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The Trainers

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John Best & Karen Jewell

In October 2021, we were delighted to announce our exciting news that John Best and Karen Jewell were going to be joining forces at Eyehorn Farm and training under a new joint dual-purpose license. John has been training since 1997 originally with jumpers, however more recently, exclusively flat. He has been at Eyehorn Farm since 2015. Karen has been an assistant to her mother Linda Jewell for 22 years and with their property sold last year, she decided to move over to Eyehorn Farm and join the license. Find out more about our trainers below

John Best

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On leaving school John went to work in a local point to point yard and immediately became hooked on racing. He later decided to train both his own and pointers for other owners.

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In 1997, some of his owners persuaded him to take out a professional license and he had his first winner, Hever Golf Diamond, at Fakenham in May that year. In 1999, he took out a dual-purpose license and trained his first flat winner Santiburi Girl. The flat seemed to progress well. In 2006 having won a listed race at Goodwood he took his filly Rising Cross to Epsom for his first classic runner. She finished 2nd in The Epsom Oaks and followed that up with a 3rd in the Irish equivalent and then Group 2 success in The Park Hill Stakes. 2007 saw even greater progress when Kingsgate Native, only 2 years old, took on the older horses in the Nunthorpe and provided a first Group One winner. Kingsgate Native went on for further Group 1 success at Ascot in 2008 winning the Golden Jubilee Stakes, while at the same meeting Flashmans Papers won the Windsor Castle Stakes. In the Autumn of 2008, John took his colt, Square Eddie out to America to clock up another win at the highest level in The Lanes End Breeders Futurity Group 1.

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In 2015, John moved to Eyehorn Farm and the move proved to be a great one with the support of Nick and Ksenia along with much better facilities, the winners rolled in with probably Berrahri being the highlight of recent years winning many times on the snow in St. Moritz, including the Grand Prix in 2019. This tough consistent performer has now won a total of 20 races and continues to defy his age at 11.

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Other notable wins include Sir Gerry who won in Meydan, Dubai and also Stone Of Folca who still holds the world record for the fastest ever 5f race when winning The Dash at Epsom

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Karen Jewell

Prior to joining the Eyehorn Farm team, Karen Jewell was assistant to Linda Jewell at Southfield Stables in Sutton Valence. It had always been Karen’s long-term ambition to become a trainer in her own right and moving to Eyehorn Farm and joining forces with John Best has enabled her to fulfil that goal.  Karen brings with her a wealth of knowledge and experience in the racing industry and during her career to date, Karen has played a key role in helping produce many winners under both codes, from 5 Furlong group winners to Marathon Chase winners including the Sussex National.

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Having spent over 20 years at Southfield Stables, Karen’s whole life has evolved around racing.  In her early years, Karen progressed through the traditional route of pony club, then went on to have a successful show jumping and showing career. Karen went on to gain further valuable experience from her time spent at Barry Hills racing yard. She was later coached by Grand National and Gold Cup winning jockey Bobby Beasley, after which she went on to win over hurdles on only her 2nd ride under her conditional licence. Karen was also very well regarded for her abilities with foals & breeze-up horses when assisting top Irish sales consignors Jacqueline Norris and Jim McCarten. 

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Amongst Karen’s many talents, she displays a natural ability in diagnosing physical and psychological weaknesses in racehorses. She works with them to achieve their full potential, enabling them to go on to win races and hold their form. This work is aided by Karen’s close relationship with valuable veterinary contacts gained over many years. One of the highlights of Karen’s career was her rehabilitation work with Breden. Despite Breden’s prognosis of only a 20% chance of returning to racing, under Karen’s careful supervision, Breden went on to win five races and achieved third place in the Lincoln. More recently, Karen’s work with Bella Colorossa, resulted in the identification of hidden ailments. Karen’s subsequent rehabilitation treatment saw Bella Colorossa go on to win on her debut.

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Karen’s passion and total commitment to racing is evident in everything she does, and along with her bright, friendly, and approachable nature, she inspires and motivates the whole team to work together to produce the very best results from the horses in her care. 

Karen is thrilled to be working as joint trainer with John Best, and the results of this partnership are proving that they are a winning combination.  

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