Trevor Hallett

Trevor Hallett

Article by Alan Trout

Trevor Bertram Hallett had two wins as an amateur before turning professional and adding another 20. All of them were trained in Cornwall, the last ten by himself from his base at Woodside Stables in Saltash. 

His first win as a jockey came at Wincanton on September 8, 1980 when the nine-year-old Lover’s Pool took the Stowell Novices’ Hurdle (Division 1) by four lengths. Immediately behind him that day were two of the leading jockeys of the 1970s, for second was future champion and Grand National-winning rider Graham Thorner and third was future Grand national-winning trainer Andy Turnell. Permit holder Lawrence Thomas was the trainer, and he supplied Trevor’s only other winner as an amateur.

Lovers Pool, the 10/1 outsider of three, also gave him his first professional victory when successful in the Patcham Selling Hurdle at Plumpton on September 8, 1971, although luck was on their side as they looked destined for second place when the clear leader, odds-on favourite Dolge Orlick, slipped and unseated his amateur rider approaching the last flight. 

Trevor had a few wins in each of the next five seasons, including three victories on the hurdler Hemon. At Devon & Exeter on March 27, 1976 he had his first success as a jockey/trainer when So likely repelled the challenge of Richard Linley on Maestro to take the Frobisher Novices’ Hurdle (Division 2). 

The same horse gave him his penultimate victory when scoring at Southwell in March 1980, but it was the five-year-old Brimps who provided him with his final success when holding off the fast finishing Full Value to take the Armitage Handicap Hurdle at Uttoxeter on Whit Monday, May 26, 1980, having led all the way. 

His final ride was on Welsh Sapphire, unplaced in the Princetown Novices’ Hurdle (Division 2) at Devon & Exeter, also on a Whit Monday, May 30, 1983. 

The best horse he trained was Beech Road, producing him to win a three-year-old hurdle at Taunton in December 1985 at odds of 50/1 for owner Tony Geake. If that was a shock, it was no less than the one the crowd at Cheltenham witnessed when Beech Road, again at 50/1 and by then trained by Toby Balding, galloped up the hill to win the 1989 Champion Hurdle in the hands of Richard Guest.

Trevor’s last winner was Jack The Hiker, ridden by Mark Richards, in a Newton Abbot selling chase on August 2, 1993. His last runner was Soldier-B, finishing 13th of 15 in an Exeter bumper on January 3, 1994. 

Trevor Hallett’s wins were, in chronological order:

1. Lover’s Pool, Wincanton, September 8, 1970

2. Clear Wave, Plumpton, March 3, 1971

3. Lover’s Pool, Plumpton, September 8, 1971

4. Acrovat, Newton Abbot, August 28, 1972

5. Chingley Lass, Chepstow, October 23, 1973

6. Hemon, Taunton, February 26, 1974

7. Coronation Rose, Taunton, April 25, 1974

8. Chingley Lass, Devon & Exeter, November 19, 1974 

9. Tan Lass, Newton Abbot, January 17, 1975

10. Stories Flight, Chepstow, March 8, 1975

11. Hemon, Devon & Exeter, August 6, 1975

12. Hemon, Devon & Exeter, August 28, 1975

13. So Likely, Devon & Exeter, March 27, 1976

14. Hemon, Worcester, September 16, 1976

15. So Likely, Warwick, December 2, 1976

16. Hemon, Worcester, January 24, 1977

17. So Likely, Wincanton, February 24, 1977

18. Tipver, Kempton Park, February 25, 1977

19. Hopeful Courage, Newton Abbot, September 13, 1979

20. So Likely, Southwell, March 10, 1980

21. Brimps, Uttoxeter, May 26, 1980