Rebecca Menzies is a trainer going places with no time to stand still
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Rebecca Menzies is a trainer going places, and in a hurry to reach her destination. Since starting out as Britain’s youngest trainer in 2013, the 34-year-old has sent out more than 400 winners. Now she has charge of nearly 100 horses at state-of-the-art Howe Hills Stables in Mordon, Co Durham, where her goal is to become a regular challenger for the big Saturday prizes.
The year began with a bang when the progressive Boomslang scored his fourth win of the season in front of the ITV cameras on New Year’s Day at Musselburgh. And she believes, with the quality of stock at her dual purpose yard improving every season, there will be plenty more days like that to come.
Menzies’s introduction to racing came not from her parents, a pilot and retired driving instructor who are both allergic to horses but her next door neighbour who had horses with Ferdy Murphy. Menzies joined the stable after finishing school, rising to assistant trainer at the time her boss decided to relocate to France.
“Ferdy said some of his owners would support me if I took up training,” says Menzies. “So I rented a field in Middleham and put the horses there while I did my modules. Then I signed a two year lease on Peter Beaumont’s yard. “It was a bit of an accident that led me into training so early. I wanted to get more experience but didn’t feel an opportunity like that might come up again.”.
