Stormy Girl
A first breakthrough at Listed level, landing the Flying Fillies' Stakes at Pontefract.
Rebecca Menzies is a dual-purpose racehorse trainer — success on both the Flat and over jumps — based at the state-of-the-art Howe Hills Farm, just a stone's throw from Sedgefield racecourse. In little over a decade she has risen from relative obscurity to become one of the leading yards in the North.
It is the perfect home for our horses: hands-on, ambitious and genuinely welcoming to owners. Our star sprinter Adonius is trained here.
After a grounding with Ferdy Murphy — a stalwart of the northern jumps scene and trainer of ten Cheltenham Festival winners — Rebecca took the plunge in 2013, becoming Britain's youngest trainer at just 24. It didn't take long to silence the doubters: that November she became the youngest ever female to saddle a winner in Britain when Pistol Basc struck at Sedgefield.
Following an initial spell at Brandsby — the Cheltenham Gold Cup-winning yard of Peter Beaumont — the big move came in 2016, when Rebecca took over the reins at Howe Hills, the County Durham facility of veteran trainer the late John Wade. Her string almost doubled overnight, and with extra barns and stables the yard can now house up to 100 horses. Just off the A1 and 45 minutes from Newcastle, it is ideally placed to travel the length and breadth of the country in pursuit of success.
Having since bought Howe Hills outright following John Wade's passing, Rebecca has shown her commitment to building the yard for the long term — with hugely improved gallops and schooling facilities now in place.
A first breakthrough at Listed level, landing the Flying Fillies' Stakes at Pontefract.
Listed gold over jumps with two different horses in the spring of 2022.
Third at Royal Ascot — proof of a talented dual-purpose operation competing at the highest level.
A memorable double over jumps in Ireland, adding to a tally of 450+ winners under both codes.
Even with a three-figure string, Rebecca and her team keep a small-yard mentality — every horse looked after on an individual basis. Attention to detail is everything: specialist nutritionists, physiotherapists and vets are always on hand to keep horses happy, healthy and in the best possible shape to reach their potential on the track.
There's an open-door policy at Howe Hills. Owners are actively encouraged to come and watch their horses work and catch up on plans over a coffee (or something stronger) in the owners' room. Whether you own outright, with friends, or as part of a syndicate like ours, everyone is made to feel part of Team Menzies — exactly the welcome we want for our owners.
Both of our racehorses in training are with Rebecca at Howe Hills.
Adonius has been the story of her Flat season. The £32,000 yearling won his first three starts — at Musselburgh twice and then the Lily Agnes at Chester — before running second in the Group 3 Molecomb Stakes at Glorious Goodwood in July and second again in York's Listed Julia Graves Roses Stakes on Ebor Saturday in August. American investors Riverdee Stable and West Paces Racing bought into him after Chester, and the autumn plan points at Keeneland's $350,000 Indian Summer Stakes (Group 3) on 4 October, at the track staging the Breeders' Cup World Championships on 30–31 October.
Aodhan, our Caturra gelding, is the other half of the string — and the one with shares still available. He has improved with every run under Rebecca's care, from a debut eighth at Redcar in June to a career-best third in a nursery at Musselburgh in August, and holds an entry in Redcar's £150,000 Listed Two-Year-Old Trophy on 3 October.
Our Almanzor × Queen of Camelot colt, bred at Elwick Stud, is also destined for Howe Hills. Our upcoming runners and latest results are on the Racing page, updated as entries and declarations are confirmed. Please note we list only our horses there — for the full Rebecca Menzies Racing entry list across the whole yard, see her Racing Post trainer profile or the Rebecca Menzies Racing website.
Rebecca was 24 when she took out her first training licence in 2013, which made her the youngest licensed trainer in Britain at the time. That puts her in her late thirties in 2026 — still one of the younger trainers in the weighing room, with well over a decade of licensed training behind her.
At Howe Hills Farm near Sedgefield in County Durham, just off the A1 and around 45 minutes from Newcastle. The yard has capacity for around 100 horses, with its own gallops and schooling facilities. She has been there since 2016 and now owns the property outright.
Both. She is a dual-purpose trainer with more than 450 winners under both codes — Listed success over jumps with Fonzerelli and Return Ticket in 2022, and on the Flat with Stormy Girl in the Flying Fillies' Stakes at Pontefract in 2020. Our sprinter Adonius has taken her to Group level on the Flat for the first time.
Our own Menzies-trained runners and results are listed on our Racing page, which we update as entries and declarations come through. For every horse in the yard, the Racing Post trainer profile carries the full entries, declarations and form.
Yes — that is a big part of why we train there. Howe Hills operates an open-door policy: owners are encouraged to come and watch their horses work and talk through plans over a coffee in the owners' room. Shares in our horses start at £580 for 1%. Owning a racehorse should always be for the experience first; any prize money or resale value is a bonus, never guaranteed.
See what a horse in the care of Rebecca Menzies can do — then join us for the ride.
See Adonius's story Enquire about shares