Oliver James Sherwood (born May 23, 1955) is a National Hunt trainer.

Background

Sherwood’s parents – Nat and Heather Sherwood – were both talented point-to-point horse riders. They each won many races during the 1950s and 1960s. Sherwood’s younger brother Simon also showed a great love for horses and was a successful jockey famously winning the Cheltenham Gold Cup on Desert Orchid in 1989.

Career highlights

Sherwood began training in 1984. Since that time he has sent out more than 800 winners. Some of the most famous horses he has trained over the years include: Arctic Call, Be Rude Not To, Claymore, Coulton, Cruising Altitude, Eric’s Charm, Him Of Praise, Hulysse Royal, Jaunty Flight, Large Action, Lord Of The River, Manorson, Mischievous Milly, Monkerhostin, Puffin Billy, Tildarg, The Breener, The West Awake and Young Snugfit. In 1979-80 Sherwood became the Champion Amateur Jockey in the National Hunt season. He won at the

Cheltenham Festival The Cheltenham Festival is a horse racing-based meeting in the National Hunt racing calendar in the United Kingdom, with race prize money second only to the Grand National. The four-day festival takes place annually in March at Cheltenham Ra ...

on three separate occasions: Sun Alliance Novices Hurdle 1979 (with Venture to Cognac), Christie’s Foxhunters' Chase 1980 (with Rolls Rambler) and 1984 (with Venture to Cognac). Festival victories include: Aldino, Coulton, Rebel Song, The West Awake and Young Pokey. Sherwood has trained four of the Mares Final (Newbury) winners: Atrabates (1986), Northern Jinx (1989), Jaunty Flight (2008) and Argento Luna (2009). He has also won the Challow Hurdle three times, the Sun Alliance Novice Hurdle twice, the Bula Hurdle three times, the Scottish Champion Hurdle, the Arkle Trophy, the Tingle Greek Chase, the

Hennessy Gold Cup /Ladbrokes Trophy The Coral Gold Cup is a Premier Handicap National Hunt steeplechase in Great Britain which is open to horses aged four years or older. It is run ...

, the EBF Novices Hurdle twice, the Hoechst Regumate Mares Novice Hurdle Final, twice, the Glenlivet Hurdle, the Seagram 100 Pipers Top Novice Chase, the Singer and Freidlander National Trial and the Reynoldstown Novices Chase, and the

Sun Alliance Chase The Brown Advisory Novices' Chase is a Grade 1 National Hunt chase in Great Britain which is open to horses aged five years or older. It is run on the Old Course at Cheltenham over a distance of about ...

. At the end of November 2014, Sherwood made quite an impact in horse racing. Winning the Hennesy Gold Cup with Many Clouds was most significant – especially since the last time he had made that win was 24 years earlier. It was described as: “the most raucous celebrations seen on this rather buttoned-up racetrack for many a year.”

Rhonehurst

Oliver Sherwood trains his horses at Rhonehurst. Offering stables for 60 horses, an equine swimming pool and more, today it is well-respected by top class National Hunt racing in the

British Isles The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles, ...

. He moved out of Rhonehurst in 2021, to rent Neardown Stables, Upper Lambourn. The yard is owned by successful ex-trainer Charlie Mann, who retired in 2021 with over 800 winners.

Education

Sherwood attended public school at

Radley Radley is a village and civil parish about northeast of the centre of Abingdon, Oxfordshire. The parish includes the hamlet of Lower Radley on the River Thames. It was part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred it to Oxfor ...

and confessed he was “hopeless academically.”

Personal data

Sherwood married Tarnya in 1993. They have a daughter and a son: Sabrina and Archie. Tarnya also had a love for horses, being a National Hunt jockey before meeting Oliver, riding winners as a professional under rules. In 1989 she rode in the

Grand National The Grand National is a National Hunt horse race held annually at Aintree Racecourse in Liverpool, England. First run in 1839, it is a handicap st ...

on Numerate, pulling up at the 21st fence. He was previously married to Denise, daughter of

Fred Winter Frederick Thomas Winter, (20 September 1926 – 5 April 2004) was a British National Hunt racing racehorse jockey and trainer. He was British jump racing Champion Jockey four times and British jump racing Champion Trainer eight times. He is th ...

. He enjoys playing

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...

and was the Lambourn Xl Captain. He also supports the UK's Chelsea Football Team.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sherwood, Oliver British racehorse trainers 1955 births Living people People educated at Radley College