The contents of the living room in the house owned by Anne and Garth Broom on the edge of a Somerset village show how big an impression the couple have made on British jump racing.
Sitting proudly on a table by the fireplace is the Cheltenham Gold Cup, while on the sideboard, immortalised in bronze by sculptor Willie Newton, is the distinctive figure of Native River, the Colin Tizzard-trained steeplechaser with a white blaze and four white socks who won that prized trophy in 2018.
No British-trained steeplechaser has won the centrepiece of the Cheltenham Festival since.
There is also a gallery of photographs celebrating the exploits of jumpers who have carried the Brooms’ Brocade Racing silks, like 2013 Cheltenham Festival victor Golden Chieftain, three-time winner of the Rehearsal Chase at Newcastle Hey Big Spender, and Master Overseer, victorious in the 2012 Midlands National.
No wonder Garth says: ‘‘Racing has become our life. We live and breathe our horses.’’
Those Brocade Racing stand-out stars have been tough to replace, but the picture gallery looks like it could be expanding rapidly thanks to a crop of talented young horses. The fresh influx, which delivered a season’s best 23 wins in the 2024-25 campaign, includes the Joe Tizzard-trained Alexei, who routed the opposition in the Greatwood Hurdle at Cheltenham’s November meeting, and
unbeaten Sober Glory, who looked to be one of the most exciting novices seen this side of the Irish Sea when easily winning a Chepstow maiden hurdle for the Philip Hobbs and Johnson White stable.
Allstitchedup, American Land, Gentleman Toboot, Harry Junior, Jurancon and Kripticjim have all also either won or shown promise for Brocade.
we got lucky and bought a bunch of good ones
Garth says: “The reason we did so well last season was because the season before we hadn’t had a very good time, so we retired a number of horses and brought in some nice young ones.
“Normally, when you get a bunch of horses, you might get one that is okay but, unusually, we got lucky and bought a bunch of good ones. We have high hopes for some, while others will be good and winning races.
‘‘We were hoping Alexei would run well at Cheltenham but weren’t expecting him to win like he did. We are going to have to re-think our original plan and have a look at the programme. We have been caught out a little bit really with what we have got!
‘‘We don’t want to get ahead of ourselves too much, but he is likely to be put up to a handicap mark in the 140s and if you can get up to the 150s, you start to think you might be in with a slight chance against Champion Hurdle-type horses.’’
The Broom string, at one time numbering 20 horses, currently stands at 14, six horses each with Joe Tizzard and David Pipe, and two with Hobbs and Johnson White.
The three stables were not chosen only because of their proximity to the couple’s home near Taunton.
Garth says: “Philip was born in same nursing home as my sister and our parents were great friends. I grew up with Martin Pipe, but I couldn’t afford to get involved in ownership until after he retired and his son David took over.
“In our younger days we would go to the same parties and dances. Martin had to miss our wedding because that was the day he was having his stable inspected to get his trainer’s licence, so he had a good excuse!
Success gets you gripped
“We have always gone racing and had chatted for years to Colin at the racecourse. He used to say, ‘Come on, when are you going to have a horse with me?’”
Anne has been going racing since she was a child with her father Charles Webber, who had horses in training with Gerald Cottrell. While Garth would occasionally ride the point-to-pointers and hunter chasers trained by his uncles Raymond and Trevor Winslade.
The pair had hoped that when they retired from farming and sold the two farms their marriage had brought together, that they would be able to indulge in their hobby. The name Brocade is a nod to their past, the first three letters of their surname added to Cades, the name of the farm that belonged to Anne’s family. Yet their initial racing ambitions were modest.
Garth recalls: ‘‘We were going to start off with one or two horses to run locally. When we first went to the Pipes, Anne said she would like a horse with long ears. People say that is a sign of a genuine horse and Martin replied, “I am training racehorses, not rabbits!”
Anne adds: ‘‘We never thought we would go to big meetings, but we were so lucky it just took off. It was just a bit of fun.’’
Their first runner – the David Pipe-trained Quinte Du Chatelet – won the St Patrick’s Day Juvenile Novices’ Hurdle at Taunton on March 17, 2008, in the hands of Tom Scudamore.
Garth says: “Success gets you gripped. It’s like a fish, once you are on the hook you get reeled in.
We love the jumps
“We went up to Colin’s and saw this horse galloping, and he kept catching Anne’s eye. It was Hey Big Spender. Colin said his brother owned him but would probably sell him and he agreed to. He turned out to be very good – we didn’t think we would ever get one any better.
“Then we got Master Overseer. One day we had two runners – Quinte Du Chatelet and Shaking Hands – at Uttoxeter. Martin said he a had nice horse so I told him if we had a winner we would buy him. They both won, so it was a done deal, and it turned out to be a very good deal.”
The Brooms’ commitment to jump racing is absolute. They have only ever been to one Flat meeting in their lives. Anne says: “We love the jumps and don’t bother with the Flat. We were always brought up with it.
“The only time we went to a Flat meeting was when a feed company we were dealing with got a party up at Chepstow one evening, but it is not the same. We don’t know the people and don’t follow it.”
Garth adds: “In jump racing you get to know the jumpers better because the horses come back season after season.
“I’d maybe watch the top Group 1 Flat races but only for the simple reason that somewhere down the line there might be a nice stallion we might use… but a fair way down the line when the [stud] fee has gone down!”
In the face of Irish dominance in Britain’s biggest NH races led by Willie Mullins, Gordon Elliott, Henry de Bromhead and Gavin Cromwell, many of the leading British owners have adopted a policy of ‘if you can’t beat them, join them’, switching their horses to be trained in Ireland.
However, the Brooms are adamant that they are neither daunted by the strength of the Irish opposition, nor tempted to join the exodus.
Garth explains: “We have had several requests to have a horse with other trainers, but my reply is always that it is costing us enough to keep three trainers with horses! I can’t commit to any more.
“We wouldn’t move the horses to Ireland. The simple reason is our trainers can train our horses as well as Willie Mullins could. He is successful because he has big-spending owners.
“He is a very good trainer, but it is only what you put into a stable. I don’t think he would improve any of our horses. We have full faith in our own trainers. If they have the goods, they can do it.
“Native River is the last British-trained winner of the Cheltenham Gold Cup. I am hoping in a couple of years’ time that might change [with Sober Glory]!
“We are not put off. It all goes in cycles. It’s not long since Paul Nicholls had Denman and Kauto Star. Colin has had good horses, as had Philip Hobbs.’’
Garth concedes that they have to be canny when it comes to recruitment, which is left exclusively to bloodstock agent Tom Malone, whose farm is only a couple of miles from their home.
I feel it is better to give a bit more for a pointer that has shown some form
He knows the size and shape they have favoured with an emphasis on future chasers. They are largely Irish point-to-pointers, bought privately. Of the current crop of youngsters, only Sober Glory was bought at public auction.
Garth explains: “There is a ceiling to the amount we will pay for a horse and we buy privately. We like to buy under the radar.
“Tom will say ‘I have a nice horse, come and see him,’ and then we decide. He has been buying for us for so long, he knows the sort of horse we like and the sort of money we are prepared to give.
“I feel at these public auctions you have the big owners butting heads with each other and one doesn’t want to give in to the other one, so probably they pay more than the horse is worth.
“We have tried all sorts of things. We used to buy store horses and we were successful with them, but the problem is you usually have to keep them a long time until they can run.
“I feel it is better to give a bit more for a pointer that has shown some form, otherwise you have two years’ training [fees] for a store who might not be any good.
“It appears to be working at the moment so I don’t think we will want to change it.”
What the Brooms have changed in their latest recruitment batch, however, is to buy a handful of different models.
Alexei was sourced from Germany where he had raced on the Flat.
Garth says: “Staying chasers are the type of horse we like. Our theory to start with was you want a big strong horse because the chances are it will not be a Grade 1 horse but if it is fairly good it will be a handicapper – and if it is a good handicapper it has to be capable of carrying weight.
“The downside we found is that we had some nice big horses who needed soft going, but by the time you come to Cheltenham and Aintree the ground has gone against them.
“With Alexei and American Land, we have started buying some lighter horses that can run on faster ground, so hopefully they will be able to run at the big spring festivals.
“With climate change, early in the season we have had horses ready to run for a month, but they couldn’t. Sober Glory was meant to go for the Persian War Novices’ Hurdle at Chepstow in October and we had to wait with him.
“We are going that way a little bit because it can be frustrating. Last year with Sober Glory, he won three races and the logical thing would then have been to go on to Cheltenham and Aintree.
“It was the same with Kripticjim. He just had three runs last season. It is frustrating in February putting away horses who are winning.
“It has also been frustrating early this season that our local tracks – Exeter, Taunton and Wincanton – have been unraceable from the point of view of our horses.
“I always say to the trainers if we are discussing whether we should run, we have answered our own question. I call them the hungry months. Horses come in, they are in full training for about three months, but we are not earning anything.
“Somebody asked me if we ran our racing as a business and I said ‘yes, to minimise our losses!’ But I like to think we have got a grip on the situation rather than it running away from us. You can’t rely on the horses earning money, although you hope it will help a little bit.”
For the first time this season, the Brocade Racing string includes a mare. Fairy Park, a daughter of Walk In The Park, is in training with Joe Tizzard.
In Sober Glory, they hope they have a gelding who could potentially be their best since ‘horse of a lifetime’ Native River.
Garth says: “When Sober Glory ran at Chepstow, I haven’t been so nervous since Native River was running because he had been hyped up all summer.
“Philip is normally laid back, but whenever he talks to us about him there has been a glint in his eye. He has always been excited about him.
“We’d love to win another Gold Cup. To us that is the holy grail. Level weights and the best horse wins, although I wouldn’t mind a Champion Hurdle!
“This life isn’t a practise – it is the real thing so we are going to carry on with the horses as long as we can.”
River still flowing in retirement
When Native River won the 2018 Cheltenham Gold Cup, Anne Broom said it took a week for the moment to truly sink in.
Looking back now, Garth Broom reckons the couple appreciate the achievements of their chestnut gelding who won over £1 million in prize-money even more.
Native River compiled an impressive C.V. with 14 wins in his 32 races. They included three successes in Newbury’s Denman Chase (2017, 2018 and 2020), the 2016 Hennessy Gold Cup and the 2016 Welsh Grand National.
He also finished fourth in the 2019 and 2021 Cheltenham Gold Cups. But what Native River has done in retirement has given the Brooms equal pleasure.
They regularly visit the 15-year-old gelding, who is cared for at the farm of bloodstock agent Tom Malone, but Native River has a diary of engagements as full as the Brooms’, with him excelling in the dressage and showing ring.
Native River won a Retraining of Racehorses class at Burghley in 2024 and has also competed at Hickstead, The Horse of the Year Show and the Dublin Horse Show.
Ridden by Harry Cobden, he also won the Injured Jockeys Showjumping challenge at the Bicton Arena in Devon.
He has been an equine racecourse ambassador, appearing at Exeter and Newton Abbot, a guest star alongside Rachael Blackmore at a Gold Cup promotion event in London’s Bond Street as well as being the impeccably behaved chosen conveyance to the school prom of the daughter of a friend of the Brooms, her ball gown spread over his quarters.
Garth says: “He is a very gentle horse, but he had a core of steel when he was racing.
“It’s lovely because being retired and out in the field isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
“We always try to find our horses a good home and try to match them to the right home, because some horses are more highly strung. You must make sure they don’t go with a novice who might not be able to cope. The trainers are a great help in matching them up.
“These horses have given us a lot of pleasure, and we want them to have a happy retirement. We feel it is our duty to do the best we can for them.”
