Jim Boyle’s South Hatch Stables in Epsom has sent out more winners in each of the last 4 years (2006 – 28, 2007 – 40, 2008 – 50, 2009 – 59) and is very much on an upward curve and one to follow. Jim started training in 2001 after having learnt his trade under a number of the biggest names in racing today. He worked with Michael Stoute, James Fanshawe and Mark Johnston before doing 5 years at Bristol University studying to be a vet. After qualifying and before starting training in his own name he worked as Assistant Trainer to Paul Cole. There is probably no other young trainer today who comes with such impressive credentials as the Epsom handler.
Jim Boyle has access to several all-weather gallops at his establishment, including sand, polytrack and wax, so it probably doesn’t come as a shock to see his results have been so good at the all-weather tracks. 127 of the 177 winners in the last 4 years have come on artificial surfaces. The successes have been evenly spread between Kempton, Lingfield and Wolverhampton (33, 34 and 34 respectively). The strike rate has been higher at the latter course and also at the less used Southwell, where there have been 23 winners over the last 4 years. No turf tracks have achieved more than 10 winners during the same period and winners seem to be spread around outside the all-weather.
Because of this predominance for the all-weather the best time for winners has been November to March, although strangely the month of August is the best numerically for successes which seems to defy the general trend.
The calibre of winners continues to be pretty low. The best strike rate as far as type of races is sellers and claimers where he has averaged 25% over the last 4 years. The trainer is very realistic in placing his horses and certainly doesn’t mind dropping them in grade if it is a way of picking up wins. He has shown skill in getting multiple wins from modest animals. Most prolific winners in 2009 were Speak The Truth with 6 wins and Seek The Fair Land with 4 wins.
As well as being an all-weather specialist Boyle is also a sprint specialist. 43 out of the 59 winners gained in 2009 were at distances of a mile or less.
Boyle used 53 different jockeys in 2009 but the stable jockey Pat Cosgrave took over 40% of the rides and managed 13 out of the 28 sprint winners. Another jockey to watch out for riding for the stable in 2010 is Nicky Mackay. He seemed to have a resurgence in 2009 after severing his tie with the big Luca Cumani stable in 2008.
Horses to look out for from the stable are Seek The Fair Land, a big 4-year-old who improved and won 4 times on the all-weather in 2009, Harlech Castle, a 5-year-old bought from his former boss Paul Cole, has had 2 wins at Southwell over the last couple of months and looks sure to score again perhaps back at the same venue, and Wotashirtfull, another 5-year-old cast-off, this time from Kevin Ryan, a very fast individual who will win more races when the emphasis is on speed and getting an uncontested lead.
Jim Boyle has made good progress at a time which has been difficult for most trainers. He had 12 horses when he started but has now increased numbers to 55, attracting new owners in line with the increasing flow of winners. Boyle’s hard work and professionalism have produced an excellent foundation and this is certainly a stable to keep an eye on in 2010.
