Sun Hill Farm is set in beautiful North Yorkshire countryside in the vicinity of the historic village of Constable Burton, in the Richmondshire district of the county, just 3 miles east of Leyburn and about the same distance from Middleham, described as 'Newmarket of the North'. The village was mentioned in the 1086 Domesday Book, recorded as the 'Land of Count Alan', while the nearby Grade I Listed Georgian mansion of Constable Burton Hall was built by John Carr in 1768 for Sir Marmaduke Wyvill and is still owned by Charles, a many times great grandson of Sir Marmaduke. The village pub is appropriately named The Wyvill Arms and was a former 18th century farmhouse on what was then a very extensive Wyvill Estate. On part of that vast Estate the Wyvill family bred thoroughbred racehorses, owning The Belgrade Turk, and although not one of the 3 founding stallions, it does nevertheless feature prominently in the Stud Book. The 3 generally accepted dominant foundation Stallions are The Darley Arabian (1700-1730), from whom the mighty Eclipse was a descendant, the Byerley Turk (circa 1688-1703) who is buried at Goldsborough Hall, and the Godolphin Arabian (1724-1753), who died at the Babraham Stud, Cambridge on Christmas Day 1753 and is buried under the archway of the stable block of Wandlebury House, near Cambridge where a stone marks his grave.
It has been reported that as many as 74 mares on the Wyvill Estate were mated to at least one of those 3 stallions. Also, part of that estate was Sun Hill Farm and, given its historical links with the foundation stallions and mares, it is the ideal location for a training centre. Sun Hill is built on the side of a hill, extends over 50 acres and boasts an all-weather uphill gallop which climbs over 140 feet, as well as a 6 furlong grass gallop and 1.5 furlong fibresand circular canter. In addition, there is a lunge ring, many horse walkers, a solarium and numerous turnout paddocks.
2000-present Ann Duffield
Ann Duffield and her husband George have a wealth of experience in racing. Ann began training at Melsonby, near Doncaster, on a former stud farm before making the move to Lord Zetland's Hurgill Lodge, replacing the legendary Yorkshire trainer Bill Watts, trainer of 1972 1000 Guineas winner Warpath, and 1985 Arlington Million winner Teleprompter. George, born at Stanley, West Yorkshire on 30th November 1946, became one of the most loyal, well-respected jockeys in the weighing room. He started his career as apprentice to Jack Waugh at Heath House stables, Newmarket, and when Jack retired in 1970 George was appointed stable jockey to John Oxley at Hurworth House before deciding to go freelance for 2 years. However, in 1973 George returned to Heath House to join Waugh's replacement, Sir Mark Prescott who George worked closely with for the next 32 years. George rode his first winner on Syllable on 15th June 1967 in the Burgess Apprentice Handicap at Yarmouth, his last winner in 2004, and retired from race riding on Friday 11th March 2005 having notched up 2547 winners which, at that time, earned him tenth place in the all-time list. George fondly remembers his association with Spindrifter in 1980 on whom he won 11 consecutive races, but the highlight of his career was guiding User Friendly (SR 1991) owned by Bill Gredley and trained by Clive Brittain, to victory in the 1992 Epsom Oaks, Irish Oaks, Yorkshire Oaks and St Leger. George was justifiably awarded the MBE in 2002 for his services to horse racing. In 2000 Ann and George bought a run down farm on the Wyvill Estate and have transformed it into Sun Hill Farm Stables, a training establishment second to none. In 2000 Ann brought her string of 21 to Sun Hill, and it increased to 25 in 2001, to 27 the next year and, by 2005, was up to 30. Two of her earliest winners at Sun Hill on the Flat and over Jumps, were Kittochside Lad on 1st April 2000 in the Federation Brewery Amateur Riders Selling Handicap Chase at Hexham, and Charming Admiral ten days later in the Pontefract Races.co.uk Handicap Plate. She broke through the 40-horse barrier in 2006, the 60 horse barrier the next year, and by 2008 Horses in Training recorded her string as 70. However, the 2008 season proved to be difficult as many of their horses became ill, and at the end of the season George reported to a newspaper that they had amassed just 13 winners from 243 races, and numbers dipped to 54. But the pair worked hard and bounced back, and in 2016 their string was back up to 60. Ann won the Group 3 Firth of Clyde Stakes at Ayr in 2012 with Melody of Love, and again in 2014 with Dark Reckoning. Her highest profile winner over hurdles came in 2022 in the Grade 3 Swinton Handicap Hurdle at Haydock with N'Golo.
2000 Federation Brewery Amateur Riders Selling Handicap Chase at Hexham KITTOCHSIDE LAD 14/1 owned by Scotnorth Racing Ltd, trained by Ann Duffield and ridden by Paddy Aspell
2000 Pontefract-Races.co.uk CHARMING ADMIRAL 14/1 owned by The Old Spice Girls, trained by Ann Duffield and ridden by George Duffield
2012 Firth of Clyde Group 3 Stakes at Ayr MELODY OF LOVE 7/2 owned by Mrs P Good, trained by Ann Duffield and ridden by Paul Mulrennan
2014 Horn Blower Conditions Stakes at Ripon DARK RECKONING 10/1 owned by Qatar Racing Ltd, trained by Ann Duffield and ridden by Harry Bentley
2014 Firth of Clyde Group 3 Stakes at Ayr DARK RECKONING 25/1 owned by Qatar Racing Ltd, trained by Ann Duffield and ridden by Graham Lee
2022 Swinton Grade 3 Handicap Hurdle at Haydock N'GOLO 28/1 owned by K Jardine, R Griffiths and S Greig, trained by Ann Duffield and ridden by Gavin Sheehan
2020-present Phillip Makin & Sammy Jo Bell
Phillip Makin, born on 22nd June 1984, began his racing career as an apprentice to Roy Bowring in 2002 before moving on to David Barron. In 2005 he won the Great St Wilfrid Handicap at Ripon aboard Ice Planet 10/1 for David Nicholls, while in 2011 he notched up his first Royal Ascot victory on Bapak Chinto in the Group 2 Norfolk Stakes. He landed a second Royal Ascot win the next year in the Listed Windsor Castle Stakes when partnering Hototo 14/1, and in the same year he scored in the Group 2 Gimcrack Stakes at York on Blaine. Big wins followed at York in 2015, landing the valuable Skybet York Stakes with Tullius owned by Kennet Valley Thoroughbreds, but arguably the highlight of his career was at York on Saturday 11th July 2015 when he not only won the John Smith's Cup with Master Carpenter 14/1, but also completed a four-timer that day on Birdman 7/1 for David O'Meara, Dark Defender 7/1 for Keith Dalgleish, and Out Do 4/1 for David O'Meara, a 4799/1 accumulator. In 2016 he won two historic races at Carlisle, the Carlisle Bell aboard Edgar Balthazar and the Cumberland Plate riding Sindarban. Phillip rode successfully for 17 seasons, but on 25th August 2018 he had a crashing fall at Redcar on Eyecatcher, broke a bone in his neck and retired from race riding in March 2019 when it was obvious that the injuries he sustained prevented him from returning to the saddle. He immediately switched his attention to training, successfully applied for a trainer's licence and began his training career at Well Close Farm, Easingwold near York, recording his inaugural winner on 22nd April 2019 when Galloway Hills was successful at Redcar. Sammy Jo Bell, born in Northern Ireland, began her racing career as an apprentice with Kevin Prendergast and enjoyed her first win on 27th March 2011 at Leopardstown aboard Celtic Dane. She later worked for Jim Bolger in Ireland before switching to Richard Fahey in Yorkshire. She got a big break in 2015 as a replacement in the Lady Jockeys Team in the Shergar Cup at Ascot, advertising her riding ability on one of the biggest stages by winning on Royal Signaller and Shell Bay, and by so doing won the Shergar Cup Silver Saddle for the top rider. Although the future looked bright, she suffered a series of injuries and in February 2018 announced her retirement from race riding. In 2020 Phillip transferred his string to a barn on Sun Hill Farm, owned by Ann and George Duffield, and he and his partner Sammy Jo Bell, who was his assistant trainer, enjoyed an early success with Lahore, who won the Betway Handicap at Doncaster, following up in the valuable William Hill Every Day Handicap at York.
2005 Great St Wilfrid Handicap at Ripon ICE PLANET 10/1 owned by David Faulkner, trained by David Nicholls and ridden by Phillip Makin
2011 Norfolk Stakes Group 2 at Royal Ascot BAPAK CHINTO 6/1 owned by T A Rahman, trained by Kevin Ryan and ridden by Phillip Makin
2012 Cecil Frail Stakes at Haydock INETROBIL 20/1 owned by Highclere Thoroughbreds, trained by Kevin Ryan and ridden by Phillip Makin
2012 Gimcrack Stakes Group 2 at York BLAINE 6/1 owned by Matt & Lauren morgan trained by Kevin Ryan and ridden by Phillip Makin
2012 Windsor Castle Listed Stakes at Royal Ascot HOTOTO 14/1 owned by Kenneth Macpherson, trained by Kevin Ryan and ridden by Phillip Makin
2015 Skybet York Stakes at York TULLIUS 10/1 owned by Kennet Valley thoroughbreds, trained by Andrew Balding and ridden by Phillip Makin
2015 John Smiths Cup at York MASTER CRAFTSMAN 14/1 owned by Links Partnership & Cheveley Park Stud, trained by Rod Millman and ridden by Phillip Makin
2016 Carlisle Bell at Carlisle EDGAR BALTHAZAR 25/1 owned by Middleham Park Racing, trained by Keith Dalgleish and ridden by Phillip Makin
2016 Cumberland Plate at Carlisle SINDARBAN 5/1 owned by Paul & Clare Rooney, trained by Keith Dalgleish and ridden by Phillip Makin
3rd January 2020 Betyourway Handicap at Wolverhampton ALMUR 11/4 trained by Phillip Makin and ridden by Ben Curtis
18th January 2020 Totetrifecta Handicap at Chelmsford STORM OVER 9/4 trained by Phillip Makin and ridden by Ben Curtis
2020 Betway Handicap at Doncaster LAHORE 10/1 owned by Mrs Wendy Burdett, trained by Phillip Makin and ridden by Rowan Scott
2020 William Hill Every Day Handicap at York LAHORE 12/1 owned by Mrs Wendy Burdett, trained by Phillip Makin and ridden by Rowan Scott
2022-present Patrick Neville
In August 2021 Patrick Neville travelled over from Ireland to become assistant trainer to Ann Duffield, with special responsibility for the jumpers barn, calling on his previous experience in Ireland. The stable enjoyed success with The Real Whacker, owned by Ann Duffield, who won the Fantails Restaurant Maiden Hurdle at Carlisle before running second to Mahler Mission in the Grade 2 Albert Bartlett River Don Novices Hurdle at Doncaster. In 2022 Patrick successfully applied for his own trainers licence, although it should have been a straightforward procedure transferring his Irish Trainers Licence, but it took almost 9 months, and he then began renting 23 boxes from Ann rather than seeking a stable elsewhere in Middleham. His one success in his first season was with The Real Whacker in the Mallardjewellers.com Novices Chase at Cheltenham, but on Monday 23rd February 2023 the racing world knew Patrick Neville had arrived when he won the first 3 races at Catterick, firstly with Fiston Du Mou 15/8, then with Not Staying Long 9/1, and completed the 286/1 treble with Kavanaghs Cross 9/1. Even more success was to come, for after winning the Grade 2 Dipper Novices Chase at Cheltenham with The Real Whacker at 10/1, he followed up with victory in the Grade 1 Brown advisory Broadway Novices Chase at the Cheltenham Festival with The Real Whacker 8/1 ridden by Sam Twiston-Davies.
2021 Fantails Restaurant Maiden Hurdle at Carlisle THE REAL WHACKER 22/1 owned and trained by Ann Duffield and ridden by Henry Brooke
2022 Albert Bartlett River Don Grade 2 Novices Hurdle at Doncaster THE REAL WHACKER runner-ip to Mahler Mission
2022 Mallardjewellers.com Novices Chase at Cheltenham THE REAL WHACKER 10/1 owned by Neville, Mann, Duffus & Dennis, trained by Patrick Neville and ridden by Gavin Sheehan
2023 Dipper Grade 2 Novices Chase at Cheltenham THE REAL WHACKER 10/1 owned by Neville, Mann, Duffus & Dennis, trained by Patrick Neville and ridden by Sam Twiston-Davies
2023 Jump for Joy Racing TV Handicap Chase at Catterick FISTON DU MOU 15/8 owned by Kevin Jardine, trained by Patrick Neville and ridden by Gavin Sheehan
2023 Meetings that Matter Mares Novices Hurdle at Catterick NOT STAYING LONG 9/1 owned by Mrs Wilma Duffus, trained by Patrick Neville and ridden by Brian Hughes
2023 Racing TV.com Handicap Hurdle at Catterick KAVANAGHS CROSS 9/1 owned by David Tomlinson, trained by Patrick Neville and ridden by Brian Hughes
2023 Brown Advisory Broadway Grade 1 Novices Chase at the Cheltenham Festival THE REAL WHACKER 8/1 owned by Neville, Mann, Duffus & Dennis, trained by Patrick Neville and ridden by Sam Twiston-Davies
THE REAL WHACKER (2023 Brown Advisory Broadway Novices Chase)
N'GOLO (2022 Swinton Hurdle_
DARK RECKONING (2014 Firth of Clyde Stakes)
MELODY OF LOVE (2012 Firth of Clyde Stakes)
LAHORE (2020 Betway Handicap, William Hill Handicap)
