Stuart Edmunds (
homepage) has been based at Fences
Farm in Tyringham, near Newport Pagnell, Buckinghamshire for the
better part of four decades. He was previously assistant trainer to
former Renee Robeson (née de Rothschild) before taking over the
training licence following her death, at the age of 87, in 2015.
Edmunds holds a combined licence, but it would be fair to say that
his focus is on National Hunt racing and, despite operating just a
small string, of thirty or so horses, has achieved some noteworthy
success in that sphere.
In 2015-16, his first full season in
charge, Edmunds saddled 16 winners from 93 runners, at a strike rate
of 17%, and collected nearly£187,000 in win and place prize money.
Highlights included victories for juvenile hurdler Wolf Of Windlesham
in the Grade Two JCB Triumph Hurdle Trial at Cheltenham and the
bet365 Juvenile Handicap Hurdle, which collectively netted over
£48,000 in prize money. The 2016-17 season was less productive,
yielding just nine winners from 77 runners, but they did include
Edmunds’ first and, so far, only Cheltenham Festival winner,
Domesday Book in the Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup.
Nevertheless, Edmunds bounced back in
2017-18, saddling 23 winners from 121 runners – the highest
seasonal tally of his short career – and collecting nearly £250,000
in prize money. It was a similar story in 2018-19, with 19 winners
from 121 runners and just over £250,000 in prize money and, at the
time of writing, Edmunds is enjoying decent form, with six winners
from 41 runners and nearly £72,000 in prize money in 2019/20 so far.
In recent seasons, Edmunds’ most
successful horses have been Maria’s Benefit and Queenohearts who,
coincidentally, are both mares. Between January, 2017 and December,
2018, Maria’s Benefit won eight of her 13 starts, notably including
the Grade Two Yorkshire Rose Mares’ Hurdle at Doncaster in 2018,
and just over £100,000 in prize money. Queenohearts, now a
six-year-old, has won four of her seven starts, including three
victories at Listed and Grade Two level and amassed nearly £47,000
in prize.
money.
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