You may like to see the faces of those who run Chasing Gold, so here are a few details about Tom and Val Chadney, along with some information about Daryl Jacob, who we are proud to sponsor ...

Tom Chadney

Tom formed Chasing Gold Racing Club back in January 2006. He has been involved in racing for over 20 years, initially as an owner on the Flat but soon discovered the delights of National Hunt racing and sent his horses to Robert and Sally Alner in Dorset. He later sponsored their yard through his firm of independent financial advisers, Chadney Bulgin, and on his retirement decided to start a Racing Club linked to the Alner yard. Originally we had only two horses in training (Mibleu and One Dream) but as membership increased so did the number of horses.

Tom enjoys sport, and in particular supports Tottenham Hotspur having held a season ticket for over 35 years, and also avidly follows cricket, rugby and golf and is a member of North Hants Golf Club in Fleet, Hampshire. His main love, however, is horse racing and he has acquired an impressive library on the subject over the years and now has a collection of hundreds of books. He rarely misses a race and thinks nothing of travelling for hours to see his horses race.

Tom has two married daughters and he is now married to Val who shares his enthusiasm for horse racing and helps him with Chasing Gold.
 

Val Chadney

Val is an organiser and has expertise in IT so she has been able to set up and maintain the Chasing Gold website as well as run all the administration for the Racing Club. She shares Tom’s passion for horse racing and football and accompanies him to all events both at the racecourse or in the stadium. She also enjoys playing golf and is a member at North Hants Golf Club.

Val has two sons in their twenties who also like to visit White Hart Lane whenever they get the opportunity, and also enjoy horse racing.

Daryl Jacob

Daryl Jacob came over from Ireland during 2003 and spent two fruitful years riding as an amateur for Robert and Sally Alner which is where he first met Tom Chadney as he rode his Point to Pointer, Free Gift, to win seven races. But within months of moving on to join another trainer, Paul Keane, Daryl began having second thoughts about his chosen career. Things didn’t work out for him with Paul Keane and he handed in his notice and whilst considering returning to Ireland, he was encouraged to return to the Alners where he picked up the ride on The Listener and went on to win major prizes. He then moved on to ride for Nick Williams and the pair became a formidable partnership, winning the Hennessy Gold Cup in November 2010 with Diamond Harry.  In May 2011 Daryl took up the position of Second Jockey to the Champion Trainer, Paul Nicholls.  Daryl says ‘Not many people get the privilege in life to be in the position that I am in. I love the job of riding horses. I’d probably end up riding for free because I adore horses so much.’

Daryl has certainly been noticed by many top NH trainers and is regularly asked to ride for them, and is given the ride on all Chasing Gold horses whenever possible. We are proud to be his sponsor and to have him as an ambassador of our Club.

Tom Chadney says “I have known Daryl since 2003 and have been impressed by his work ethic. He knows how to treat a horse to get the best out of him, and will also let me know if the horse has little or no ability, a valuable attribute”.