SHE not only owns and trains Arabian horses but is often their jockey as well and, on September 25, Teresa Gavin, from Farringdon, celebrated her “big win” riding LB Farrah to victory at the UK Arabian Racing Organisation Season Finale and Sultan of Oman Race Day Finals at Chelmsford.

It was the penultimate contest at the UK finals and Britain’s first ever race exclusively for Heritage Arabian Racing Club horses.

And it was a race Teresa said she was “thrilled to have won!”.

She said: “LB Farrah was by no means a straightforward mare in her earlier days and it has been a long journey channelling all of her energy solely into her racing, but she is made of true grit and I can’t tell you how proud I am of her, particularly having owned her since she was an awkward yearling!”

But the difficult juvenile has emerged a champion, not only winning the title of leading UK Heritage Arabian Racing Club Horse of 2016, but the Arab Horse Society Premium Racing Scheme Award for 2016.

The acclaim marks the end of a successful season for the trainer who had triumphs in Europe earlier in the season having trained the first and third home in the Heritage Arabian Racing Club Cup in Ghlin, Belgium, on June 22.

LB Farrah won under international jockey Glen Braem by an impressive 13 lengths from rival horse Port De La Vie, while Teresa piloted one of her six-year-old bay geldings, LA Sammadar, home in third place.

This was another training success for Teresa and for LB Farrah who had been a close second at Taunton the previous month.

Both horses are British bred by the Russian stallion Sambist and, with Teresa, enjoy a balanced lifestyle, taking part, when not in training, in endurance trail riding competitions which, she says, they thoroughly enjoy.

Teresa, who is half Irish and was brought up in Beech for much of her childhood, attended Eggar’s School in Alton. She has been riding since she was just eight years old and is well known locally for training her Arabian race horses.

While her gift for training horses is clear to see, she pays tribute also to her dedicated home team, and is always keen to encourage would-be young riders to give Arab racing a go.