Meet the 6ft 6in jockey-turned-trainer who started from scratch and has 'a lot of big plans'

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It is our job at the Racing Post and the Front Runner to be across everything happening in our sport. That can be tricky with 14,000 racehorses in training, hundreds of yards spread all across Britain and Ireland and multiple race meetings taking place 363 days a year, but we do our best.

Nevertheless some things slip through the net and I'll be honest and say I was not overly familiar with trainer Max Comley, who has two runners at Warwick and Taunton on Thursday (more on them later).

So I gave him a call to find out what I'm missing, and found an engaging, ambitious young trainer with his head firmly screwed on, trying to make an impact having started from very little.

“I don't come from a racing family but I did grow up in Cheltenham near the racecourse and caught the bug early," said Comley, who for much of the 2020s was a successful point-to-point trainer before taking out his licence one year ago. "My parents just have office jobs so this is all self-funded and I started from scratch basically."

Initially based on a small farm in Redcombe, and then in Naunton just down the road from the Twiston-Davies stable, Comley has recently expanded again to a new yard in Sutton Veny, Wiltshire, which has 85 boxes with a current habitant number of 30-35.

"We’ve got a lot of big plans and it’s a really organically growing business," Comley proudly stated. "We’ve slowly grown and were able to move to a bigger yard with better gallops, putting us in a position where we can hopefully keep growing for a number of years.

Max Comley: 'We’ve slowly grown and were able to move to a bigger yard with better gallops'

"A big thing for me is making sure owning racehorses can be affordable, it doesn’t have to be for the rich and wealthy. We try to bring people together and have winners at all levels. We dream of having those better horses and winning big races but these things take time. However, we’ve got some great people along on the ride for us and are getting some momentum behind us. The plan is to become a big-scale operation."

Aged 27, Comley is one of the youngest operators around, but training was not always the plan. Like any kid with a passion for racing, he wanted to be a jockey – but that is not quite so simple when you stand at 6ft 6in tall.

“I was always tall and when I used to tell people I wanted to be a jockey they would laugh at me and tell me to stick at something more realistic," he said. "But I stuck at it, with lots of wasting, exercise, dieting and all the not-so glamorous stuff and rode in point-to-points for four years in the end. I had a few winners and had some fun doing it, but being so tall it became unsustainable at a certain point. 

“Every year it would get harder – starting to go for two runs a day rather than one, hot baths five nights a week rather than four. I maybe could have ridden a year longer because I was starting to build up some nice contacts and getting on some better horses, but I just wanted to protect my body because I’m quite broad, as well as tall. The training then just sort of fell into my lap."

Comley, who upon leaving school went straight to work full time for Kim Bailey, landed his first winner under rules in March with Wearapinkribbon at Huntingdon. Although not too happy at what he considered a slow start, this season has seen winners flow more regularly, with three from ten runners in October particularly gratifying.

Max Comley (right) following Only One Blue's victory at SedgefieldCredit: John Grossick (racingpost.com/photos)

“Overall I'd say it's been good," Comley reflected of the last 12 months. "Last season was a bit disappointing but we only had a run at it for a few months. We were able to get a couple of winners and attract some new owners to the yard and set ourselves up for this year.

"December was a bit of an awkward time to get horses ready and we had a lot that needed to get handicapped and just find out their level. A lot of them were ex-pointers and maybe some weren’t good enough, but once we started buying the right type things picked up. I’m very realistic but also optimistic. I want it to be a big operation and we’ll work towards that, but I know it will take time."

One goal he set out at the start of the season was to have ten winners – he's already on eight and if he’s lucky, that target might be achieved this afternoon with a pair of runners Comley is very much looking forward to.

Hardy Buck has only been at the yard for a short time but hacked up on his stable debut at Exeter six days ago and because that came in a conditional/amateur jockeys’ race, gets to line up today without a penalty in a 16-runner handicap hurdle at Taunton (3.35).

His confident trainer said: “Hopefully he should follow up, providing he handles the quick turnaround. His form from the spring was good and it wasn’t that long ago he was rated 20-odd pounds higher. We thought he’d improved a lot at home and hopefully we can win a few, and then probably head to the sales.”

Before that, another new recruit, Cloaks Of Gold, a Cracksman filly bred and previously owned by Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum, runs in the 2m juvenile maiden hurdle for fillies at Warwick (12.25). She was winless in six races on the Flat this year for Richard Hannon and David Evans but ran several creditable races in defeat and has impressed her new trainer.

“She’s a very natural jumper and we quite like her. It’s a competitive little race and she has a bit to prove on paper against the Neil Mulholland and Dan Skelton runners, but I’m fairly hopeful.”

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