Eve Johnson Houghton

The Johnson Houghton family

Eve is the daughter of Fulke Johnson Houghton who trained at Woodway for over 40 years, having taken over from his mother Helen who in turn had taken over from her husband, Gordon. More than 15 Group 1 winners have been trained here from Gilles de Retz winning the 2,000 Guinneas in 1956.   To the most recent being TOUT SEUL winning the Dewhurst Stakes in 2002.

Fulke’s notable successes included:

• RIBOCCO – St Leger & Irish Derby
• RIBERO – St Leger and Irish Derby
• HABITAT – Prix Moulin, Prix Quincy, Wills Mile, Lockinge Stakes
• DOUBLE FORM – King’s Stand, Prix de L’Abbaye, Vernon’s Sprint
• ILE DE BOURBON – King Edward VII, King George VI & Queen Elizabeth, Coronation Cup
• ROSE BOWL – Queen Elizabeth II (twice) & Champion Stakes
• TOUT SEUL – Dewhurst Stakes

Eve’s CV also reads well.  Having worked in London she came down to Lambourn and worked for Henry Ponsonby running syndicates.  She then spent 6 years with John Hills first as secretary, then as assistant trainer, so she knows the business inside and out.  During this time, John had such horses as Wind in Her Hair and Broadway Flyer.

In 1999 Eve came back to Woodway.  In that first season the yard had success with Sobriety in the John Magnet Cup at York and it was 3 years later that the biggest recent success was to come.  Eve & Fulke bought a yearling by Ali Royal at the 2001 Tattersalls Ireland yearling sale for 12,000 Irish punts.  He went on to be called TOUT SEUL who ran 7 times as a 2 year old, winning 5 of them and culminating in winning the Group 1 Dewhurst Stakes.

Although, we haven’t had any Group 1 horses since then, the yard has been going well and since Eve has taken over the licence all the current owners have been very supportive and we have also had some new owners come along.

Eve is ambitious and hopes to expand the yard and get the number of winners up, year on year.  Watch this space….

The Team at Woodway

Although a traditional racing base, there is nothing old-fashioned about the team thinking and strategy at Woodway. It is a team. With Eve now taking over the licence ably assisted by Fulke (an invaluable 40 years experience as a trainer) and Gaie (a leading amateur jockey and still riding out 2 lots a day).  We also have an excellent staff consisting of:

Will Reddy – Head Lad: Will has worked here since leaving school and worked his way through the ranks from apprentice, travelling head lad to Head Lad. He has looked after some amazing horses including Ile De Bourbon and Rose Bowl and knows each and every horse in the yard inside out.

Katie Thorpe is 2nd Head Lad.  Katie has been with us for 8 years coming straight here from the Racing School. In that time she has become an integral part of the team and came straight back to work after her maternity leave to have Charlie.  Charlie is now 3 years old and regularly comes to help out at evening stables.  Katie is a huge asset in this capacity and hopefully this will help to keep the ship running extremely smoothly.

Most of the rest of the lads have been with us for over 2 years and ranging up to 40 years for Bob Lang our yard man. They are all exceptionally loyal and look after their horses well. Steve Carson our jockey comes in twice a week to ride work, help with schooling in the stalls and also helps out in the winter with the yearlings.