Hamiltons take homegrown story of National Hunt season to Cheltenham

If Ann Hamilton were a commercial trainer, her base in Northumberland might be a little easier to find. It would just be a case of looking for a queue of people eager to send her a horse, and following it all the way to her front door.

As it is, even a taxi driver who has been working the area for the last 20 years has never been asked to find Great Bavington before. What is, by some measures at least, the most successful National Hunt stable in the country this season feels as if it is not so much on the path less travelled as at the end of a road to nowhere.

And the Hamiltons, you soon sense, would not have it any other way. Ann Hamilton, who celebrated her 70th birthday this past week, was “born just down the road” and has only one owner in her yard: her 74-year-old husband, Ian. Claywalls farm, which was originally owned by Ann’s father, has been their home since they were married, 42 years ago. “My family moved up here from County Durham and we went out hunting together, that’s how we met,” Ian says. “It took nine years to catch her, she went that fast on her pony.” These days, the 500-acre farm is home to 1,000 sheep, 300 cattle, five racehorses and, for the last two years, the most impressive strike rate in the game. Last year’s stats were outstanding, with 12 winners from 37 runners. This year, though, the numbers are off the chart.

Led by Tommy’s Oscar, who will line up in the Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham on Tuesday, Ann’s tiny string has won a dozen races from 28 starts, a remarkable strike rate of 43%, earning a total of £222,761 in prize money. It is enough to make Ian the fourth-most successful owner in British jumping this season, with an ambitious tilt at a £250,000 first prize next week still to come. It