Mark and Sara have a highly talented and dedicated support team, who work tirelessly to ensure that the horses are in optimum condition both mentally and physically. The horse’s wellbeing remains a top priority and each team member’s skills and expertise helps to ensure the continued success of Mark Bradstock Racing.
From the stable lads, to the jockeys, and those working behind the scenes, discover all about the people who help to make the entire Bradstock operation run as smoothly and efficiently as possible.
Alfie rode ponies competitively from a young age and despite early ambitions to become a jockey, he is currently working towards becoming a top international show jumper, while still continuing to help teach the horses at the yard to jump and win top class races.
Alfie rides out every morning before heading off to work for show jumpers Graham and Tina Fletcher. He does most of the formative work in teaching horses to balance themselves and develop their jumping ability, which has made a significant impact on the horses success on the racecourse.
In 2012 Alfie became the first individual to represent Team GB in both eventing and show jumping in one season. He has also won European Gold medals at both Pony and Junior level, on horses and ponies that others found too tricky to ride, and has represented Great Britain in successful Young Riders Nations Cup teams at Deauville in both 2014 and 2015. He was also runner-up in the Young Riders National Championship at the Horse of the Year Show at Olympia and has proven himself to be an extremely talented and capable rider.
Mark and Sara’s daughter Lily has ridden for as long as she can remember, and is an integral member of the team.
Lily has a particular affinity with horses in need of a confidence boost and her help in the saddle both on the gallops and in the school has proven invaluable. She schools the horses on a regular basis using her show jumping expertise to great effect. She tailors each schooling session to meet the horse’s level of training and adjusts jumping and flatwork exercises to help develop and refine the horse’s technique. She displays a real empathy that even the most nervous horse can relate to. This combined with her meticulous efficiency helps create a calm environment in which horses are able to focus all their energies on the job in hand. We can always rest assure that horses are safe under her charge.
Lily is now working full time in the yard and her unbelievable work ethic has allowed her to produce event horses while continuing to work tirelessly with the racehorses to make sure that every horse in the yard is cared for with love and the attention to detail that prioritises the happiness and comfort of all of our horses at all times. This follows the ethos of the yard in which she has been brought up in and ensures that all the horses in our care fulfil their potential as athletes. She has ridden over thirty point-to-point winners as well as winners under rules at Cheltenham and Musselburgh, alongside producing the highly talented but very tricky mare Tout Chocolat to be one of the best nine year old eventers in the country, finishing 5th on her first outing at 4*long in Ireland.
Nico has formed a great partnership with the Bradstocks and in 2015 he rode Coneygree to victory in the Cheltenham Gold Cup against what were spectacular odds. Coneygree had not run at all in the 2013/14 season due to injury but he had come back to the 2014/15 season and was unbeaten with the season culminating in the Gold Cup win. That day he claimed two other accolades – as the first novice steeplechaser to win the race since 1974 and the first British bred winner for 2 decades.
Having always wanted to be a jump jockey, and following a brief stint at Newcastle University, where he gave up his degree to pursue his true passion, Nico has been under the wings of racehorse trainer Nicky Henderson. Nevertheless Nicky kindly allows him to ride and school the Bradstocks’ horses whenever he is needed.
Nico first came to the Bradstocks’ notice when they asked him to ride Carruthers as they wanted to take seven pounds off his back. After discovering that Nico had a strong background in racing coupled with high levels of general horsemanship, they felt he was extremely well suited to the way they like to do things.
In the 2014/15 National Hunt season Nico won 20% of all the races he entered, which is a credit to his commitment and talent as a jockey. He always ensures that he sends email updates to those involved in the syndicate, because as anyone will tell you, working with the Bradstocks is a family effort, and for Nico, it’s important that everyone feels involved.
Nico is now a well known, top level jockey especially famous for his riding of great horses and incredible coolness under pressure. Although he is now often too busy to ride all of our horses, he still comes in to school the horses with Lily and is ably backed up by top young jockeys Jack Tudor and Ben Jones. Nico will always be a friend to all in the yard and is always on the end of the phone for advice.
Sam is the main accounts, payroll and racing secretary and general organiser of everyone. Her ever-cheerful manner is popular with owners and she is a highly valued member of the team.
Lexie joined us in 2022 straight from school having spent a lifetime with horses. Sara rode winners for her great grandfather, the legendary hunting and point to pointing farmer Geoff New, who was proud to announce that he had jumped his last hedge out hunting aged 94!!! Lexie quickly learnt the ropes of riding and looking after racehorses and is now a highly valued part of our small team. She shares the team’s great love for the horses, is responsible well beyond her young years and rides with skill and patience.
Lady ‘Chicky’ Oaksey married Sara’s late father Lord Oaksey in 1988 and has since played an instrumental role in the Injured Jockeys Fund (IJF), a charity offering financial assistance to jockeys who have suffered career-threatening injuries. Founded by Lord Oaksey in 1964, the fund has provided care, compassion and financial support to over 1,000 injured jockeys.
Alongside her work with the IJF, Chicky has risen to the task of raising the Carruthers family brilliantly. She echoes the ethos of the Bradstock yard with an incredible attention to detail, and has become renowned for her meticulous execution of all aspects of horse management, and the feeding and nurturing of these wonderful athletes during their formative years in the paddocks at Oaksey is second to none.
Duncan is the accountant for Bradstock Racing and after joining the partnership which took ownership of the great and late Plaid Maid, he has become the account manager of one of the most successful syndicates ever formed. He is always on hand to offer advice to anyone interested in setting up new syndicates and has a special interest in making sure all owners can reclaim their VAT under the Racehorse Owners Scheme.
Jenny Hall is one of the most respected veterinarians in the country having been in charge of the BHA veterinary team and many British Olympic equestrian teams alongside almost every leading equestrian veterinary role in the country. Jenny is a regular visitor to the yard ably assisted by other members of the Lambourn Equine Vets and our veterinary approach is to act quickly and proactively in maintaining healthy horses capable of maximum performance on the racetrack.
Phillipa James and Jonathan Roulston work closely with all of the horses on the yard to make sure that their musculoskeletal system is kept free of pain and niggles with regular massage and ultrasound, while Leigh miller regularly checks them all from a chiropractic point of view. All three of them were regular visitors in Coneygree’s box during 2013 as his ridiculously long legs, which he uses to such good effect on the race track, are fragile and accident prone. The Bradstocks believe that good physios are essential to any competitive environment and all of the horses are monitored throughout their careers.
Farrier Paul Logue needed to be at the top of his game to keep Carruthers’ flat feet well-maintained as they can be very sensitive on the roads, and this is something he has achieved with commendable expertise. Paul is now semi-retired but is always on hand for advice and his role has been admirably filled by Sean Stewart who has already demonstrated great skill in helping us keep the massive Mr Vango comfortable in his feet and so in top condition.
Gordy the gallop man aka Gordon Hayes is one in a million. To have fit and sound horses you need gallops in perfect condition and Gordy is tireless in his efforts to keep one step ahead of the weather. The horses do a lot of work on grass as Mark and Sara believe the horses should get the chance to acclimatise their action and limbs to the surface that they are going to race on, so it is absolutely vital that there is someone in charge they can trust. Gordy can also mend anything and his help has a significant influence on the smooth running of the yard.