ENGLISH TEXTS for trainers. With the help of the Trainers Benevolent Fund and the Peter O’ Sullevan Trust, the Trainers Support Network was born and now has eight representatives across the country.“ It’ s about talking with people who need a sympathetic and understanding ear, at the races or at the sales. If someone wants or needs to talk, we are there, in complete confidentiality. We work with sports psychologist Michael Caulfield as well as former trainers, reasonable people who want to help. Our role is to listen, and in more serious cases, to direct people to specialists. We provide an informal, discreet service. We’ re not here to drag people into a darkened room for deep analysis.” By July 2025, representatives had already logged 95 days in the field, more than 600 contacts, and 195 phone consultations, a service that sadly meets a constant demand.“ Our initiative covers all kinds of professionals, and we are approached by both large and small trainers, including those enjoying great success in top-level races. Our role is particularly important with young trainers who achieve a lot in their first seasons, and then struggle to cope when form dips. A trainer has to be an entrepreneur, a manager, an HR director … Results are visible in a single click, which adds huge pressure, as do modern owners who demand quick results. And nowadays everything is amplified by social media. The insults and abuse aimed at trainers are hard to bear, and we work with a specialist to combat these trolls.”
Like father, like son Harry Dunlop’ s eldest son, Tom, has inherited this desire to help others. The 19-year-old set himself a huge challenge this summer with Tom’ s Big Bike Ride, a 4,000-kilometre cycle tour of all 60 English, Scottish and Welsh racecourses, raising funds for two charities including the Injured Jockeys Fund.“ The first thing to say is that it was 100 % his idea. He thought it would be fun to visit all the racecourses by bike. I’ m very proud of him! For 33 days he cycled between 100 and 150 kilometres a day, over all terrains and in sometimes tough conditions. Around 300 people turned out to welcome him on the final stage at Newbury, and he really deserved that warm reception.” A triumphant welcome and a fundraising total approaching € 50,000, funds that will continue to help people in need.
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JOCKEY
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By Paul Casabianca
BRYONY FROST THE JOY OF LIVING
Arriving in France in May 2024, Bryony Frost captured her first Group 3 victory at Auteuil on September 18. Ambitious, motivated and determined, the first female jockey in history to win a Group 1 at the Cheltenham Festival speaks openly, with candor and humor, about her career and her new life.
Her face may not yet be familiar, but people are starting to get to know her through her smile, her good mood, her zest for life and her talent. In France, Bryony Frost is not yet seen as a star of the weighing room. On social media, however, 40,000 followers keep up with her daily on Instagram, a sign of recognition that echoes her outstanding performances in her native England. Born on April 13, 1995, in Buckfastleigh, she comes from a racing dynasty. Her father, Jimmy Frost, is a trainer and former jockey who won the Grand National at Liverpool in 1989. Her grandfather, Richard Frost, was also a trainer, and her brother Hadden enjoyed many victories as a jockey. Bryony Frost first cut her teeth in pony races, then in Point-to-Point events, before moving into amateur
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