TRAINER TALK: ALAN & JOE HILL
Having trained pointers since 2006 (after wife Lawney took out a professional licence) at his Woodway Farm base at Aston Rowant, between Oxford and High Wycombe, Alan Hill stands just one shy of a landmark 500th win between the flags and in Hunter Chases, putting him among the all-time elite of point-to-point trainers, alongside the likes of Dick Baimbridge, Richard Barber, and Joe Turner. With son Joe planning on taking over the rules horses from his mother in the new year, Jake Exelby (who co-owns two of their pointing string with Alan) went to see the pair before the start of the new season, to allow Alan to reflect on nearly half a century at the top of the sport – two Aintree and one Cheltenham Foxhunters number among his near 150 winners in the saddle – and for Joe to provide a viewpoint from a younger generation.
“Both our 300th and 400th winners came in our own red and yellow colours,” laughs Alan as he deflects the question of which horse he expects to bring up the 500, “But we won’t have a runner in those before Garthorpe (in December) so hopefully it will be sooner than that! Seriously,” he adds, “I’m told Joe Turner trained over 1,000 winners but I’ll be over the moon with 500, and it would be a great privilege. I remember my first winner – To The Top at Tweseldown – like it was yesterday, and every winner is appreciated and celebrated, but I’ve been lucky to have had many horses who’ve run up a sequence, the likes of Broken Eagle, Consigliere and Start Royal.”
As for his ambitions, Alan admits, “There’s pretty much nothing we haven’t done – I’ve trained two five-timers, had a double at Cheltenham, and won all types of race – bar winning a Foxhunters. I’ve had two seconds and a fourth, sampled it as a rider and would love to do so as a trainer. Other than that, just to keep training winners and having fun.”
And the secret of his success? “If you find a system that works, stick with it,” replies Alan. “Tinker with it, but don’t change it. The team’s important and we’ve used some great jockeys. James Tudor, and now Joe and Izzie, have all lived here at the farm, which is really helpful – feedback before a race is just as important as afterwards. We’ve had some top riders win on our horses – champions like Julian Pritchard, Richard Burton, Richard Woolacott, Gina and Jack Andrews, Will Biddick and now James King. And we love to give novice riders a chance – Joe, Izzie and Ben Sutton have all been national champions here.”
As well as the jockeys, a swathe of quality horses have passed through Woodway Farm in the past 20 years, so I put the father and son on the spot by asking them to name a favourite. Both dodge the issue by giving me two! “Firstly Ravethebrave, for sentimental reasons,” Joe tells me. “He gave me my first ride and my first win, both in points and Hunter Chases. We won nine races together, (wife) Izzie also had fun on him, and we named the top table at our wedding after him. He was a real friend, and sadly we lost him recently. And Hawkhurst – he was such a character, but I loved him. I won two on him, Izzie won six, and he had 17 wins for us altogether. I team chased him last week and he’s part of the family.”
Alan cites 2008 Cheltenham Foxhunters runner-up Bon Accord as, “The bravest. He never looked like he’d win easily but just put his head down and got on with it. That Cheltenham run was as brave as you’d ever see.” His second is close to my heart. “(19-time winner) Broken Eagle was the most exciting I’ve trained – and I’m not just saying that because his owners are here! He was so flamboyant that your heart was in your mouth when you watched him race.”
On the subject of horses, I ask Alan and Joe which horse in another yard they’d most like to train, and both opt for one of Chris Barber’s. “I like Carrillo a lot, he’s a nice horse,” Joe tells me, while Alan says, “This is cheeky, because he hasn’t pointed yet, but Crackling Fire. We wanted to buy him ourselves, and he could be an exciting horse.”
The Hill yard is a rare dual rules-pointing operation where the latter take preference numerically over the former, so I ask Joe if the balance is likely to change when he holds the licence. “We’re hoping to give it a fresh kick under rules and get more horses,” he admits, “But not at the expense of the pointers. We had a period (dating back to when I first had horses with the Hills) with more National Hunt horses than pointers but will see how we go. People like the Cranfields (who have three with Alan this season) and you love pointing, while owners like Andy Weller have had pointers, then moved under rules. After all, you buy the horses for the owners.”
“I’d love to build the professional yard up more, but pointing’s in our DNA,” continues Joe. “I remember (back in 2011) going to Kempton on the day they’d rearranged the King George VI Chase to watch A P McCoy win on Ski Sunday for Mum, while Dad was at (defunct Kent course) Detling where Dante’s Storm and Phil York won and Gina Andrews was just beaten on Balladeer.”
Up to now, responsibility for the Hill horses has actually been split three ways – Lawney has the rules runners, Alan the majority of the pointers, but Joe has been training several youngsters, achieving sales success last season with Sheriff Hutton winner Barito, who went to Lucinda Russell for £60,000. “We’ll continue to have some youngsters among the 25 or so we expect to run this season,” confirms Joe. “We’ve got a 4yo homebred for (former rider and trainer) Peter Mason and his wife Jennifer, then there’s a 3yo by Blue Bresil out of a Presenting mare, and we know the family well. He’s co-owned by myself, Dad and Nick Quesnel and he reminds me of Salt Of The Earth (who was sold by the Hills for £55,000 after winning his Maiden).”
One of the reasons for my visit was to watch my horses school – Harriet Beeby Wynn took the ex-Irish Fortunes Calling three times over the two birch fences, then did likewise on the lightly-raced Jongleur D’Ainay, accompanied by Amelia Sharp on stable stalwart I K Brunel. Alan advises that Beeby Wynn will be his novice rider this season – she hopes to have her first mount of the season on Senior Citizen at Garthorpe and is also looking forward to riding the ex-Dan Skelton Halondo. He also expects the bulk of the rides – subject to availability – going to James King, Huw Edwards, and Heidi Palin in Ladies Opens. As for Sharp, Alan explains, “Amelia’s only 15 but is hoping to race-ride this season. She comes to work in the yard at the weekend and during the holidays and does a lot of hunting.”
Notably absent from the jockeys named above is daughter-in-law Izzie, national female champion in 2023/2024. She tells me, “I’ve just had my fourth operation on the leg I broke late last year, so am back on crutches.” Unfortunately, racegoers cannot look forward to seeing her back in the saddle in the early part of the season.
As a PPA board member for about a decade, Alan is inevitably close to the issues facing the sport, on which he has firm opinions. He admits that pointing could do with more horses, with the number of individual runners having dropped by more than half in the past ten years. According to Alan, “There are several factors. Obviously, foot and mouth, equine flu, and Covid, but also summer racing. I read that at Worcester one day, 17 runners had pointed that season – and if a horse runs under rules over the summer, it’s less likely to come back pointing. We’ve been guilty of that too, to be fair.”
“It’s also hard to win a point-to-point,” continues Alan. “People say the sport’s gone, but it’s very competitive, and there are far fewer fixtures than there used to be. A 0-100 steeplechase under rules can be easier than a Conditions Race when you have the likes of Midnight River turning up in them! We had a horse called Bynack Mhor once – he couldn’t win outside Restricted grade but won a chase at Uttoxeter.” Alan represents the interests of the British Hound Sports Association on the board, so the thorny issue of hunting is obviously important to him. “The threat of losing trail hunting also has an effect,” he admits.
So, does Alan have any solutions to stem the decline in horse numbers? “I’ve been pushing for prize money to be lifted,” he tells me. “Entry fees jumped to £50 during Covid, but prize money hasn’t risen as much. We’re racing for £250, which is the same as five entries, and that’s not enough. Even in the 1950s, you were racing for £100. I think that every Open should have a first prize of £2,000, and £5,000 total prize money, as you have to dangle a carrot for owners - they have to travel further, and the cost of fuel has gone up significantly. I understand that not all meetings would be able to afford this, so we need more sponsorship.”
“Two years ago, the PPA board decided that the owner experience should be better,” continues Alan on this subject, “And I think it is, particularly in terms of hospitality.” “Look at Kimble on Easter Saturday,” Joe chips in. “Giving more car passes and racecards for owners has also improved,” says Alan, “Owners are our most important ingredient.”
As someone who has spent so long in the sport, I ask what Alan thinks of the changes to race framing in recent years. “I think Conditions Races have been a great help to the sport, and the changes they’ve made this season have closed the loophole where horses would stay at the same level for too long. I’ve always said that horses should move up in grade when their penalty exceeds 10lb, and now they have to, which is fair, as we need to help support the Opens. I’ve also pushed hard for changes to the 0-110 Rated Series, and what they’ve done this year is sensible.” Joe agrees with his father, with one caveat. “I think they’ll work, but changing things every year is difficult, because it takes time to get used to the conditions of each race.”
It is to Joe, as a member of the younger generation, that I turn when asking for views on the marketing activity, led by the ‘blue mic’ social media promotions. “I think they could put more effort into updating the website with live results as the day goes on,” he says. “We’re in a world now where that’s easy to do. It works well in Ireland – they often have videos of the racing up the same day – and I don’t agree that it would mean fewer people would go racing.”
Alan is long known for giving a milk bottle horse, one that he trains that he expects to win first time out (and they generally do). He pauses for a moment before giving me with a smile, “…Chris Barber’s Crackling Fire.”
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