Welcome to Morestead Stables and Chris Gordon Racing
Fun will always be a priority for anyone who has a horse with Chris and Jenny Gordon, but don’t assume that this makes the pair any less ambitious.
While only one name is allowed on the trainer’s licence, this is very much a partnership, and both are fiercely competitive, as they have been throughout long careers with horses.
While based in the Tunbridge Wells area Chris was Men’s Champion Point-to-Point rider for the South East no fewer than seven times and rode 150 winners in all, while Jenny was Ladies’ Champion rider in the same region five times, with 50 wins, and also South East Champion Trainer on four occasions. They are the only husband and wife to have ridden in the same race over the Grand National fences, or so they believe.
The chance to rent an established thoroughbred training base with the scope to initially allow also for training point-to-pointers came up in 2007 when Brendan Powell vacated Morestead Farm Stables, and the opportunity was grabbed with both hands. They now own the property.
The new operation hit the ground running when Quarrymount, the stable’s second runner, won a handicap hurdle at Fontwell. Not long afterwards King Edmund, who has done as much as any horse to put the pair on the map, gained the first of nine wins for the stable in a Ludlow bumper at 80-1.
Much of the Gordons’ success has come with inexpensive horses, and Chris puts that down to years of judging show hunters at big shows including Horse of the Year Show, Royal International and Royal Windsor.
Paul Nicholls has also proved a great source. Remiluc, who won a competitive handicap hurdle at Cheltenham and finished second in the County Hurdle, was bought privately from Nicholls, as were Lightentertainment, who won five of his first ten races for the stable, and Sea Wall, who has more than paid his way.
Remiluc’s 2018 Festival second was an obvious highlight, and the stable’s five winners from five runners 12 months earlier, three of them at Plumpton and two at Stratford, was another.
Having shown time and again what they can do with bread and butter handicappers, the Gordons are on the lookout for a class act to take them to the next level. Highway One O One looks a likely candidate, and others are making their way through the ranks.
