going to go up and doesn’t have an impact anyway – when Thewealerdealer won a £1,000 race at Upcott Cross, there were only five runners – so we need to find other ways to attract owners. Making it a good social occasion lessens the disappointment when your horse runs poorly!”
Noble Don in his Cheltenham sales pose
Ian cites course management and the standard of riding and training as the main areas of improvement since he’s been involved in the sport, and increased costs and the drop in the number of participants as the key downsides, using Hunter Certificates as an example. “You can have a day’s hunting in Devon for £20 while it costs £250 to go out with the Beaufort – so why should you pay the same regardless of the hunt you qualify with? And I don’t think you should be able to nominate any hunt for your pointer – it should be local.”
While I’ve been talking to Ian, Tom has been busy tacking up the horses for their next lot. His brother calls him over – “Have you got anything to add, Tom?” He answers with a sardonic grin. “I agree with everything Ian says!”