Team

Simon Earle started life hunting, being in The Pony Club and eventing before working for a local point-to-point trainer and then going on to serve an apprenticeship at Ian Baldings.  At Ian Baldings he rode work on many Group 1 and classic winners.  After leaving the Baldings, Simon became a National Hunt professional jockey and rode for 14 years, riding over 160 winners in the UK as well as riding in Germany and France.  Simon rode in The Grand National a few times and rode winners for many leading trainers of the time including Philip Hobbs and Martin Pipe. 


Riding for different trainers gave Simon a great insight into training and seeing how different trainers did different things.  Simon has been training a small string of both National Hunt and Flat horses for the past 14 years and takes great pride in how he has improved horses.  In his own words: "Our main aim is to have our horses fit, healthy, happy, sound and very well educated in all they do which can only lead one way - to success".

  

     

Vikki Harris:  Stable Lass

Vikki joined the yard on a full time basis in October 2010 and had previously been working in racing since the age of 15 and thus has a wealth of experience for her tender years.  Vikki attended The British Racing School and has completed her NVQ1 & 2.  Her aim is to ride in a point-to-point and outside of the yard she has her own horse.  Vikki is an excellent rider, as well as a good all-round member of the team and schools the horses regularly.

Sophie Gibbs:  Stable Lass

Sophie joined the yard in January 2011 straight from The British Racing School where she has completed her NVQ1 and is completing her NVQ2 whilst working with us.  A welcome addition to the team, Sophie has a kind and caring nature with the horses in her care and her riding is coming along very well.

Part-time Work Riders

Luke Kilgarriff: Luke has worked on and off for Simon for many years and continues to ride out whilst he can but at the moment is back at College studying hard through the JETS scheme.  Luke continues to hold an amateurs licence. 

Sam Goldsmith: Sam combines studying at Reading University with riding out whilst she can and aims to ride her own horse in a race under rules.

Sam Bean: Sam works in the neighbouring yard of local point-to-point trainer and breeder Gordon Giddings and is often available for the odd lot!  An excellent rider who worked until recently with Guy Landau and as a work rider at Horses First Racing.

Katie Earle:  Racing Secretary/Administrator

Katie is the office linchpin and keeps everyone in check!  She has an excellent background in office administration after working as an Executive Assistant at Goldman Sachs for many years.  Katie often helps out on the yard when we are busy and is happy to muck in when needed. 

Practitioners:
Vets:  Buffy Shirley-Beaven
            Francis & Jackson
            Nick Thompson (holistic vet)

Farrier/Barefoot Trimmer:
Chris Keable Dwcf UKNHCP has been with Simon Earle Racing for over five years both trimming and shoeing the horses' feet. The beauty with Chris is that he is a qualified farrier and his knowledge and expertise is exceptional. Chris specialises in performance horses be it racing, eventing, dressage or western riding. All horses are walked and trotted up before trimming and shoeing, and any imbalances are rectified.

Equine Manual Therapist:
Anita Miles has worked with us for four years and is invaluable in finding muscular skeletal problems in the horses. Anita is often on the yard giving the horses a regular treatment, especially before they run and afterwards if needed.

Dentist:
Simon has used Equine Dental Services for many years and uses them for all dentistry on the yard.

Transport:
We have our own 2 box lorry but if required we use Wally Irvine Horse Transport.