Welcome to the latest Tall Chin Talks with racehorse trainer Jamie Snowden
It’s all about Winning
Two horses turn in the morning sunlight and soon you can hear the swish and the thud of the galloping hooves as they approach the first fence. They clear with ease but as they jump the second I hear a sharp crack of a horses shoe as it catches the jump. Jamie turns and smiles. “They have to make mistakes at home”.
I have been invited to watch the morning schooling at Jamie Snowden Racing. We stand in the September early morning sun. The Lambourn gallops in full splendour surrounded by rolling green hills and cut harvest. This is the Valley of the Racehorse and I am in awe.
The horse in question is a new addition to the yard and it is obvious that Jamie is excited about seeing him jump. “He should learn from that mistake, so next time we will go again and this time round he will be a bit more tentative because they’re being a bit unsure”. The two horses complete their run, the older more experienced rider guiding his new teammate. Jamie stops to talk to the jockeys “He was bold, a bit brave and a bit stupid and naïve but this time he'll be a bit clever”. He assures the jockey and watches them turn for a second run. “Watch him, he'll be wary because he doesn't want to fall. He should do if he's clever enough. If he's stupid, then he'll make the same mistake". The horses turn, they begin their approach, they clear the first, and then the second. Brilliant! You see? He learnt from the time before, this one is going to be our secret weapon!”
I am fascinated by the journeys people take in life and always interested as to how they get there. For Jamie at every given turn it is clear he was destined to be in the saddle. He started as an amateur jockey at school, spent a gap year in New Zealand working as an assistant trainer, rode and worked through Newcastle University before attending the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in 2001.
“There was a knock on the Guards Room door at Sandhurst, in March of 2002 and I was ushered up into the Commandant's office. I thought crikey I've done something pretty bad and put my heels together. He said ‘Snowdon! You can ride horses’ I said “yes”. He said you’re riding in the Grand Military Gold Cup at Sandown tomorrow. The Royal Irish regiment of which he was in had leased a horse to run in the Grand Military. Lucy Horner was in the Royal Irish regiment and was meant to be riding in it, but she was stuck in a motor attack in Northern Ireland and couldn't get out. So they needed a last minute sub to ride. Where as the rest of my platoon team were going into the gas chamber the following morning. They turned left and I turned around and got into the Commandants car got whisked off to Sandown, rode in the Grand Military, won it, ended up at Windsor Royal Lodge drinking champagne with the Queen Mother that night, and came back to Sandhurst. All the rest of my guys had been in the gas chamber having had a day from hell where I had this most surreal experience were I had ridden around Sandown, won and had drinks with the Queen and Queen Mother that night, it was just bizarre”
Bizarre it may have been but it was the start of his racing career. On joining the Kings Royal Hussars the Colonel of the Regiment issued him one objective ‘to win the Grand Military’,’ He did and went on to win both the Grand Military Gold Cup and the Royal Artillery Gold Cup four years in row. Apart from a brief tour in Northern Ireland, (where he still managed to find the time to race) he has lived the life of riley and as Jamie puts it with a big grin. "A pretty successful army career! Why would I want leave?”
He did, and if he hadn’t he would have probably continued his career as an army officer but he joined Nicky Henderson where he worked for 4 years as his assistant trainer and amateur jockey.
I ask him what he had learnt the most from his time with Nicky? He replies speaking softly, “Patience, patience I suppose. Young horses need time. They can't all hit the road running, you've got to give them a little bit of time and let them mature and come to themselves and let them tell you when to push on".
From my morning on the gallops and my time back at the yard, I can feel a great sense of comradeship amongst all who work for Jamie. “Everyone's teaching each other. And I think the thing about training, which I'm sure is the same about any business is you want to surround yourself by the best people. You’re learning off the best people when transferring on to younger people who are coming up through the ranks who will hopefully help you progress. You see someone like Page who started here aged 18. She's now mid 20s. She's now teaching some of the younger guys. So you're training young horses to become older horses. The older horses are teaching the younger riders, the younger riders then progress to then teach the younger horses. It's like a conveyor belt of knowledge transferring into young horses so that they can go and win".
I remember too well the excitement of watching my younger cousin racing as an amateur jockey and as I drive out of Folly House, where Jamie lives with his family and has been training since 2011, I get what it must feel like to be the owner of a race horse. Yes it is about winning, as Jamie reminds me, but it is also about the journey that a young horse takes, from those first early steps, to learning how to gallop to being under starters orders in your first race. This is truly one of life’s greatest sports and you know that to follow this path, as with any sportsman you have to have the most incredible determination and grit. They don’t want to be second or third they want to win. Whether that’s winning the US Open or winning the Grand Military 4 years in row.
