The Point-to-Point community in the West Mercian Area and Nationally received the sad news that Jason Warner passed away yesterday afternoon.
He had been an integral part of our sport for over 35 years, firstly as a rider, then as an owner/trainer and latterly as one of the sport’s most able administrators. He was forthright in his views and if he thought something was wrong, he was not afraid to say so.
He was also joint master of the Cotswold Vale Farmers Hunt and ran Cotswold Trail Riding from his Brookthorpe home.
At a time when he should have been celebrating winning the 2020/2021 Leading Owner Award at the Tattersalls sponsored evening at Cheltenham Racecourse in October, fate dealt him a cruel blow when he was admitted to hospital and was unable to attend.
Jason’s riding career began on a horse called Jet Legs in 1986, but success eluded them that season as they pulled up on six occasions and unseated on the other outing, but 12 months later he recorded his first success on the same horse in the Cotswold Vale Farmers Members.
This was the type of horse Jason excelled with and in 1989 he acquired Dark Acre who won an Upper Sapey Restricted and the Members at Andoversford, and a couple of years later the same horse provided him with his final winner at the Curre.
Warner took over from Judy Pullen as Secretary of the Cotswold Vale Point-to-Point in 1992 and realised something had to be done to attract more visitors, which led to a majority of the fixture being restricted to Veteran and Novice Riders. A Country Fair and Dog Show was subsequently added to the programme with the aim of boosting profits.
Warner was never afraid to travel vast distances if it maximized his chances of success, making regular forays into Wales and the West Country and last year that policy paid off as he enjoyed his best ever season with 13 winners, some trained by himself while others were based with Luke Price and James King.
Our thoughts are with his family at this difficult time.