An Interview with Stuart Edmunds

Stuart’s success is built on his 40 plus years of experience in the equestrian industry. He has trained the winner of 13 ‘Big Races’ and a remarkable 55% of all his runners have been in the Winner's Enclosure, which is an amazing record given the size of the yard.

Stuart Edmunds has recently moved into his purpose built yard, The Croft Farm, where he has just over 40 horses in his care.

After learning to ride from a young age in Northampton, one of Stuart's first jobs was working for Olympic showjumper Peter Robeson. He even competed in showjumping himself but eventually swapped coloured poles for rustic fences.

Stuart and Peter’s wife, Renee, worked as a team out of the Robesons’ Fences Farm in the village of Tyringham. They enjoyed a lot of success together, including a Grade 1 Sefton Novices’ Hurdle with Ogee in 2009. This training partnership continued for over thirty years until Stuart took over the training in 2015, following Renee's death.

Under his own name, Stuart has trained a Cheltenham Festival winner with Domesday Book, who won the Kim Muir Challenge Cup under Gina Andrews in 2017 and a double at the 2021 Aintree Festival with Rowland Way and Hometown Boy.

In August of 2023, he moved his operation to the purpose-built Croft Farm in Stewkley, Buckinghamshire, from where he has already added to his total of more than 750 winners.

Stuart is supported by his daughter and Assistant Trainer, Harriet and his wife, Trish, who works tirelessly behind the scenes. The other two family members are their two border terriers, Millie and Mabel.

Did you have a horsey childhood? Not really, no. Off my own back, I decided I’d like to ride ponies so I went to ride for a farrier when I was around 9-10 years old.

How did you get into racing? I rode for a very famous show jumper called Peter Robeson. During that time, his wife Renee Robeson started training a lot of racehorses, so I got into racing through her.

Were you a jockey? I did have a few rides but I was very bad. I had one winner in a three horse members’ race round Newton Blossomville, the Oakley Point-to-Point. But I was dreadful. I rode in a few Hunter Chases and finished second but I waved at the crowd a lot!

Which trainers have you worked for? I was Assistant Trainer to Renee Robeson for many years until she died and I then took over from her.

Did you always want to train racehorses? The main reason to start training because you couldn’t earn a living out of showjumping. With racing, you could just about earn a living out of it.

Best days in racing so far: We’ve had a Cheltenham Festival winner and two Aintree Festival winners. Also, when I was employed by Mrs Robeson, we had a winner at Punchestown, Olney Lad, which was great.

Favourite racehorses so far: Hometown Boy – he was one of our Aintree Festival winners and I ride him out at home. He’s lovely and has to put up with me most days.

Which race would you most like to win? The Cheltenham Gold Cup – it’s the pinnacle of racing.

Which racehorse would you most like to have trained? Kauto Star – he’s a legend.

Favourite racecourse: I always say my favourite racecourse is wherever I had my last winner. I do have a bit of a soft spot for Fakenham though.

Favourite meeting: The Cheltenham Festival – it’s the pinnacle of everything.

In view of the recent actions of certain animal right movements, how safe is the future of racing? I just think as long as racing moves, within reason, with the times, we should be ok. I don’t think we’ll ever appease those staunch antis who are against racing – they want all animals, even dogs, cats and horses, to be re-wilded; they’re just bonkers and have no concept of reality.

Generally, what are the positive points about racing as a sport? Having done a lot of showjumping - and I still know a lot of people who own show jumpers - I do think racing looks after the owners well at the racecourse. With showjumping, sometimes owners will have to pay to get into a county show to watch their own horse jump.

Where could improvements be made? I’m going to say what everyone else will say: prize money. No body is asking prize money to be upped so high that it bankrupts the business, but other countries, like France and Ireland, have a lot stronger prize money. Hence, why owners are disappearing over there. How can they have better prize money than we do?

Who is your racing hero? John Gosden is a genius – I could listen to him all day long, he makes a lot of sense. And, obviously, AP McCoy - his dedication to racing was just amazing.

Favourite meal: Chinese food.

Favourite drink: Guinness.

Favourite holiday destination: Caribbean.

Favourite film: The Great Escape.

Favourite music: Anything by Adele.

Other hobbies/interests: I don’t really have time for anything else!

Get involved with Stuart and Chaos Control HERE