Our whole operation couldn’t run smoothly without our fantastic team behind the scenes as well as those you see at the races. We are very lucky to have such a hard-working group of people by our side and we’re very proud to call them Team Kirby. Phil & Pippa separated in December 2023, with Pippa leaving the business at the end of July 2024 to concentrate on her own Artwork commissions,and can be contacted through her website philippakirbyartist.com

Phil Kirby 

Assistant Trainers

Jody Lancaster & Simon Olley

Head Girl

Katie Perkin 

Office Staff

Anna Dent & Sarah Olley (Part Time)   

 Travelling Team

Lauren Glew Katie Perkin Simon Olley

Jockeys

Joe Williamson

Key Players, Work Riders & Racing Grooms

Luke Connolly Tally Hawkins Daniel Perrin

Natasha Cookson Venetia Thompson

Jay Kozaczek Nick Barrett-Atkin

Connor Rabbitt

Yard Management

Keith Walker Katie Perkin Cal Cunningham Grace Atkins-Train

Equine Professionals

Toby Pedley

Ben Gaskell   Mark Noble

Ella Eadon Dan Astle-Carter

Phil Kirby

Phil not only trains the horses but often rides and shoes some of them himself too – he is a trained Farrier, although he leaves the bulk of that job to Toby Pedley now. He enjoys every winner from the smallest handicap seller to a big win at a Grade 1 track like Aintree or Haydock, and is just as happy driving his horses to the races, leading up if required, or harrowing the fields at home when we get a dry spring…

The Kirby Daughters

Racegoers & visitors of the yard will of no doubt seen The Kirby daughters keeping up the family tradition of riding and competing. Both girls have been lucky enough to compete at Horse of the Year Show several times, including both winning on the family coloured ‘Monivea Black Magic’ who currently holds the title for CHAPS UK under 148cm Native/cob/traditional coloured pony for the third time (2025)! Indy is an avid racing fan and is definitely taking after her parents. Izzy’s first love is acting & singing as well as riding herself. She is currently doing a Musical Theatre Degree at Urdang. Indy is at QE doing her A levels, while going racing as much as she can.

Kiki (above) is the youngest member of the Kirby daughters and has enjoyed celebrating her 1st birthday on 1st Jan (2026). She has also inherited the equine passion and loves coming out on the yard to see the horses.

Simon Olley – Assistant Trainer

Bringing his wealth of experience from Jonjo’s, Simon plays a huge part in the yard to work with Phil to manage the riding out board and ensuring each horses requirements are met. He is a first class horseman and along with Phil is also a jack of all trades. Phil says he would hate to have Simon’s job and Simon says he’d hate to have Phil’s! Perhaps why they work so well together. We all dread the time Simon goes away on holiday, even more so when he takes wife Sarah with him! Racegoers will have seen Simon leading up or representing Phil in the paddock many times. He is also often seen harrowing the gallop when Phil is away and turns his hand to many an odd job to keep the yard going.

Anna Dent – Head Secretary & Accounts

Anna joined us in January 2014 and Phil & Pippa certainly breathed a huge sigh of relief! Knowledgeable about the whole racing game, Anna has worked in the Office at several  top yards and brings with her a wealth of valuable experience. Before starting work in the admin side of racing, Anna was an amateur jockey. Her family has always been involved in racing and had many point to pointers – so when she and her brother got Amateur licences they were the perfect pair to ride the families horses at point to points and at the races. Her two favourite horses were Ben’s Birdie – who was owned by Anna and won 8 races on the flat in her colours, including one ridden by herself! And Crail Harbour who she also owned and ran. Outside of the sport she enjoys playing golf and tennis, spending time with the family and riding her ex racer ‘Cool Operator’ (aka Howard), who spent 3 years with us before retiring in 2014. The yard is certainly more organised since Anna started working for us, and she is a very valued and respected member of staff. Regular visitors to the yard will of no doubt met Anna’s dog Skye, who accompanies her to work most days.

Sarah Olley – Partnership Manager & Assistant Secretary

Alongside her husband Simon, The Olleys are the backbone of the yard having joined Phil late 2009 over in Castleton, and you couldn’t find two more capable people to leave in charge of the yard if Phil is away. Sarah brought tonnes of experience from Jonjo’s and we are very grateful that she decided to share her wealth of experience with us. Sarah enjoyed being Simon’s deputy on the yard for many years and loved taking her favourite horses racing and their dog Amber (sadly now missed) sometimes went along for a day out from time to time. Following the increasing number of Partnerships over 2016/17 Sarah transferred into working in the office to help Pippa with the running of them, as well as any other general office related jobs, including updating the website news and Facebook page. In April 2018 Sarah took a step back from work as the Olley’s saw the arrival of son Jack, who has been keeping Sarah busy, followed by his little sister Jessica in 2021. The latest addition is Fidget, the very well named dog who is in close competition with Jessica for who is the craziest!

Katie Perkin – Head Girl

Katie joined us from the racing school and has recently re-joined after a small break to go and work in an eventing yard and subsequently realising this is where she wants to be! She has been with us many years and has swiftly become a very capable member of staff, having spent time as a diligent and hardworking ‘Travelling Head Girl’. In 2017 she rode in the Doncaster Clock Tower Cup for stable staff on Iconic Figure – she loved it and wants to do it again. Her special favourite was Good Time Ahead who has since left us, but she has many favourites like a lot of us do including Alsvinder and Oak Vintage. She now prefers a more yard based role – a much appreciated ‘second pair of hands’ for Simon, but still rides out when needed. Katie lives in Catterick with her two cats Leela & Joey. She loves getting ‘Best Turned Out’ at the races and hates slow walkers.  Her plaits are legendary and she turns out the horses beautifully. She has recently (2022) taken Alsvinder on loan after his retirement from racing and is looking forwards to having some fun with him. She also now has another ex Kirby racer, Lord Torranaga – they both now live at Bushypark together.

Joe Williamson – Conditional Jockey

Joe joined us at the beginning of March 2020. He started out his riding career in Point to Points before joining James Evans as a Conditional in the 16/17 Season. Since then he’s spent a couple of seasons with local trainer Gill Bonus and rode 8 winners in total under rules, plus 2 in Point to Points. He’s a knowledgeable, capable rider and a great character. We were delighted to see him ride his first Winner for us in November 2020 aboard Raiff and has enjoyed many more since then, taking over as stable jockey following Tommy Dowson’s retirement in 2024.

Keith Walker – Yard Man

Keith is our yard man, he comes into the yard everyday and is very reliable. Keith’s duties include mucking out and helping to sweep the yard at the end of the morning, as well as completing odd jobs such as putting new equipment together and general DIY tasks. He is a very hard worker and you’ll rarely see him not grafting. The morning has been made a lot easier for the rest of the staff since Keith has started working here as they aren’t always rushing to get finished in time to pull out. It makes for happier staff and a happier yard! 

Toby Pedley – Farrier

Having a high quality farrier is essential for us and we’ve certainly found that in Toby. After graduating from Myerscough College Farriery in 2014 he started working for us in March 2016 when we moved to Green Oaks. Toby visits the yard every other day, shoeing all the horses apart from the one off emergencies which Phil takes care of, as he is fully qualified himself. He does his job very well and his happy, friendly personality is a bonus! 

Ben Gaskell – Vet

Another key member of the team is experienced vet, Ben. The Dad of three currently lives in Harrogate and as well as working in the business, takes a keen interest in all of the yards runners. His opinion is highly valued by Phil & Simon and he goes above and beyond many times to ensure we get what we need, when we need it. He loves it when the staff show interest in his work and is more than happy to explain stuff – we think its great that we can educate our staff in this way via such a knowledgeable man! We are in no doubt that his dedication to giving the horses the best care possible plays a huge part in our success.