GRASSROOTS: HANNAH MARSHALL

Hannah Marshall started her training career in 2016 and trained her first double at Charing on the 31st of January, winning both the first and second divisions of the Maiden race. Husband, Charlie, rode five-year-old Luther and six-year-old Protect the Future to victory, both of which were purchased at the May Doncaster sales.

There’s a familiar tenacity about Hannah Marshall that many in the pointing world will recognise – not least because she combines a bustling training yard with the incredible challenge of pregnancy, all while continuing to compete and succeed at a high level. At 30 weeks pregnant, Hannah laughs that the sickness she still experiences isn’t exactly what she envisioned at this stage – but it hasn’t slowed her down. Noting her best achievement to date was last weekend at Charing, where she had three back-to-back runners, with two of them winning.

Growing up on a yard with parents as jockeys and trainers, racing is in Hannah’s blood.  “My mum’s cousin is Bob Champion, so we’re a real racing family,” she explains. “I evented when I was younger, thinking that was what I wanted to do, but the racing bug sort of never left me. I’ve always been around it, so I decided to start training myself.” Based in Dorset, where she’s lived most of her life, Hannah’s upbringing has been threaded with horses at every turn. “It’s pretty much all I’ve ever known, really.”

Hannah’s current operation is a blend of ambition and community. With 15 point-to-pointers in training and another 15 horses, including breakers and retrained horses. Marshall explains, “We’ve got one really good full-timer (staff) and a couple of part-timers,” she adds, “My parents are really hands-on, they do a lot. So, it is quite the family-run operation.” But even the best teams have their challenges. “You realise, when you’re heavily pregnant, that you can’t do things you used to. You’re having to tell people what needs doing instead of just doing it yourself.”

Husband Charlie is an essential part of that team. Mornings begin with horses before he heads off to run his own business – the increasingly successful Flexi. Hannah explains, “Every morning he’s with the horses, and then if I need him, he’ll come back and help.” Charlie’s business, which he’s been building for around two to three years, has “really taken off” recently, with trainers appreciating the simplicity and innovation of a product that transitions from hurdles to fences and offers multiple configurations. Although Hannah helped with the early groundwork, horses now take most of her attention.

When it comes to ownership, Hannah strikes a balanced approach: about three-quarters of her horses are owned by clients, while she and her family retain shares in the others. “What we try to do is keep a share, especially in horses we might sell later,” she explains. “Then we can have a say in what happens next.” It’s a model that supports relationships with owners while keeping the yard’s long-term interests in view. Horses are carefully selected, often at sales, but always with a second pair of eyes. Hannah works closely with David Phelan of Felix Bloodstock, inviting his professional insight once she has a shortlist. “I go around the sales, pick out the horses, do my homework,” she says. “Then I go to David with a list and say, ‘Am I being mad here?’ He’ll say if I’m mad or if it’s great. And if there’s anyone I need to contact, he knows everybody.” That exact process was applied to two recent purchases at the May Doncaster Sale: horses she spotted herself and then ran past David before committing.

Among her string, two standouts illustrate the dual focus of Hannah’s yard: grassroots support and future potential. Protect The Future was purchased by long-standing owners, The Chamings family, to develop him for their novice rider son, Ollie. “That was always the plan – for him to eventually move on to him,” she explains. “And he’s doing a lovely job with another novice horse at the moment.” By contrast, Luther is earmarked for sale. “He’s a National Hunt prospect,” she says. “He’s impressive and has a big future, so unfortunately, those ones have to be on the market.” But that, she adds, is all part of supporting the sport’s ecosystem – from novice riders to horses heading up the grades.

I ask Hannah about her favourite moment as a trainer, and she doesn’t hesitate to mention her first training double. “We’re quite a medium operation compared to bigger yards,” she says. “So, to go in and pick up both divisions of a maiden – and they were good races with good horses in them – it felt like, actually, we can do this. We’re not just picking up two rubbish races.” It wasn’t just wins – it was proof that her yard could “run with the big guns” and leave its mark. As for favourite tracks, it’s less about love at first sight and more about how courses suit her horses. “It’s really horses for courses,” she says. “But we’ve had plenty of winners at Charing – it really suits our way of training.” Those wins, and the memories they create, are often tied to place as much as performance.

What’s next for Hannah? A blend of ambition and realism: continuing to train better-quality horses, keeping the operation focused and effective, and maintaining a balance between grassroots involvement and the broader goals of National Hunt racing. “I don’t ever want to be too big,” she says. “But it would be nice to have a few more pointers and keep doing what we’re doing – just better.” With a yard that juggles a range of horses, multiple businesses, family, plus one on the way – Hannah Marshall is building something that’s already much bigger than she gives herself credit for.