Josh Newman

The point-to-point trainer led his team to a second consecutive 2024/25 national champion yard title last season.

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It doesn’t seem all that long ago that trainer Josh Newman secured a second national champion yard title for his achievements across the 2024/25 point-to-point season.

Josh’s team fielded 43 winners in total, and he had his best run to date as a jockey, riding 45 victories across the year, taking his total wins in the saddle to almost 200. He bagged his first five-timer at Wadebridge in December, sandwiched between numerous trebles and four-timers.

Josh, 33, runs his horses from the family-owned Blackmore Farm, a 200-acre base in Somerset, where he trains alongside his wife, Kayley, who trains professionally. The yard caters for pointers and National Hunt runners, with their 24-box barn split down the middle.

It’s a family affair: Josh’s mother, Tanya, and his aunts, Chloe Newman and Sophie Hawke, are all important cogs in the wheel. Josh’s cousin, Tom Hawke, helps with flatwork, while Kayley’s sister, Steph Jones, is always around as she competes Kayley’s Grade One golden boy, Lalor, in Retraining of Racehorses ranks.'

"Our set-up is a bit higgledy-piggledy, but it works for us," says Josh. "We're lucky that we can mix our work up and don't need to rely on set routines. It's so hilly that we can really get the horses fit, too."

As a youngster, Josh had no interest in horses, despite hailing from prime equestrian stock; his mother, Tanya, mainly produced eventers, even competing at Badminton, while his aunt Chloe ran pointers. Josh was introduced to racing by Sophie's former partner, Nigel Hawke, who used to train out of Blackmore.

"I loved going to meetings and leading up, but I didn't have much interest in sitting up there," Josh continues. "I thought I wanted to be a farmer, though I did the odd Pony Club camp and enjoyed the hunting if I didn't have that, I might not be doing this today."