Racehorse Trainer Chris Thornton..

..admits he's been racing mad since he was a child of ten at which time his father had racehorses with trainer Joe Mulhall at York. All his working life has been with Thoroughbred Racehorses and he's acquired a wealth of experience in the care and training of these magnificent animals.

Mid-way through his A-Level studies, Chris left school and went to Newmarket to work as a Pupil Trainer to Sam Armstrong. Six years later, he progressed to become Assistant Trainer to Theo Grieper in Germany and among the horses they trained was the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner, Star Appeal. His time in Germany helped Chris develop his natural talent with Thoroughbreds and gave him invaluable experience. He spent eighteen months in Germany before gaining the post of Assistant Trainer to Sam Hall at the historic Spigot Lodge yard in Middleham.

This was in 1973 when Sam's health was beginning to fail so Chris arrived to share some of Sam's workload. They formed a formidable team and the many winners they sent out helped maintain and strengthen Spigot's reputation as a training yard. After Sam's death in July 1977, Chris became the Master of Spigot Lodge and began training in his own right. His first winner soon came along - Sioux And Sioux ridden by Stable Jockey Jimmy Bleasdale and owned by Spigot's long-time patron and owner, Mr Guy Reed.

In his second Flat season in charge, Chris had 35 winners and built up his string to about 70 horses by 1979. Then, in 1981, he had a serious Derby contender in Shotgun who was ridden in the race by none other than Lester Piggott. Shotgun finished a fantastic fourth in the big race. Other high points around that time were Path Of Peace, a small horse with an abundance of ability who became a living advertisement for the Thornton method of training racehorses. Path Of Peace won twelve Flat races and three hurdles, including the County Hurdle at Cheltenham, the Bogside Cup at Ayr, November Handicap at Doncaster and the Great Yorkshire Handicap at York.

At the age of nine, Path Of Peace retired to Newmarket School of Racing to assist in the training and education of apprentice jockeys.

As in all walks of life, there's always rain amongst the sunshine and one of the darkest days in the career of Chris Thornton came in 1981. In a race at Haydock, Chris ran a horse called Maple Queen with Jimmy Bleasdale riding. As the field passed the stands, Maple Queen was brought down and suffered an injury to her shoulder that necessitated her being destroyed. Not only that but Jimmy was flung, head first, into one of the concrete posts supporting the running rail.

Jimmy suffered a serious head injury that could easily have been fatal and he didn't ride again for almost a year. Despite returning to the saddle, the long-term after effects of his injury forced Jimmy to retire. Now, apart from riding out occasionally, Jimmy and his wife run a successful Bed & Breakfast business (Tatton Lodge) in Bedale, about 20 minutes drive from Middleham.

During his career, Chris has sent out over 600 winners of all types of race, Flat and National Hunt.

The motto of the Thornton team is "Owners Come First" and this is obvious to any visitors - the relaxed atmosphere, the warm welcome and the approachable & friendly attitude of the staff ensures you of an enjoyable experience and will hasten your return. A point is made of telling owners that they are welcome to visit their horses at any time. Anyone meeting Chris, or visiting his yard will soon discover this is not a cliché - owners really DO come first!

Chris is confident that he can build on his previous achievements and continue to train winners of all types of races and prove that he really is The Man For All Seasons!