'We've got one of the best training establishments in the north'

Things are going very nicely at the Howe Hills Stables of Rebecca Menzies after a best ever jumps season in 2020-21 with 26 winners and her Flat tally of 15 just one shy of her biggest total of 16. This is on the back of a substantial investment in the Durham-based yard that has seen 35 new boxes built on the premises to house an ever-increasing number that make up this successful dual-purpose team.

“With the help of our landlord John Wade we’ve got one of the best training establishments in the north with over 300 acres of grass available,” says Menzies. “We use most of it for training, while Redcar beach is not far away and we often take the horses there to sweeten them up.

“We’ve been using the historic gallops of Denys Smith, and Newcastle is just half an hour up the road. We make use of the Tapeta surface there, so we have most angles covered.