Sean Woods swaps Hong Kong riches to 'come home' and train again in Newmarket

Sean Woods has gone full circle after being granted a licence to train in Newmarket nearly 20 years after first leaving headquarters to train in Hong Kong.

The 55-year-old trainer bought Shalfleet Stables on the town's Bury Road from retired trainer Jeremy Noseda just before the first Covid-19 lockdown hit in March and feels as if he has "come home".

Woods plans to start training on January 4, with around 30 horses at the yard which was originally on the market for £2.75 million and has the capacity for 93.

The trainer originally operated out of the town's La Grange Stables (now the home of Ed Dunlop) on the Fordham Road for more than a decade from where he trained over 250 winners, including Group 1 success with the grey Mistle Cat, before leaving for Hong Kong in 2002.

Woods, whose son Guy is pupil assistant to Simon and Ed Crisford, said: "I feel as if I've come home, to be honest. It was always the plan to return to training in Newmarket, but it was a case of getting the stars aligned.

"First, I wanted to take the time to find the right place, then put in place what I wanted to end my career with, as the next 20 years are important to me.

"If I can achieve what I achieved in the ten years in Newmarket before I went to Hong Kong I'll be over the moon."

The indoor ride at Shalfleet Stables

During his time in Hong Kong Woods was responsible for 279 winners with total prize-money earnings in excess of HK$450 million (approx £43m).

He said: "Being based on the Bury Road in Newmarket is a bit like being on Mayfair, I suppose, and I can't wait to get started again. I hope to have around 30 horses to start with, most of which are yearlings, which range in price from 3,000 to 300,000 guineas.

"It's a case of starting up and then building the team. That said, it will be a very slow year in 2021 as we look towards the future."

Woods, who had the now successful trainer Owen Burrows as his understudy before departing for the Far East, added: "We've mainly bought colts this year with the idea of hopefully finding a Group horse or maybe a stallion.

"We are working on a very big global scheme with Chinese and Hong Kong owners who are more into a business than racing, so hopefully that will carry through. You have to remember that British racing is the best in the world and people want a part of it."

The impressive tack room at Shalfleet Stables

On the regeneration of Shalfleet, he added: "We’ve built a new walkway out of the yard, which means we only have to go 20 yards and we are on the heath.

"Nick Patton and Colin Driver from Jockey Club Estates have been amazing with the indoor ride, as we felt like we had won the lottery when they found a whole brand new surface underneath the existing one, which saved us over £100,000.”

Woods, who last trained in Hong Kong in 2017, added "The whole refurbishment has been a lockdown success story as we did all of it without having a horse on the place, which was a big help.

"We've ten turn-out paddocks, two new walkers and grazing areas, and we've removed countless Leylandi trees that previously cut out most of the light in the place. Even if we are rubbish, now we can't say everything isn't in place.”

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