Highfield Princess to run under new training partnership as Sean Quinn joins Grade 1-winning father John on licence

Top-class sprinter Highfield Princess will officially be running under a new training partnership this season as Sean Quinn has joined his father John on the licence.

Former jump jockey John Quinn has sent out over 1,100 winners since he started training in 1994, enjoying multiple wins at Royal Ascot and at the Cheltenham Festival.

He now follows the likes of John Gosden, Simon Crisford and Roger Charlton by co-opting his son Sean on to the licence at his two-yard set-up in Malton.

"It's the way it goes with a lot of families," said Quinn, 62. "Sean's worked with me for a lot of years and young people deserve a chance to get on.

John Quinn: "Sean's worked with me for a lot of years and young people deserve a chance to get on"

"Nothing much changes. At the moment I'm watching horses and he's riding out, then he'll be in the office and we've done it that way for years. 

"One day Sean will probably take the licence over but that is some way down the line. It's a family-run business as my wife and daughter are also heavily involved."

Sean Quinn, 32, said: "We've been working together for a long time now and it seems a natural progression.

"There won't be a huge difference as what we do here is tried and trusted. Every year we change things to try and improve, we did that when dad held the licence and we'll continue to do it, but essentially it ain't broke so we aren't trying to fix it."

Sean Quinn (right) joins his father on the training licence Credit: David Carr

The new joint-trainer has long played a leading part in buying horses and was responsible for sourcing the stable's Royal Ascot winners The Wow Signal and Signora Cabello. 

"We have good facilities and in the past I've helped make sure we get the right horses into the stable," he said. "Once you do that you've got a far better chance of success."

The Quinns branched out with their first winner in Bahrain this winter and the mainly Flat string are primed for the turf campaign. 

"We'll have 65 to 70 horses for the Flat season, which is our normal number, and I hope we have a couple of nice ones," John Quinn said. "Highfield Princess stays in training and so does Breege and we'll keep chipping away."

The father-son partnership was launched when Graze On Phoenix finished third in a novice hurdle at Doncaster on Sunday and John Quinn said: "We only have five or six jumpers but he's a grand horse and he'll win races."

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