Staff at Manor House Stables

Tom Dascombe's profile can be found here. His dedicated team of staff are profiled below, one of which will from time to time be interviewed for our featured staff profile.

Senior Staff

Colin Gorman		Assistant Trainer	Colin has known Tom for 11 years, having both arrived in Lambourn on the same day back in the late 90s, beginning jobs as assistant trainer for John Hills and Ralph Beckett respectively. Colin and Tom became good friends over this time and lived together for 4 years. Colin eventually moved back to Ireland, but in the summer of 2009 Tom approached him in regard to over-seeing the operation at Manor House Stables while Tom remained in Lambourn until the end of the season. Colin took up the challenge and is now a permanent member of the Manor House Stables team. Colin and wife Helen recently celebrated the birth of their son, Jack.
Andy Jackson		Head Lad	Andy joined Tom at Lambourn in August 2008 as head lad, just before the expansion of the ONEWAY operation. Following Tom's decision to move to Cheshire, Andy was seen as an integral member of the team and was asked to relocate. Andy has worked in racing his whole life and has a wealth of experience when it comes to riding and breaking horses.
Marie Roe		Travelling Head Girl	Marie joined Manor House Stables in March 2007 as travelling head girl. She had previously worked at Brian Meehan's in Lambourn as a stable lass. She then moved to Cheshire in 2000 pursuing her interest in point to pointing before working at Bearstone Stud as a stud groom prior to moving to MHS. Marie, originally from London, first fell in love with horses after having riding lessons when she was 10. She spent much of her teenage years working at riding schools near Richmond Park and has worked in the industry ever since.
Christopher Ely		Second Travelling Head Lad	Born in Liverpool, Chris has worked at Manor House Stables since March 2007. He previously rode as a professional, riding one winner on Bogaz in November 2004 from 41 career rides. Chris enjoys golf and is a keen Liverpool supporter. Chris acts as our second travelling head lad.
Amy Murphy		Pupil Assistant & Barn Leader	Amy has always ridden horses from a very early age. Her interest in racing started when she was 15 when she did work experience at Nicky Henderson's yard. From then on she became involved with the running of her family's Wychnor Park Stud. Amy's favourite homebred is the highly thought of Agean Dawn. She completed a diploma in Equine Science at Hartpury College for which she gained a triple distinction. She is a keen amateur rider on the flat. This year she became a first time owner of a filly named Zennor whom she selected at the Tattersalls Foal Sales. She was also involved with the purchase of the Listed placed Party Doctor as a foal. Amy started at Manor House Stables in November 2010.
Theo Puente		Barn Leader	Born in Palma, Majorca, Theo moved to Minorca aged 5. His first experience of horses came when a friend introduced him to trotting which eventually led to Theo training two trotters. Whilst training, Theo was encouraged by a work-rider to ride horses instead of trotters. Theo worked for a variety of trainers in Minorca, most notably Antonio Roca, riding 23 winners before moving to Madrid to ride out. In the mid-90s Theo moved to the UK, working initially for Mark Tompkins, then Paul Cole, John Gosden, James Fanshawe and finally Clive Brittain. He then returned to Spain as a trainer for 18 months, in which time he trained 1 winner. After a short spell with Jean-Claude Rouget, Theo then returned to the UK, joining MHS in March 2009.
Paul Gallagher		Barn Leader	Paul began watching racing from the age of 14 with his Grandad. At 15 Paul started an apprenticeship with Morris Camacho before going to France on work experience. In 1988 Paul joined Geoff Wragg as stable lad. Following periods work riding in Macau and Scandinavia, Paul worked for James Fanshawe as travelling head lad until 1992. After another spell abroad, in America, Paul joined Sir Michael Stoute's in 1998 where he managed the equine swimming pool. Paul's favourite moment in racing came when a horse he looked after, Tajaweed, won the Dee Stakes prior to a run in the Derby. Paul joined the team at Manor House Stables in Dec 2009.
Marco Beletatti		Barn Leader	Once a jump jockey, winning 15 times in Italy, Marco joined Manor House Stables in February 2009 following a 15 year spell in Italy riding freelance for a variety of trainers including Borromeo. Marco was promoted to Barn Leader in January 2012.

Jockeys

Richard Kingscote		Jockey	Richard first got in the saddle at the age of 12 when he started having riding lessons at the Gordano Valley Riding Centre. He then worked ponies at weekends on Brean Beech near Weston-super-Mare where he grew up. At 16 he attended the British Racing School in Newmarket before joining Roger Charlton as an apprentice. Richard got his first ride on Famous Grouse at Epsom in August 2004. In August 2007, after 4 years at Roger's, Richard was approached by Tom and the pair have never looked back. Richard's greatest moments to date came when winning the G2 July Stakes and G2 Superlative Stakes aboard Classic Blade and Firth Of Fifth respectively in the summer of 2008.
Ross Atkinson		Apprentice Jockey	Ross owes his interest in racing to his cousin, who used to work in the industry and gave Ross a lot of help and support in his early days. Ross worked for the Caldwells in Warrington aged 14 until he left school. He then moved straight to Gary Moore's for 2 years, a period he remembers fondly as he learnt a lot there and was very well looked after. It was for Gary that Ross got his first ride, on Turner's Touch in Sept 2007, finishing 2nd. Ross began to get rides for Tom in the early part of 2008, eventually joining ONEWAY as an apprentice in March 2008. Ross's favourite moment in racing came when winning on Clifton Dancer at Newbury in May 2008.
Sonia Eaton		Apprentice Jockey	Sonia grew up with horses. She started work experience at 15 with Brian Baugh and ended up staying there for six years. She had her first ride for Brian at 17 and rode her first winner on a horse called Jalouhar at Wolverhampton when she was 18, on only her third ride. Her favourite moment in racing was when she rode a 100/1 winner at Great Yarmouth on Avoncreek. She joined Manor House Stables in July 2009.
Ben Williams		Apprentice Jockey	Cheshire born and bred Ben Williams owes his interest in horses to his Aunty who had show ponies that he used to compete at County Level. Ben joined Manor House Stables following his school two week work placement in May 2009. He then rode out on Saturdays and started full time after completing his NVQ at British Racing School in September. Ben took out his his apprentice jockey licence in the summer of 2011 and has since had a few rides for Tom.

Office Team

Lizzie Lea		Racing Secretary	Lizzie joined Manor House Stables as Racing Secretary in January 2010 following a three year spell at the Racecourse Association as Communications Assistant. A graduate from the Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester, she also had spells as stable lass at Henrietta Knight's, secretary to Kim Bailey and ticket sales manager at Chester Racecourse. Born and bred in rural Cheshire, Lizzie has been involved with horses from a young age. She has ridden out for a variety of trainers and has trained and ridden her own point to pointers. She now owns an ex-racehorse who was too slow for MHS called Bryn Rhosyn who she enjoys hunting and eventing.
Alex Owen		Accountant	Alex started his first job in racing when he joined Tom at ONEWAY in April 2009. This was preceded by four years at Ernst & Young in Reading where he qualified as a chartered certified accountant in February 2009. Following Tom's move to Cheshire, Alex decided to join the Manor House Stables team and now lives locally in Bangor-On-Dee with his partner Alona and daughters Caitlin and Annabelle. Alex's interest as a racing enthusiast dates back to his early Bristol University days and it was always his plan to pursue a job in the industry following qualification. Despite working in a flat yard his favourite week of the year is the Cheltenham Festival!
Karen Owen		HR/H&S Manager	After graduating from Manchester University in Business Studies and then studying at the College of Law, Karen trained as a lawyer with Merseyside Law firms DWF and Wilde & Co. Karen joined Manor House Stables in January 2007 and helped set up many aspects of the company with her brother Michael. Karen is now employed as HR and Health & Safety Manager which is a varied role incorporating health & safety, HR, first aid and running the operator's licence amongst other things. Outside work Karen enjoys spending time with her family and participating in a variety of sports including horse riding, circuit training and running.

Riders

Andrew McKevitt		Rider	Andrew previously worked for David Arbuthnot were he completed his apprentice jockey course. Andrew joined MHS in January 2012.
Derwyn Williams		Rider	Daz is from Anglesey, North Wales and previously worked for Donald McCain. He joined MHS in February 2011. Daz has helped to take our runners to Dubai, France and Turkey.
Dipendra Deora		Rider	Dipendra Deora joined Manor House Stables in January 2008.
Jagat Singh		Rider	Jagat joined Manor House Stables in December 2007. Jagat is married with children and is from Rajasthan, which is the largest state in the Republic of India.
Jay Harris		Rider	Jay joined MHS in January 2012 having previously worked for Kieren Burke.
Jitendra Singh Deora		Rider	Jitendra, or Jit as he is known, joined MHS in January 2012. He was born in India and his cousin Dip also works in the yard.
Jordan Dodd		Rider	Jordan was brought up locally in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire where he learnt to ride at a local riding school when he was 9 years old. He had his own pony which he show-jumped. Jordan always wanted to work in racing and joined the Northern Racing College straight from school. After college he worked for Paul Green for four years as a rider and later as an apprentice jockey. To date Jordan has had 10 rides and 1 winner. He joined MHS in March 2011. He hopes to make a career as a jockey.
Joseph Westhead		Rider	Joe joined MHS in January 2012 having previously worked for Sir Michael Stoute in Newmarket. His favourite horse at MHS is Anton Chigurh (pictured).
Lubos Prochazka		Rider	From the Czech Republic, Lubos worked for Peter Winkworth for six years and due to Mr Winkworth retiring from training he joined MHS in January 2012. He has also worked with a variety of sport horses in the UK including show horses, hunters and on a stud.
Michaela Glovinova			Michaela is from the Czech Republic and worked with racehorses in Ostrava. In her country she had a few rides on the flat and over fences. After coming to the UK she worked at Peter Winkworth's yard and joined MHS with her partner Lubos in January 2012.
Qaiser Alam		Rider	Qaiser has worked in racing for 20 years. He started working with racehorses in India before going to Bahrain for 6 years then Australia for a year before joining MHS in December 2007. He comes from a racing family as his father was a head lad in India and two of his brothers ride. Back in India he has a wife and two children, a boy aged 3 and a 3 month old baby girl. Like a lot of the staff at MHS he is a great supporter of Manchester United.
Sharafat Ali		Rider	Sharafat (or Ali as he is known in the yard) joined Manor House Stables in January 2009.

Yard and Ground Staff

Kevin Davies		Groundsman	Kevin was born and bred in Cheshire. He has always worked in agriculture, driving tractors. One day in October 2007 he came to MHS as a favour to harrow the gallop as there was no driver at the yard. He has been here ever since! Two of his favourite hobbies are fishing and making curries. Kevin loves the countryside and rural pursuits and one of his main goals is to see MHS become a great success.
Simon Joseph		Groundsman	Simon is from Chester and has lived here all of his life. He left school at 16 and went straight into an apprenticeship at a golf course as a greenkeeper where he stayed for 4 years. He then spent time working at Cholmondeley Castle, gardening and tractor driving. Following a brief spell in Ireland putting up temporary stabling at events, Simon joined MHS in October 2008. Simon is a keen fisherman and in the summer he can regularly be found attempting to catch the fish in the MHS ponds!
Abbas Khan		Yardman/rider	Abbas used to be a jockey for 36 years in Pakistan where he rode an impressive 250 winners. One of his sons has followed in his father's foot steps and is also a jockey riding in Pakistan. When Abbas came to England he worked for Alan Jarvis for one year, riding out 4 lots each day. His second job was also spent riding out for Mick Easterby. Abbas joined Manor House Stables in February 2008 and his favourite horse is Present Danger.
Ali Khan		Yardman/rider	Ali joined MHS in August 2011. He is from Pakistan and previously worked with racehorses before moving over to the UK to join his father, Abbas, at MHS.
Javed Iqbal		Yardman/Rider	Javed is from Pakistan and he joined Manor House Stables in November 2008. At home he has 4 dogs and enjoys watching cricket and football.
Karl Kingscote		Yardman/rider	Karl started riding when he was ten but only for a couple of years. He has always been around horses through his mother's interest. He got into racing in 2009 when he spent five months working for Stan Moore in Lambourn. He then left Stan's to go to China where he spent seven months studying and training in Kung Fu. His main hobbies are martial arts and motor bikes. On returning to the UK he joined his brother Richard up in Cheshire at MHS in Dec 2010. His favourite horses are Anaconda and Marine Boy.
Muhammed Bilal		Yardman/rider	Muhammed joined Manor House Stables in January 2009.
Nasir Ali		Yardman/rider	Nasir joined Manor House Stables in April 2009.
Pravesh Tharpa		Yardman/rider	Pravesh is from India and joined Manor House Stables in March 2008.
Vinod Pardeshi		Yardman/rider	Vinnie is from India and worked with racehorses for 8 years in the country before joining Manor House Stables in September 2007. He likes cricket and football and luckily is a Manchester United supporter. His favourite horses are Jonny Mudball and Bear Behind.

External Expertise

Matthew O'Donnell		Veterinary	Matthew O'Donnell MRCVS qualified from Liverpool University in 1998. He worked for six years in Newmarket at Rossdales Equine Hospital completing a surgical residency. In 2007 he was recruited by the Hong Kong Jockey Club and Olympic Games 2008, working as a racing vet and equine surgeon. He has extensive experience in equine lameness and surgery. Matthew conducts all of the day to day veterinary care at Manor House Stables and joined the yard in the summer of 2010.
Forden Farriers		Farrier	Forden Farriers was founded over 30 years ago and is headed by Jim Blurton. Recognised by his peers and customers alike as one of the world's best farriers, Jim was crowned 2005 World Champion Farrier. Jim has trained over 20 farriers, many who have gone on to international honours. There are 11 farriers working at the practice, with Jim and Davey Calko overseeing the MHS operation along with Rob Turnbull and apprentices Katie Grose, James Gant and Dan Rabin. Forden Farriers also looks after the International Event, Show Jumping, Dressage and Stud Yards.
Birch Farm Stud		Livery	David Sherlock and Clare Northover combined their 35 years of experience working within the hunting, racing and stud industries to set up Birch Farm Stud 3 years ago. The relaxed atmosphere within the Cheshire based 30 box yard is perfect for the breaking-in of young thoroughbreds. They also offer excellent facilities for pre-training, sales preparation, rest and recuperation and boarding of broodmares and youngsters.
DGS Horse Transport		Transport	DGS Horse Transport Ltd was set up in 2001 by David Sherlock to provide the Thoroughbred Industry with first class Equine Logistics. They supply safe and reliable transport services for studs and race horse trainers, including Manor House Stables and Donald McCain Jnr. They offer a National and International service, with regular trips to Ireland and France and they attend all major sales.