A History of the Racing Stables at Whitsbury
A first record of horses being training at Whitsbury was in 1840, but very little is known of whom the trainers were and what was trained here.
The first trainer of any note was De Mesta, who trained from approximately 1890 until the early 1900s. He was a well known trainer of steeplechasers.
Whitsbury Estate was purchased in 1920 by Sir Charles Hyde, proprietor of the Birmingham Post and Mail. Norman Scobie, an Australian, came as a private trainer. There were 20-30 horses in Manor Racing Stables, which were stable door type boxes, built of lapboard sides and with corrugated iron roofs. Similar to the Druids Lodge Confederacy, they pulled off some major betting coups. Sir Charles died in 1940 on his way to America, as he was convinced Hitler would win the war. The estate was purchased in 1943 by the bookmaker, William Hill. Norman Scobie lived in the Manor House for some years (where his daughter, trainer Norma Macauley was born) and continued to train horses for William Hill and his friends. This arrangement did not last long and Monty Smyth was installed as private trainer in 1949 but had only limited success. The best win was Vertensia in the Cesarewitch.
Monty Smyth and William Hill parted company in 1960, when William Hill set about completely renovating the Racing Stables. Fredericks designed and installed cage boxes and the lapboarding was removed and brick walls built. The corrugated iron roofs were replaced with thatch and tile. The current office was built as lads accommodation above the stables. The stables were first occupied after renovation by Sir Gordon Richards who came as trainer in 1965 and trained Reform (Champion Stakes winner) amongst others. Majors Farm was purchased in 1966 and the farm buildings were demolished and replaced with stables in 1967/8. He trained around 60 horses and retired in 1970.
Bill Marshall (of Raffingora fame) was employed as private trainer in 1970 and stayed until 1975. William Hill having died in 1971, his nephew, Chris Harper took over and is the current landlord. James Bethell came to train here in 1976. As Majors Farm had been sold together with 50 acres, James moved into Manor Stables only. He subsequently purchased stables at Chilton and moved there in 1980.
David Elsworth moved to Whitsbury in 1981 with 18 horses. Majors Stables and the land was repurchased and his numbers continued to increase thanks to the likes of Desert Orchid, Ryhme n Reason, Barnbrook Again, Cavvies Clown and Flat horses such as In The Groove, Seattle Rhyme, Dead Certain and Indian Ridge. David left in 1994 and moved to Whitcombe Stables near Dorchester.
Major David Chappell moved into Manor Stables and James Toller to Majors Stables during the winter of 94/95. David Chappell stayed two seasons before moving to Pulborough. David Elsworth returned to Manor Stables in 1997, the same year as James Toller trained Compton Place to win the Group 1, July Cup. James left in 1999 and David Elsworth filled Majors Stables in addition to the other yards and continued with the likes of Persian Punch and Norse Dancer. In January 2006 he left for Newmarket and Ralph Beckett moved in.