Meet the champion trainer who only took on jumpers to make ends meet - and now has a Cheltenham Festival favourite

What springs to mind when you think of Newmarket? For most, the town is best known as the headquarters of British Flat racing, indelibly associated with the countless Classic winners and major trainers who have called it home since time immemorial. Yet from his base on the Hamilton Road, up-and-coming trainer James Owen has charted a different course.

Training under rules in either sphere had never really been on the agenda for the 43-year-old, who had an established pre-training business, but in January he decided to take out his jumps licence to boost his numbers and he now campaigns a string of 20 horses. Among them is a potential diamond, Burdett Road, who became the new Triumph Hurdle favourite following his runaway success in the Grade 2 trial at Cheltenham this month – a victory that had not yet sunk in when we caught up over a cup of tea between lots at his Green Ridge Stables.

Racing fans may not be too familiar with Owen's work, but he is a man of many talents. After a successful and long career as an amateur jockey, he started his own business in the less dangerous world of pre-training and can count last year's Derby winner Desert Crown among his famous alumni.