Trainer Talk: Neil Gittins
- pporacommittee
- 7 days ago
- 8 min read
Neil Gittins – known to all as ‘Gitto’ – got off the mark for the season in style at Bangor-on-Dee on Sunday. He ran his entire string of four in three races on the card, and came home with three winners, going one better than last season, when he had a double at the North Wales venue. Two of his horses – the progressive and impressive six-year-old Great Valley and Blagthebookies – repeated their 2025 double for husband-and-wife riders Guy and Iola Sankey. Neil, still buzzing after his weekend exploits, gave Jake Exelby the lowdown on his horsey and sporting background, as well as his cinematic and Olympic ambitions!
Where do you train?
My yard is on the Shropshire / mid-Wales border. I’ve got six boxes, but just four horses, and Angie Sykes – the former wife of Dubai Millennium’s trainer David Loder – who herself bought Derby winner Sir Percy, acts as my adviser and helps with buying the horses.
Talk me through your career in racing so far and how you got into point-to-pointing in the first place?
I’m from a hunting family – my Dad used to take me and my two sisters out. I have a showjumping background – I rode to a decent level until I was 17, had a 13.2hh pony who won bucketloads of prizes, and thought I’d be the next John Whitaker! But then my athletics career took over. I was a decent long-distance and cross-country runner, and ran for Great Britain at age group level, until a virus knackered my racing career. My engine basically blew up.
So, after that, I went back to riding horses. I think my athletic background has been a monster help in knowing how to get horses fit and healthy and in training them.
Your race-riding career was brief. Tell me about it.
I bought a cheap thoroughbred called Tydelmore and rode him in a few point-to-points in the mid 1990s. I remember coming third at Upper Sapey on my first ride. I got pissed and my whole family had left the course. Luckily, I managed to get a lift home with Angie.
How did you get into training pointers and how did you find owners when you were getting started?
After that, I went back to hunting, mostly with the Wynnstay. I got to know Peter Greenall and got a horse, Arctic Challenge, with him that his son Oliver rode in the 2005 Aintree Foxhunters – it was his first ride in the race. I then bred a horse – Seeds Lane – myself, who finished second and third in points before sadly dying of grass sickness.
I was just dipping my toe in really – I couldn’t go back into riding as I was too busy milking cows to have the time to do any courses, and had a young family so wasn’t going racing as much as I used to.
I then met Guy Sankey, also through hunting – he’s the keenest lunatic ever to put on a pair of britches and flies past me over hedges as if his life depends on it. I used to tell him to stop pointing and stick to hunting because he couldn’t race-ride for sh*t but was great fun in the pub!
Guy and I became close friends, and he started getting nicer horses, which he had in training with Heidi Brookshaw and Caroline Robinson, so I thought I’d get a horse and train it myself.
Another friend I met hunting was Ben Atkins. Ben’s the second most famous ginger podcaster in the country after Paul Scholes – I hear he dyes his beard. He’s got hair like Jedward – he must be their third member. So, we bought Chief Hopper and went halves on him. He won f*ck all and was completely gutless, and we didn’t have a clue what we were doing! For God’s sake, we ran him in an Open at Eyton-on-Severn as a four-year-old! He led to four out before weakening, but coming back afterwards, it was like we’d won the race.
Great Valley was your first winner in 2024, after which your career really started to take off. Tell me about him.
I bumped into Dave Futter (who owns Yorton Stud), and he told me about Great Valley, who had hurdles form under rules for Dan Skelton and a mark of 91. He needed a proper holiday and Mark Windsor – who’s a bit of a genius – sorted his back out, but he’s so talented that I was convinced he’d win first time out at Eyton-on-Severn.
He has a decent dam-side pedigree and is by Masterstroke. While the sire has the top-rated four and five-year-olds last season (Great Valley being the latter), I’m convinced his horses improve with time. Great Valley has put on 30kg this year and I think he’s improved another two stone. The ground didn’t suit on Sunday and he was tired afterwards, blowing for a long time – he’s incredibly clean-winded, so doesn’t do much hard galloping.
He’d have run at Stratford this week if we’d had better ground and he’s got such a high cruising speed that I wouldn’t fear any horse. He’ll probably have one more run in a point then go for a Novice Hunter Chase over 2m4f, potentially at Cartmel. I don’t want to over-race him.
It’s frustrating that horses on the downgrade can come third in a moderate Hunter Chase and qualify for Aintree, while Great Valley isn’t qualified despite two Open wins. This year could have been his year, but he’s missed his chance. He’s the best jumper I’ve ever sat on – he jumps like (top French chaser) Il Est Francais.
Why has it taken so long for Great Valley to make his seasonal reappearance?
The others weren’t running well and needed a rest, so we stopped for over a month and tested their blood weekly. They just did gentle exercise in that time – no hard work – and showed no sign of illness, but their blood was wrong.
So, I went to Bangor-on-Dee with fingers crossed. I was convinced Great Valley would win, but cautious about the others.
You have four horses this season. Tell me about the others.
I bought Mayor Kingston from Sam England – I loved him as soon as I sat on him. I was very excited about his debut at Lower Machen – I had him ‘bob on’ – but he smashed his way round. I thought we were nailed on next time, but it didn’t go to plan. He needs soft ground and a staying track, and I think he’s progressive. He could be Conditions Race standard. My friend Charles Barlow, father of jockey Felix, is involved in the syndicate who own him.
Push To Pass (who finished fourth in Mayor Kingston’s Maiden) is a gorgeous little horse who ran well on Sunday.
Blagthebookies had won a point for Chris Barber and Will Biddick, then went to Harry Derham’s, where he was punted on his only run. The ginger king Ben Atkins found him for me, along with Mayor Kingston. I told Iola Sankey she should buy him. I didn’t think he’d win on Sunday as he was short of work and had suffered the worst from the issues we’d had. But when you’re on a roll… you’re on a roll, and Iola gave him a monster ride. He’s a lazy monkey, but ace when he’s on form.
Which horse (not one of your own) would you most like to train?
That’s a very difficult question, but I suppose Grace A Vous Enki. All I’d have to do is stick him in a lorry, drive to Larkhill and guarantee four wins a season!
Which other trainers do you admire?
Alan Hill. His success is no accident. What Gina Andrews is doing is sensational, and for Will Biddick to retire as a jockey, then have a five-timer as a trainer soon after is unbelievable.
What's your favourite course?
Bangor-on-Dee for selfish reasons. I’ve run horses in five races, and won all five, plus a pony race.
But Eyton-on-Severn is my home track, and I love training winners there in front of thousands of people. It can get pretty spicy down the far side before you turn for home and the atmosphere is as near as you get to Cheltenham at a point-to-point.
What do you enjoy most about pointing?
What else can you do in life that compares to the feeling of winning? I’m still talking about nothing but Sunday three days later but – if you do million-pound deals in the city, I bet you stop thinking about it as soon as the ink dries.
If you love horses, you can’t beat that feeling. To have three winners at Bangor-on-Dee was very special.
What are your ambitions in pointing and racing?
I’d like to have a few younger store horses to break-in. From a business point of view, there’s always more to aim for. All my horses do a lot of flat work, like flying changes, and work on their balance.
I’ve won the Silver Fox at Eyton-on-Severn, so the Lady Dudley Cup at Chaddesley Corbett and the Lord Daresbury (Peter Greenall) Race at Tabley would be lovely boxes to tick.
I’m not so bothered about Cheltenham – Aintree appeals more, particularly with my connection with the Greenalls. I’ve had some exciting days racing there and taking one with a live chance, and seeing it cross the Melling Road, would be magnificent. I did a project at primary school on Red Rum, and I’ve met and patted him.
What would you do if you were in charge of the sport?
I’d like there to be six Hunter Chases before Christmas, three each in November and December.
Opens should be Opens at level weights – no penalties and no allowances for mares or novice jockeys. Conditions Races are for penalties and allowances.
And if a point-to-point has a sponsor who wants to offer £1,000 per race prize money, why not?
I know you’re a keen hunter. What’s the importance of hunting to being a jockey?
For me, kids who go hunting – like Will Biddick and the Greenall brothers – are better jockeys. Look at the Irish lads – they spend their life jumping hedges – and Iola Sankey must be one of the bravest female riders in the country.
I remember Alan Hill riding in the Aintree Foxhunters. He was about seven feet tall (!) and not designed to ride thoroughbreds. He rode like John Wayne but could boot winners round Aintree because he hunted. Rupert Nuttall was the same when he won the Whitbread Gold Cup.
The best pilots have hours of flying and, to become a good rider, you need hours on a horse. You learn how to balance and, if you fall off, you don’t make the same mistake again.
What do you think will happen to pointing after a hunting ban?
It’s utterly terrifying. The only reason point-to-points exist is because people give their time for sweet FA. You can put a hunt ball on and make £20,000, but some point-to-points lose money.
I fear that the sport might die and we’ll lose tracks like Eyton-on-Severn and just have ‘posh’ courses like Bangor-on-Dee. If you can’t enjoy having a drink at the back of the car, pointing’s f*cked!
What would you be doing if you weren’t involved with horses?
My dream job would be working in the film industry teaching actors and actresses to kiss!
What are your non-horsey hobbies?
I’m a bugger for buying knick-knacks, little pieces of china, at antique and bric-a-brac shops. I love finding gems – I got a Dupont lighter for £15 that was probably worth about £800.
And I’m very good at drinking gin and tonic. If it became an Olympic sport, I’d be chef d’equipe!
Tell me something I wouldn’t know from asking these questions.
My operation is known as Gitto Racing. I wanted to call it “G-Spot Racing: for those who like to come first”, but Ben Atkins advised me not to!
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