Whether we like it or not, the sad truth of the horse racing industry, as is the case with many different parts of life, is that it is tough for women to make their name in. It is only thanks to the breakthrough work of jockeys such as Rachael Blackmore that women have won events such as the Cheltenham Gold Cup.
One area where gender is seemingly irrelevant, however, is in the training of horses, which is why names like Jessica Harrington and Jenny Pitman are well known. Amanda Perrett might not be quite at their level, but she is forging her own path and has been for decades.
About
Guy Harwood was born in Pulborough, Essex, in 1939 and began riding at 18, then started training horses under permit in 1965. Why, you might wonder, are we talking about him in an article about Amanda Perrett, the answer to which comes in the form of his establishment of Coombelands Racing Stables in 1966. He went on to develop it into one of the most modern stables in the United Kingdom, training countless winners of huge races. In 1996, Harwood chose to retire as a trainer, handing the reins over to his daughter, with Perrett having been in charge of Coombelands ever since.
She worked alongside her husband, Mark, knowing that she had big boots to fill. The fact that Harwood had been such a successful trainer, winning the likes of the Eclipse Stakes and the 2,000 Guineas, meant that Perrett had grown up around horse racing, becoming an amateur jockey herself. She won 90 races and was the first female jockey to ride in the Champion Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival, which she did in 1990. She also married into a horse racing family, with Mark Perrett’s father and grandfather both being successful jockeys, whilst his grandfather was also a trainer.
Major Successes
Taking over a yard that had seen the likes of the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes and the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe returned to it in the past can’t have been easy. Nevertheless, Perrett endeavoured to carry on where her father had left off, whilst also not shying away from other responsibilities. In 2021, for example, she and her sister Lucinda took over the running of Coombelands Equestrian, which had been founded by their sister Gaye 15 years earlier. The family has long been committed to offering top-class training facilities, as well as a space for competition.
With all of that in mind, it is hardly a major surprise that Perrett has enjoyed some successes over the years. She has trained more than 650 winners, which has seen her generate more than £8 million in prize money. Of course, when you’re trying to follow up from a trainer who has won almost every prize there is to win in the world of flat racing, it isn’t ever going to be easy. Perrett might not have been able to win the likes of one of the Classics, but she has seen some interesting wins added to her collection over the years. Here is a look at some of them:
- Prix de la Forêt
- Prix du Moulin de Longchamp
- Darley Stakes
- Sandown Mile
- Earl of Sefton Stakes
Horses Trained
SALUTI wins at @NewmarketRace this afternoon under @KShoemark. Congratulations to Mr J Bodie and connections and well done to Angel Goble who looks after Saluti at home! pic.twitter.com/DpIVEbz6fU
— Amanda Perrett (@Coombelands) May 18, 2018
Given the fact that Perrett took over from her father in running Coombelands Racing Stables in 1996, around 30 years after he’d launched it, it is fair to say that more than a few horses have passed through the places in the years since. Some of them are always likely to stand out more than others, for all sorts of reasons. There will be the horse that Perrett has enjoyed working with more than any other, for example, as well as the one that won the first race for her. The one that saw her train the winner of the first Group 1 event will also stand out in her mind above most others.
Here is a quick look at some of the horses that will be most commonly associated with the work of Perrett as a trainer:
Indian Lodge
The Irish-bred Indian Lodge was foaled at around the same time as Perrett was taking over the running of Coombelands Racing Stables, being sent to train with the stables in the late 1990s. A horse that loved soft or heavy ground, he didn’t win anything as a two-year-old but recorded his first success at Newbury Racecourse on the 14th of May 1999. Later that year he won the Joel Stakes and the Darley Stakes, but it was in 2000 that he really went up a gear. His big wins were the Earl of Sefton Stakes, the Prix du Moulin and the Prix de la Forêt, the latter of which were abroad.
Tillerman
It says something when your most impressive year sees you win as many as 17% of the races that you enter, which is an impressive strike rate by almost anyone’s standard. One of those successes came in the form of Tillerman, who was owned by Khalid Abdullah. The biggest win of the horse came in the Celebration Mile, which is one of the events that takes place at Goodwood Racecourse and is open to horses aged three and over. Perrett won the event with the then six-year-old horse in 2002, then won it again with five-year-old Lavender’s Blue 19 years later.
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