Nicky Richards "Racehorse Trainer" and his Racing Yard, also of the late but Infamous Gordon W. Richards.

Nicholas Gordon Richards was born on 25 February 1956 in Alnwick, Northumberland. Specialising mainly in National Hunt racing, he is based at stables in Greystoke, near Penrith, Cumbria, England.

Nicky, son of the late Gordon W. Richards has the same energetic appetite for sucess within the yard. In his own right Nicky is already a "Record Breaker" when he took up as a jockey between 1971 and 1975, he is still the only person to have won his debut races on the Flat, over Hurdles and over the larger Fences!  He became British Champion Ameteur Flat Jockey in 1973.

 

He  subsequently worked as assistant trainer to his father, Gordon W. Richards, and took over the training licence when his father died in 1998. He saddled a winner with his first runner, Better Times Ahead, at Carlisle Racecourse in October 1998. The most successful horse he has trained to date is Monet's Garden, winner of the Ascot Chase, Melling Chase and Old Roan Chase in 2007. The grey won his third Old Roan Chase in 2010 having also won it in 2009. 

 

Nicky's best horses so far have been "Better Times Ahead", "The French Furze", "Faasel", "Turpin Green" and of course "Monet's Garden" his star prformer whom he nearly lost to a foot infection in 2011.  After much careful nursing and TLC, the handsome, dappled grey is up to his old tricks of trying to nibble the sleeves of visitors who come to wish him well in his retirement from racing and his new show career, in the hands of Nicky’s daughter Joey.

 

© Images courtesy of Nicky Richards Racing - www.nickyrichardsracing.com

Gordon W. Richards - "The Boss"

Gordon Richards will not only be be remembered for his name, but also for the feat of training two grand National winners in his magnificent career which spanned 34 years in National Hunt Racing.  The first emphatic win was with Lucius in 1978, then again in 1984 with Hallo Dandy.

Born in Bath, Somerset on 7th September 1930, Gordon was the eldest of 10 children born to a local Timber Merchant and his wife.  In his early days he was apprenticed as a flat jockey to Jack Waugh, but an early decision and the of insistance by a fatidious Clerk of the Scales Official at Salisbury Racecourse suggested that to decifer Gordon from the ledgendery champion flat jockey Sir Gordon Richards, there had to be some sort of name change. So it came to be that the middle initial of a "W" was allegedly inserted into his name which was apparently taken from Jack Waugh's surname!.  

 

Becoming too heavy for the flat, he rode as a National Hunt jockey for Ivor Anthony and Johnny Marshall; his career as a jockey was ended by a fall at Perth Racecourse in which he broke his back.

  

In 1964 he took out a licence to train, initially at Beadnell, Northumberland before moving to Greystoke Castle Stables stables near Penrith in Cumbria in 1968. He subsequently moved to a new purpose-built stables at The Rectory Farm in Greystoke village in 1988.

 

As well as his two Grand National winners, he gained major successes with One Man.  This imposing grey was a dual winner of the King George V1 Chase  during the Christmas/Boxing Day Meeting at Kempton Park, also the winner of the Queen Mother Champion Chase at Cheltenham.  Titus Oates was also a King George V1 Chase winner.

 

Gordon unfortunately died from cancer in Carlisle, Cumbria on 29th September 1998.  He was also fondly know by many as "The Boss".

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We will look forward to welcoming all of our Guests in 2024,

new and those who are returning to 

Stafford House

Guest House,

and also to our

Self-Catering Lodges

 

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With the "Utmost Safety" of all our

Guests in mind, 

we still continue to take every precaution possible, including following the "Updated Guidelines" from the Government

so that we can 

open for Business

- Safely!

 

During the 1st Lockdown in March 2020, we invested in a

"Fogging Machine"

By useing a special solution certified

to kill ALL Viral 

& Bacterial Infections,

(should there be any present),

We are confident that we can operate as safe as we possibly can be.  

 

We also meticulously clean and sanitise all areas, before finishing with a "Steam Cleaner"

making sure that everything is safe.

 

There are Hand Sanitisers in all 3 Bedrooms, as well the Breakfast Room in the Main House.

The Lodges also have Hand Sanitisers in the Kitchen. 

 

Thank You For

Your Custom and Patience, 

and we will look forward to seeing you all again very soon.

 

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Please be aware that unfortunately we do not allow pets into the main building of

"Stafford House",

 

However you are more than welcome to bring them along when you are staying in our Lodges

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News

Our En-Suite Double Room in the Main House has now been appointed with a Kingsize 4 Poster Bed, there is also wooden pannelling on some of the walls.

We hope that you will like the changes!   

 

After the 3rd Lockdown we were allowed to re-open our Lodges on 12th April 2021, and we have made a few changes..

 

Blencathra Lodge now sleeps 2 People, and Pennine Lodge can sleep up to 6 People.

 

Check out the Lodge Section to see what we have done!

For the last 6 years we have achieved the "Certificate of Excellence" award from Tripadvisor, so in recognition of that we now appear in their

"Hall of Fame!"

Click here to arrange  booking with us.

Call us now on

01768 483 558

Email us now at:

info@stafford-house.co.uk

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