Mental health advocate

Harry Dunlop retired from training in 2022, having held his licence for 16 years. He founded the Trainer Support Network in 2023

- Kate Johnson

My father John was champion trainer, my brother Ed is a very successful trainer, so it’s in our blood.

I’ve always done it, and I’ve always thought I’d love to do other things too.

It’s a tough industry, even with the incredible days and Group One winners; it’s hard to make the business work. Covid wasn’t the kindest to us, we lost some clients, and you start to think about life a bit more.

Deciding to retire was a big move.

We had a fantastic final year and Polly Pott won the Group Two May Hill Stakes at Doncaster. My wife drove her up there, her owners were from Doncaster, so it was quite apt she was our last big winner, and at a starting price of 40/1! It was emotional stuff.

Training is results-driven; you could look me up on social media and see I’ve had no winners for four months and there’s a “cold list” of trainers in the Racing Post.

If things aren’t going well, you rush things, you don’t make good decisions, such as where your horses should run.

If you’re not in the right frame of mind, it affects the workforce and the atmosphere in a yard, and you’re looking after everything from the staff, to paying the water bill, to maintaining your gallops.