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• Robert is a great believer in communicating regularly with his owners. Frequent written reports about the horses, and many telephone calls are the order of the day here.

Robert, upon completion of his A levels at school in Norfolk, immediately began work in Newmarket for trainer Gavin Pritchard-Gordon. Whilst working there he was keen to ride in races so took out a licence and promptly rode a winner at Brighton on his second attempt.

Two seasons with David 'the Duke' Nicholson was invalueable experience and at a time when the great Charter Party and Waterloo Boy were victorious at the Cheltenham Festival. Robert then set sail across the channel to work as an assistant to John Hammond in France for 2 years at the time when Suave Dancer, Dear Doctor and Polar Falcon were among the stable stars. It was in France that he was able to live the dream which was to work in a highly respected yard with very good horses and also ride as an amateur. John gave him numerous opportunities but managed to get most beat. Robert recalls with a smile 'yes, I finished 2nd most of the time beaten only the shortest of margins but Johns' instructions were quite difficult for a novice, "don't win too far!!"'. The best story was a ride Robert was offered in the provences for owners Cheveley Park Stud.

In 1992 he then moved further afield to become an assistant to Neil Drysdale in America. It was here that he was proud to be part of the team when A.P.Indy and Hollywood Wildcat both won Breeders Cup races. After a brief spell as a trainer and considerable success in California, Robert decided to return to England as he had a larger group of owners willing to support him.

He is training at Bottisham Heath Stud, which provides an excellent privately owned base for Robert and his wife, Ghislaine, along with their 9 year old son, Alex and 7 year old daughter, Kara.

The yard is sponsored by 'ROBERT COWELL RACING'.

2010 was our most successful season to date, with a numbers our horses putting together several wins on the bounce. Most notably Prohibit, who was a new recruit to us had a fantastic season winning the Shergar Cup Dash at Ascot and the Scarborough Stakes (Listed) at Doncaster. Other notably past achievements we must mention are Forever Phoenix salvaging her career from the claiming ranks to winning seven races and over £120,000 in prize money. Her most notable success was winning a decent handicap during the Dubai Carnival in 2005. Biniou was a listed winner in France at the end of the 2007 campaign. Canadian Danehill victorious twice at Newmarket during 2009 campaign (still going strong and is now the winner of 18 races), and High Spice winning on début on Guineas day at Newmarket in 2009.

For the 2011 season, Robert will train approximately 30 horses.
Robert is a great believer in communicating regularly with his owners. Frequent written reports about the horses, and many telephone calls are the order of the day here. He also is contactable by email.
Bottisham Heath Stud is completely self contained and peaceful, and provides a welcoming atmosphere for owners and potential owners. It is ideally suited to keeping the horses happy and helping them to achieve their full potential, with Robert's expertise of course!