Under the spotlight today is up & coming P2P trainer Max Comley! Max is 23 & grew up in Cheltenham. Training pointers from his base in Naunton, he has 20 stables with a mixture of nice young horses to older form horses & is definitely one to watch for the future! Focused on continuing to build a brighter future for pointing, Max is certainly a breath of fresh air for our sport!
🏇Favourite aspect of pointing?
The accessibility. Everyone can get involved in the sport & it’s also a great learning platform for young horses, jockeys and trainers.
🏇 How would you describe pointing to someone that’s never been before?
A great day out in the countryside with competitive racing & plenty to do. Just remember to dress for the British weather!
🏇 What’s your pointing career highlight?
My first winner as a trainer definitely! Twentyone Blackjack at Horseheath in 2019. I fancied his chances & everyone thought I had gone crazy!
🏇 What’s one thing you’d change about pointing?
I would change the cost. It’s very expensive & difficult to encourage people to get involved instead of going down the national hunt route. If you’d of asked me 12 months ago, I would of said to get live streaming in place, but they’ve done a fantastic job & adapted the sport.
🏇What’s your favourite point-to-point?
I love Larkhill. It’s a very fair track & good racing.
🏇How did you get into pointing?
My family aren’t at all in racing, but I grew up next door to Cheltenham racecourse & was racing obsessed as a child. I always wanted to be a jockey but was always too tall to be a professional so I went down the point-to-point route. Once I stopped riding, I started up training a couple & it’s snowballed from there!
🏇 Whats your pointing career aim?
To keep doing well with the young horses & to get more people involved in the sport in different ways.
🏇Whats your earliest pointing memory?
Riding in a P2P pony race at Upton when I was about 12. I was about 3ft taller than everyone else & on a very slow pony, but still had a great time!
Thanks Max for going under the spotlight! Have a great summer & best of luck for the season ahead!
