Trainer Fees-Who's with the times

It is when you are picking up all the training fee's, Roddy! It's nearly the cost of a Latte down at Costa's!:)
 
The problem with gallop fees is that you really don't need those sorts of gallops all the time. You only need it to do fast work with flat horses and a bit with national hunt horses. For example, Colm just uses his three furlong gallop at home and brings them off twice before their first run of the season or once before their next run. So our "gallop" fees are about €80 per run or say €500 if you run six times. It's not a bad way of doing it.
 
It doesn't really work like that in places like Lambourn, Epsom and Newmarket, Cantoris. One or two yards in these areas have a canter or some form of gallops but the majority don't, therefore they do use the gallops on most days.

Of course the added advantages to this type of system are having the gallops maintained to a very high standard for you and enjoying a variety of different types of gallops of varying surfaces and distances. When looking for a yard it also means that you don't have to search for one in the area with enough land for a suitable gallops or for one with a utilisable gallop already installed.
 
Very few yards in Lambourn have their own private gallops - in fact I think it's only Uplands (Fred Winter's old place) in Upper Lambourn which does, of the 'village' yards, and a few in the valley towards Kingston Lisle - Nicky Henderson and Barry Hills; also Henry Candy up at Kingstone Warren atop the Downs and Clive Cox up at Sheepdrove, Marcus Tregoning at Kingwood I presume; but I think all the rest down in the village use the public gallops. Not sure about Willie Muir next door to the Hills yard.

Paul Cole down the other end of the valley has his own gallops which other trainers in Gt Shefford, East GArston and Eastbury may use for a fee; but he's recently put down woodchip on the Summerdown a/w gallop running along the top of the downs parallel to the valley, which some trainers don't like

I know Godolphin in Newmarket have their own gallops, I'm not sure who else has - if anyone!
 
I think there may be some unscrupolous trainers over the years who have used these gallop fees for a bit of illicit income. Thankfully with Peter on his private gallops we have nothing to fear from this ( he goes to chapel every Sunday you know( I don`t ) )
The gallops were relaid two years ago and a loop introduced last year.
 
With Lambourn gallops Roddy, the money is taken directly from your bank account by Jockey Club Estates (or whatever they call themsleves) and not charged by the trainer. I am not sure how trainers can influence this method as these charges are nothing to do with them.
 
Some trainers use the private gallops of other trainers - they bill the owner then pay the owner of the gallops.
 
Whatever,when the winners are coming,the gallop fees don`t seem to matter. It`s when your paying out every month it becomes a strain. You have to look at it long term,check your balance sheet,and if your still up thank God.
 
I think Martin Myers owns the Gallops up by Kingsdown as well.He did when Channon was there and Channon and Mann used to use them. I think Osborne has sole usage of them now.
 
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