Shropshire horse trainer to close business after struggling to find new premises
A renowned horse trainer is being forced to close his business as his rented stables are to be sold to developers.
Mark Brisbourne has trained horses at Ness Strange Stables since 1991, but tomorrow’s afternoon races at Wolverhampton will be his last.
The 61-year-old said he has had years to look for alternative premises since the owners of Ness Strance Farm told him they planned to have the barns converted.
But despite his best efforts he has been unable to find somewhere suitable.
“It has taken so long for the planning to go through but it finally has,” said Mr Brisbourne.
“It is not a shock to my system, it has been coming for years.”
He said he was optimistic of finding somewhere to relocate to but as time wore on he began to lose hope.
“I just wish I had somewhere else to go to but I have looked for alternatives around our whole area and there are just no alternatives,” said Mr Brisbourne.
“We have got our all-weather gallop so I needed somewhere nearby so that we could still use that.
“And I am a Shropshire lad – I didn’t want to go elsewhere.”
He said his dwindling number of horses and ever-increasing running costs, particularly business rates, had made it “virtually impossible” to keep the business viable, leading to the decision to close.
The former jockey, who has had 560 wins in his training career, told the Shropshire Star that he hopes to find work in the industry rather than face an early retirement.
