Philip Kirby to leave Middleham and return to family in Castleton
Monday 8 December 2014 09:59, UK
Upwardly-mobile trainer Philip Kirby is to leave Middleham to return to his former bases at Castleton and at Keith Reveley's yard in nearby Saltburn.
The move to Sharp Hill Farm Stables in Middleham at the start of 2013 coincided with a record tally of victories both on the Flat and over jumps last year.
But the trainer has found being away from his family, who remained in Castleton, increasingly hard and taken the decision to return to Dibble Bridge Stables and go back to using boxes at Keith Reveley's nearby Groundhills Farm 10 minutes up the road in Saltburn-by-the-Sea.
"I will be heading 'home' to Castleton next spring," Kirby told Sportinglife.com. "It's an amicable decision to leave Middleham and I'd like to thank Kate Walton for her support, but we want to concentrate upon having 30 or so quality horses in training and work on building up Dibble Bridge.
"We will be leasing part of Groundhills Farm, from where Keith also trains, and keeping the horses in full training there, while continuing to use Castleton for the youngsters or those who are out of training or doing road work.
"We've had 96 winners since starting at Sharp Hill last year and ideally we can make it to 100 before the end of the year.
"Commuting from Castleton to Middleham hasn't been ideal for me or the family - it's over an hour away - and this is the right thing to do for us and for the horses. Dibble Bridge is a lovely yard, from where we've had plenty of success, and it's exciting to be going back there, while Groundhills Farm has excellent facilities too."
A number of the staff that Kirby took with him to Middleham, including jockeys Adam Nicol and Phil Dennis, assistant trainer Simon Olley and head lass Sarah Olley, are set to join him on the move back north, while it is believed that those horses not moving to Castleton - some of whom were trained formerly by Kate Walton - are now to join Micky Hammond.
Among those horses Kirby hopes will spearhead his team for next year are star stayer Platinum, off the course since sustaining an injury in the Cesarewitch in 2013, along with exciting hurdles prospects Lady Buttons and Aniknam, and stalwarts such as Rumble Of Thunder, Stopped Out and Goldan Jess. Kirby also has a yearling Galileo colt, bought at Tattersalls in October, he is particularly looking forward to getting on track.
