For years, Downs House, the racing park located a quarter mile from the start of the Derby and once home to the greatest racehorse of all time, Eclipse, symbolized the decline of Epsom as a training center : decaying, abandoned and unloved. This demonstrates the city’s almost total disconnection from the world’s most iconic flat race.
In the 1960s some 650 horses were trained at Epsom and, among its 23 yards, it was home to the two largest strings in the country.
But the last of his 13 Grand National winners was Specify in 1971 and, given that you don’t even have to go up to the top tier of the stands to see the City of London, the value in the yards was always going to be in development for housing.
Half of the original yards have been sold to property developers, so much so that Epsom now ranks fifth among recognized training centers in the country after Newmarket, Lambourn, Malton and Middleham.
A full return to the glory days is still a long way off, but there are more than green shoots of a revival. Jim Boyle has redeveloped South Hatch, the yard where Walter Nightingale trained for Sir Winston Churchill, and, in January, Stewards’ Cup-winning trainer George Baker will move 50 horses to a renovated Downs House.
The site was transformed by Mark Travers, a Wales-born New Zealander, who undertook a seven-year restoration project. Like all construction projects, it took longer and cost more than expected.
“This is a huge opportunity for owners”
“Dad trained in New Zealand and I was thinking of staying here for a while but going home,” he said. “But I’ve been here 20 years and I’ve settled in. I considered buying land in Newmarket, but then I saw this: abandoned but on the outskirts of London.
“This is a huge opportunity for owners. On a Saturday morning, it’s 20 minutes from London, you can go down to see your horse and come back for the children’s sport at 10 o’clock. It’s right in the center of what the Derby is all about. I wanted to make it cutting edge and it snowballed.
It now accommodates 70 horses, has a walker for 12 horses and everything from the airflow to the (unbreakable) glass stable doors is supported by horse welfare.
Baker, who won the Stewards’ Cup in August with a 40-1 Get It shot from his Chiddingfold base and takes horses to Bahrain for the lucrative prizes on offer between December and March, originally did not have the intention to move.
“A year ago, if you had said we were moving to Epsom and offered me a million for one, I wouldn’t have had a pound coin on it,” he said. “But I suppose if you had said 20 years ago that I would train a horse, that would have been a million to one too.
Things are changing and when we walked through the door of this incredible, state-of-the-art yard, coupled with Mark’s ambition and amazing, totally underutilized gallops, we were struck.
“There’s also a playful side to Candida (Baker’s wife) and we figured if we didn’t do it, someone else would. What an opportunity. If we can play a small part in the rejuvenation of Epsom, the academy and the Derby, that will be fantastic. It’s hard to say no to something like this.
Winning the Stewards’ Cup at Goodwood was, for Sussex man Baker, his best day in the sport.
“I was basically a car racing fan. I was never going to work out. I watched 30 Stewards’ Cups before I even became a trainer, so to be leading the winner of that race at our local track surrounded by a huge number of friends and family, it was a magical day.
“This decision is fully aligned with our ongoing satellite project in Bahrain. Winters are reserved for Bahrain and we will be taking eight in December. A lot of it is about finding new owners.
“I can practically see my son Barney sitting at his desk in the City from here. Londoners work hard during the week and find it difficult to travel to Newmarket or Middleham at the weekend.
“Here they can get on a train, watch their horse, have breakfast and get home before the kids are awake.
“We are taking 50 horses and hope to fill them within two years. There are a lot of good coaches at Epsom but we want to be a coach for London.
