Mark Walford
Mark has emerged as a talented and leading young northern dual-purpose trainer, successful with national hunt, two-Year-Olds and older flat horses.
He took over the training licence from his father Tim in February 2014 and carried on where he left off, expanding the yard in size and quality over the last eight years.
Mark was the first trainer Ursa Major Racing had a horse with and the relationship has been special and strong since 2018. Mark is the club’s most prominent trainer with nine horses in training and that list is ever growing.
He is a trainer that will always be open and honest with his owners, a value that is at the heart of Ursa Major Racing Club’s philosophy as well.
Ursa Major has had a fantastic few years with Mark; enjoying multiple winners with him and that number will only grow into 2022. Mark’s reputation and firepower is on the rise and 2022 could be a huge year for both club and trainer!
URSA Horses Trained By Mark Walford
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Katie Scott
based in the heart of the scottish borders, katie’s yard is blessed with hills to provide natural gallops that her horses love as they are not RESTRICTED to the same work everyday.
katie believes these surroundings allow young horses to learn as they are always tackling new hills, and allows the older horses to stay fresh and keep them happy.
at age 17, katie took over the training of her family pointers. by 26, she had sent out 19 winners and many places in point-to-points and hunter chases.
Katie gained her NH licence in early 2015, with her flat licence coming in 2017.
Katie strives to ensure that her horses are ready for racing and are always IMMACULATELY turned out for RACE DAY.
URSA Horses Trained by Katie Scott
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Sam England
The latest addition to the Ursa Training ranks is sam england who has made a superb start to life calling the shots in guiseley, yorkshire.
Sam had a brief spell as a jockey where she managed 35 winners, before turning back to her first love - training.
She took over her father’s string at manor farm sending out a winner with her first runner. she has been in blistering form with more than 110 winners over jumps and a further dozen on the flat since 2016.
URSA Horses Trained by Sam England
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Rebecca Menzies
Rebecca Menzies is a trainer going places fast - with a blistering start to 2022 seeing her record an incredible six wins in the first nine days of the year.
The North East handler is adept at training both flat and national hunt horses and we are delighted she has joined the Ursa ranks.
With no racing background or connections to fall back on, Rebecca has negotiated her way up the notoriously tricky horse racing career ladder at an impressive rate.
From stable lass, to racing secretary, to travelling head lass, to assistant trainer for Grade 1 and Cheltenham Festival winning trainer Ferdy Murphy; it has been through drive and sheer determination that she now presides over her own impressive training establishment.
She began her career at Brandsby, formerly home of Cheltenham Gold Cup winning trainer Peter Beaumont, staying for three years, before relocating to Howe Hills in County Durham.
Formerly the home of successful dual purpose trainer John Wade and boasting 100 boxes, the move to the state-of-the-art facility has enabled Rebecca and her ambitious team to push the operation on to the next level.
Just a stone's throw from Sedgefield Racecourse, it's also only a 45-minute drive to Newcastle Racecourse, which is a huge bonus.
Rebecca and her dedicated team pride themselves on attention to detail, working closely with specialist nutritionists, physiotherapists and vets to ensure the horses are happy, healthy and reach maximum potential on the track.
Ursa horses trained by Rebecca Menzies
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Grant Tuer
Grant Tuer trains at Wiske House Farm Stables, situated on the outskirts of Birkby in the peaceful North Yorkshire countryside.
The 2021 flat season has been an outstanding one for Grant and all of the team, with a career best 33 winners saddled so far, some real highlights include the likes of Lion Tower winning three times and going close in both the Carlisle Bell and Summer Cup at Thirsk; Maison De York providing the team with their first winner at York; Out Of Breath completing a five timer, and Gunnerside winning six races through the early summer.
With a strong emphasis on equine welfare, Grant and his hard-working team are totally committed to maximising the potential of every horse in their care and always endeavour to keep owners informed of the progress of their horses.
We have recently purchased the next ursa generation, two of which are trained by grant - Wreck it ryley and fortuitous star - both of which we are very excited about!
URSA Horses Trained by Grant Tuer
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Michael Dods
Michael started training from Denton Hall, near Darlington, in 1990, following the sudden death of his father Dickie Dods.
Since then, Michael has developed into one of the most consistent trainers in the north of England, surpassing the 1,000-winner mark in 2022.
In recent seasons, Michael’s reputation has been elevated by the Group 1 successes of Mecca’s Angel and Mabs Cross. Mecca’s Angel became the first horse in 30 years to win back to back runnings of the Nunthorpe Stakes in 2015 and 2016, while the victory of Mabs Cross in the 2018 Prix de l’Abbaye took the stable over the £1m barrier for the season.
Michael was born into a family that had farmed at Denton Hall for two generations and the family business still includes, sheep, arable and fattening beef cattle.
URSA Horses Trained by Michael Dods
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Julie Camacho
Julie Camacho and her husband and assistant Steve Brown took over the reins from Julie’s father, Maurice in the 1990s, and have since trained a number of quality winners, including at Listed and Group race level. Julie and Steve had by far their best season ever in 2022, training 47 winners and almost doubling the number of winners and prize money haul from the previous few seasons. they are perhaps most famous for this season’s group one winner Shaquille and the legendary judicial. we are looking forward to a hugely successful time with this great yard.
Ursa horses trained by Julie Camacho
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Lizzie Quinlan
Lizzie quinlan is the latest trainer to join the Ursa ranks and will be an ideal addition, with her readily admitting she could ride a horse before she could walk.
She has a whole host of experience in racing, from riding winners as an amateur to being a part of various training establishments.
A product of the prestigious BHA Graduate Programme, she has made an extremely promising start as a trainer in her own right.
Lizzie is married to jockey Sean who has ridden several winners in the battenbergs.
Ursa horses trained by Lizzie Quinlan
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Craig Lidster
Craig has been making a huge name for himself over the last few years, with more than 50 winners already sent out from his Easingwold base in north yorkshire.
a rising reputation has seen him welcome an array of successful owners to the yard and he is already seen as a specialist with juveniles by many.
His rising success in the game hasn’t come overnight however, nor through any form of luck. he has been involved with racehorses since 11 years old, riding out Kevin Frost’s horses, ponies and point-to-pointers. The love for the thoroughbred immediately blossomed, and further education came to an abrupt end as Craig left school at sixteen to enrol in the Racing School at the National Horseracing College in Doncaster.
After developing a valuable racing foundation from the college to build upon, Craig’s first job was for ex-racehorse trainer Jeremy Glover, where he spent a short while at before going on to work for the late Sir Robert Ogden. Craig had the pleasure there of working with the likes of Marlborough, a Cheltenham Festival winner and 2nd to Best Mate in the King George, and See More Business, a Gold Cup winner. Riding champion’s from a young age was a key element in Craig’s learning curve to where he is now, as he was able to distinguish the difference between the top calibre of horses to those that possessed lesser ability.
As travelling head lad for Richard Fahey, Craig was able to work with some exceptional horses, none other than now Coolmore Stallion Wootton Bassett. Craig’s biggest personal success with Fahey was travelling Wootton Bassett across to France at the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe meeting, where he lead the Champion Two-Year Old up to win the Group One Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere in 2010. Lidster picked up plenty of his flat racing habits across the eight years spent with Richard Fahey, in particular breaking in young horses, his main passion.
Ursa horses trained by Craig Lidster
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Harriet Dickin
Harriet has grown up on a racing yard, her father Robin formerly being a jockey and trainer.
Robin handed the reins to Harriet in May 2022, who took over the licence as the family business moved to Bourton Hill Farm.
Harriet has also always had a passion for eventing. She has trained with the great Chris Bartle and been based some top-class riders such as Laura Collett and Tina Cook. Harriet has ridden up to 4* level and uses many of the skills learnt in that sphere to educate the young racehorses.
Ursa horses trained by Harriet Dickin
