POINTING PEOPLE: WILL GASKINS
Owner Will Gaskins has been involved with horses, hunting and point-to-pointing since he was a child. His familiar light and royal blue colours have been carried – mostly on the West Mercian circuit – by horses including Presenting William, the intriguingly named TB Broke Her, and last season’s Woodford winner Citizen Jane. In addition to fulfilling the usual pointing roles of owner, trainer and rider, Gaskins has had a diverse career, his paid jobs including horse breaker, gravedigger and high-ranking police officer! At the start of what will be his 59th season in the sport, he tells Jake Exelby his life story, including his successes (and failures!) between the flags, and his hopes for the forthcoming campaign.
I was born in August 1950 in a small village – Tirley, north of Gloucester – in Gloucestershire, where my father was a cowman, then moved to Haw Bridge on the banks of River Severn, where he started farming in a small way.
I started riding aged four on an old donkey that used to take us to school in a cart. I upgraded to a pony when I was six and started cubbing with the Ledbury. My father and grandfather were both accomplished horse breakers and soon learnt how to do it myself. I loved riding, and pony club and hunting taught me skills. My Dad started buying unbroken horses from Ireland - it was my job to break them in and turn them into hunters to sell on, and I also started breaking and schooling horses for local farmers and members of the hunts. I hated school, took every opportunity to sneak off on hunting days, and left aged 15, when I supplemented my income from breaking with shearing (up to 5,000 sheep a year!), milking, hedge laying, farm labouring and gravedigging. The latter was hard work, but in good conditions I could dig a double grave over six feet deep in a couple of hours. I also learnt how to make coffins and lay out dead bodies. Horse riding remained a key part of my life, and it was always my ambition to become a professional jockey, but my father had different ideas.
My first ride point-to-pointing was at Whitwick Manor in 1969 on a horse called Time – I’m not sure where we finished. I remember riding him again that season, once completing without stirrups after a leather broke, but don’t know if I made it into the minor placings. (The Annual for that year says the pair were last three times, including two fourths!) Many horses I rode were runaways or risky jumpers. I recall riding a horse called Roxborough Louis at Belmont where we started in two lines and were given the choice of being in front or behind. I chose the latter but by the first fence he had forced his way to the front and jumped at high speed until a spectacular fall at the open ditch, where I was well and truly trampled on!
My first ride in Hunter Chases was on a horse called Crown Scarlet at Newbury. We pulled up, then took a crashing fall next time. I fractured three vertebrae, and broke ribs and my collarbone and unconscious – it was touch and go whether I could walk again, but I managed to after six weeks. I eventually started riding again, but my creaking back still reminds me of that day!
After that, I moved to Apperley Court Stables on the other side of the Severn from Tirley, I trained point-to-pointers and did livery and breakers including some 2yo flat horses. I had a wonderful time hunting with the Ledbury and qualifying the pointers. They were glorious days out with endless jumping across open country, and I feel privileged to have lived through those years. In 1974 I married Diana, one of whose uncles was the late, great Dick Baimbridge. Former rider and trainer Julie Mansell (nee Houldey), who’s married to (former leading rider and current West Mercian Area Chair)Dave, is Diana’s niece and our great nieces Molly and Lilly are riding competitively – including in pony races – with plenty of success.
Training and breaking horses was physically and financially precarious, and it was time to get a proper job, so I applied to join Gloucestershire Constabulary the same year I married. I was accepted and we moved to Charlton Kings, Cheltenham. I served for 30 years, including in the CID and Drug Squad, reaching the rank of Chief Inspector, and I was operational for my whole career, rather than desk based. Policing wasn’t without its funny side, and one incident springs to mind when a billy goat was running loose on a busy dual carriageway causing major. I chased it and wrestled it to the ground to a loud cheer from drivers stuck in the traffic jam. We bundled it into the back of the police car, drove it to the station and locked it in the kennels. The car stunk of billy goat for weeks!
After I retired from the police, I went to work for United Kingdom National Security Vetting, interviewing subjects and reporting on their suitability for access to classified and top-secret information. While I retired in 2020, I remain bound by the Official Secrets Act. Luckily, a combination of 45 years working for the Police and Government has enabled me to finance my dream of owning and training and point-to-pointers.
In 1990 I bought Dewspry Boy out of Dick Baimbridge’s yard. The legendary Julian Pritchard was his regular jockey and, while he never won, he was placed both pointing and Hunter Chasing. In 1991, I rode him at Cheltenham in a Charity Flat Race for Red Nose Day, alongside riders like Clare Balding and Charlie Brooks. Riding at Cheltenham was an amazing experience, as was receiving a trophy from Willie Carson.
In 2006 I bought Top Dawn, who’d run without success under rules, at Doncaster Sales. I always wanted to have a horse in training my wife’s uncle, Dick Baimbridge, so Top Dawn joined him on the condition that his owner could ride out! Riding out at Dick’s was an incredible experience – once a week, we’d have “starting practice”, where we’d line up and if you didn’t get off the mark at high speed you were in serious. Gaining an insight into how the maestro trained was a privilege and an education, and what I learnt helped enormously when I trained my own pointers. On 17th February 2007, Top Dawn was winner number four for Dick at Whitwick Manor and was front page in the Horse and Hound with jockey Clare Allen – the headline was ‘Dawn Raider’! After that, Matt Sheppard trained him to win two and be placed several times under rules.
I never managed to ride a winner, so my ambition was to train my own horse to win a point-to-point. That opportunity came when I bought Presenting William from David Dennis. David had warned me he could spin, and the first time I rode him he fired me into the ground like a rocket, so a change of tactics was required if I was going stay on long enough to move him in any direction! My niece Julie trained him in points in 2015, when he was second twice, then I thought running him under rules could be an option, and Matt agreed to train him, but soon after he went there, I received a frantic call from his wife Nickie saying, “You need to come and get your horse before it kills someone!”
The future was looking grim for the horse we nicknamed Bucker (sometimes changing the first letter!) as Diana wanted to ban me from riding him again, but I knew he had potential and was determined to train him to win a race. Perseverance paid off, as in 2016 and 2017, I trained him to win two point-to-points, along with four placings and three best turned-out awards. The first was with Charlie Dando at Woodford on 30th April 2016, then a year later, Ed Bailey gave him a fantastic ride to win at Cothelstone. It was a memorable day, probably the furthest I’d travelled, and winning a PPROA race is brilliant because you get some nice prizes. (Thanks for the plug, Will!)
I’d achieved my ambition of training a winner and nearly repeated the feat a few years later with TB Broke Her, who I bought unseen from Ireland on Matt’s recommendation – she was only 15.3 hands. She was badly behaved, but well-known horseman Tommy Brennan managed to break her in, which is why she was given her name! Matt trained her to win two under rules in December 2017 and January 2018, then after that season we pointed her. Sam Jukes and Lucy Smith (nee Biddlecombe) trained her, and Hannah Lewis rode her to win two and be placed nine times. She was twice second to Southfield Theatre and fourth at the Cheltenham Hunter Chase Meeting even though she could only just see over the fences!
After Covid and a year off, I trained TB Broke Her myself. While she didn’t win, she had 12 races, was placed in eight of them, was again second to Southfield Theatre and fourth at Cheltenham and helped Katie Sinclair win the West Mercian Novice Riders Award. In total, she ran 72 times over fences under rules and point to pointing, never fell or went lame, and won six races and was place 35 times – a truly remarkable mare. We have a three-year-old out of her by Walzertakt called TB Star, who was broken in by Martin Jones (So why isn’t she named MJ Broke Her?) and is now with Chris Barber – it would be a dream if she is as good as her mother.
In 2023 I bought Citizen Jane from Tom Symonds. She’s won for me at Chaddesley Corbett in 2023 under Murray Dodd, at Tabley in 2025 when the late Sam Lee gave her a memorable ride, and at Woodford last season – in the fastest time of the day – for Ed Doggrell. She’s been summer jumping, and was placed three times, but will probably go pointing again this season.
Last season, I also bought the 4yo filly Taktics – another by Walzertakt, and another from Tom Symonds – with the plan to get a win and sell her. Chris Barber did a fantastic job with a win and three placings from four starts and, if I can persuade Diana, I would now like to keep her to run under rules. Even at 76, I’m hoping to ride her out soon.
I've tended to focus on mares in recent seasons because they offer better value for money. Lighter-framed ones seem to stay sound and have fewer wind problems, and the mares we’ve had have been big-hearted, consistent and good jumpers. They can be temperamental but, once you’ve gained their trust, they will reward you… And, because we have them at home, it would be manic if we had a gender mix!
I love point-to-pointing and have been involved in one way or another for most of my life. We have been very lucky over the years to have had some successful horses who’ve given us lots of fun, which wouldn’t have been possible without the dedication and skill of our trainers – others to mention include the late John Taylor, James Ridley and Jo Priest.
Buying a bargain basement horse and seeing it win a race is like the Gold Cup for us. We are in the twilight of our lives now but we won’t give up looking in the basement!
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