Castle Hill Stables, along with the present day Sunsque House stables and Dante Yard, were an integral part of Patrick Haslam's training base until they were separated. While each of them is covered under Manor House Stables, they are also dealt with separately.
Ben Haslam, born on 24th December 1984, son of Patrick Haslam, was destined to spend his life in racing, and, given his height, it was more likely to be as a trainer than a jockey. He did have 25 rides as an amateur, notching up 5 wins, but even before he left school he was keen to gain experience in the art of training racehorses. His father Patrick was one of a select band of trainers who trained in Lambourn, Newmarket and Middleham at some stage in their career, training at Neardown Stables in Lambourn, moving to Pegasus Stables in Newmarket before making his way to Middleham. Ben cannot have remembered too much about his time in Newmarket, and was quite young when he first moved to Middleham in 1988. Although he had first hand experience of his father's training methods, and rode out at an early age, he knew that, once he left school, it was necessary to gain wider experience. He worked with top South African trainer Joey Ramsden and was fortunate to be accepted on Sheikh Mohammed's Darley Flying Start scholarship. This provided him with opportunities at The Curragh, in Ireland, at Kentucky in USA, at Sydney in Australia and in Dubai with Godolphin. If you are going to be the best then you have to work with the best, so Ben was once again lucky to assist Sir Michael Stoute at Freemason Lodge in Newmarket. In 2006, having successfully completed his Flying Start course, he returned to Manor House Stables in Middleham to assist his father for 3 years. The 40-box Castle Hill Stables yard was renovated in 2009 and in 2010, on the retirement of Patrick, Ben successfully applied for a trainer's licence and took over at Castle Hill Stables, perfectly located in full view of the ancient Middleham Castle, and with excellent access to the renowned Middleham Gallops. In 2010 his father had a string of 42 horses which Ben took charge of, and although 'Horses in Training' recorded that Ben's numbers in the next 3 years were 37, 26 and 16, by 2014 they began to increase again and, by 2017 he had a string numbering 38. One of his very first winners was Hi Dancer 2/1 in the Complete Football Handicap Chase at Newcastle on 9th March 2010. To date, the year 2017 has proved to be his best year, with 15 winners in total, 11 of which were on the Flat and 4 over jumps. By 2020 he had grown in strength again to 57. Arguably, his best horse to date is the appropriately named Castle Hill Cassie, owned initially by Ontoawinner Trojan Horse, J Pak and Partners.
After winning her maiden at Pontefract she scored at Newcastle twice. In 2018 she won the Listed EBF Highfield Farm Flying Fillies Stakes at Pontefract, and the racing world started to take notice of her. She then recorded wins for new owners at Wolverhampton twice. The future certainly looks bright for dual purpose trainer Ben. One of Ben's most prominent owners is J P McManus for whom Ben has trained numerous winners. Since the start of 2023 he has landed 7 winners for J P McManus, including Arthur's Quay 9/4 fav at Sedgefield and 11/8 fav at Musselburgh, Horn Cape 9/4 at Hexham and 7/4 fav at Sedgefield, Thatbeatsbanagher 10/1 at Newcastle and 7/4 fav at Sedgefield, and Marshalled 11/2 at Newcastle.
CASTLE HILL CASSIE Listed Stakes winner
2017 Ken Sutton 70th Birthday Maiden Stakes at Pontefract CASTLE HILL CASSIE 9/2 owned by Ontoawinner Trojan Horse, J Pak & Partners, trained by Ben Haslam and ridden by Graham Lee
2017 Best Odds Fillies Handicap at Newcastle CASTLE HILL CASSIE 1/41 owned by Ontoawinner Trojan Horse, J Pak & Partners, trained by Ben Haslam and ridden by Graham Lee
2018 Sunbets.co.uk Handicap at Newcastle CASTLE HILL CASSIE 8/1 owned by Ontoawinner Trojan Horse, J Pak & Partners, trained by Ben Haslam and ridden by Graham Lee
2018 EBF Highfield Farm Flying Fillies Listed Stakes at Pontefract CASTLE HILL CASSIE 20/1 owned by Ontoawinner Trojan Horse, J Pak & Partners, trained by Ben Haslam and ridden by Graham Lee
2018 Ladbrokes Fillies Condition Stakes at Wolverhampton CASTLE HILL CASSIE 13/2 owned by D Howden, S Lock & D Redvers, trained by Ben Haslam and ridden by Graham Lee
2019 Ladbrokes EBF Fillies Handicap at Wolverhampton CASTLE HILL CASSIE 2/1 jt fav owned by D Howden, S Lock & D Redvers, trained by Ben Haslam and ridden by Graham Lee
2010 Complete Football Handicap Chase at Newcastle HI DANCER 2/1owned by R Tocher, trained by Ben Haslam and ridden by Giles Hawkins
2019 Louis Roederer Handicap Chase at Cartmel DEMI SONG 7/1 owned by J P McManus, trained by Ben Haslam and ridden by Richie McLernon
2020 Cyril Alexander Memorial Chase at Kelso PROTEK DES FLOS 15/2 owned by J P McManus, trained by Ben Haslam and ridden by Richie McLernon
2021 Unibet Handicap Chase at Haydock PROTEK DES FLOS 17/2 owned by J P McManus, trained by Ben Haslam and ridden by Richie McLernon
2022 Cartmel Racecourse Veterans Handicap Chase JERRYSBACK 14/1 owned by J P McManus, trained by Ben Haslam and ridden by Richie McLernon
2023 RIU Hotels & Resorts Handicap at Pontefract LIGHTENING COMPANY 6/1 owned by Middleham Park Racing, trained by Ben Haslam and ridden by Andrew Mullen
