'The fire still rages in my belly' - Tom Scudamore prepares for a major midlife career change

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It's the end of an era for Tom Scudamore and the start of something new. The former jump jockey, who stunned the sport with his sudden retirement in February, is packing up his things in Devon, his home since he was a teenager, and preparing for a move to Bromsash, a few miles east of Ross-on-Wye.

Now 41, Scudamore is to take over at Eccleswall Court Stables as part of a reorganising of what has become a family business. It's a return home, in a way, because Herefordshire is Scudamore country, a place that has been home to his father, grandfather and great-grandfather, a place where pride is still taken in their success.

"We'll be moving up shortly," Scudamore tells the Front Runner, speaking from the Royal Cornwall Show, where he and his daughters have been enjoying the funfair and watching some show jumping. "We're just sorting the detail out.

"Michael will be moving up to Scotland in the next month and then I'll be going up. I've been down 23 years but I'm looking forward to the challenge."

Michael, of course, is Tom's brother, who has been training from Eccleswall since taking out a licence in 2008 and saddled Monbeg Dude to win the Welsh National. Famously, the brothers combined to win a Grand Annual with Next Sensation.

While Tom now moves in at Eccleswall, Michael moves up to join their father, Peter, and Lucinda Russell at their base near Loch Leven. Most of Michael's horses are going with him, though there has evidently been a parting of the ways with owner Lynne Maclennan, whose Mysteree won an Eider when trained by Michael; her horses are now based with Neil Mulholland.

"We spoke to the owners about six weeks ago about the plans," Tom says. "It's not going to suit everybody. We're very strong, numbers-wise. We've had plenty of orders and we're in a strong position."

Tom Scudamore (right) will be working with his father Peter in the new operation

It sounds like he's relishing the prospect of joining a family operation. "We've been taking each other on for so long.

"I've had my riding career, Michael's been training on his own, Dad and Lucinda have been doing what they're doing up in Scotland. We just felt that now was a time we can all bring it together and make it one whole.

"For me, in practice, I'll be in charge of Eccleswall Court, which will become a satellite yard and a pre-training yard. You could say that I'll be in charge of the development squad. Hopefully I'll have a team of around 40 horses, depending on the situation.

"Certain owners may want their horses to be based at Eccleswall as well. We'll have 20 to 25 youngsters, before they go into the system, and then 15 to 20 coming down from Scotland to run down south.

"It makes more sense from a logistical point of view. Lucinda's become so big. No longer does it mean that you come down overnight, put them in the racecourse stables, take them back the next day. It opens up the whole country."

While the concept of satellite yards is not new and there are quite a few licences held in joint names in Britain these days, Scudamore is not aware of such a scheme having been put into practice by two trainers from bases so far apart. The distance between the two yards is close to 400 miles, requiring a driving time of more than six hours.

Russell had winners at Cheltenham, Sandown and Warwick in the latest season but there's always the potential for that amount of travelling to be disruptive to a horse's preparation. Having a secondary base so much closer to the southern tracks could really help.

Eccleswall Court is just 23 miles from Cheltenham racecourse. Unlike so many visiting punters, Corach Rambler and Ahoy Senor now have no need to seek out a handy place to stay for March's festivities.

"The plan at the moment is that, if horses are coming down south, they'll be able to bed in with us and go on to their target from there," Scudamore says. "Maybe it'll just be a few days to get settled rather than being in the racecourse stables overnight. They can come to us and their routine doesn't change."

Of Eccleswall, he says: "It's fantastic. Everything you need is there, it's a quiet area, you don't have to take them on the roads. We've got all the facilities.

"It's not like we're setting up a yard. We have two different gallops, woodchip and deep sand, and they've already produced success. It'll be a great place to develop young horses.

"I'm looking forward to the challenge. When I finished riding, I needed to have a purpose. I'll still keep the media options open, I've thoroughly enjoyed working for ITV and hopefully there'll be more in the development with ITV and either Sky Sports or Racing TV. None of those have been concreted yet.

"If you look at Ruby Walsh, he's not only assisting Willie Mullins, he's doing his ITV and RTV and that balance allows him to be a better broadcaster. I'm hoping that something similar will happen for me. I'm not for a minute expecting to do as well as Ruby has done but that sort of model works and I'm hoping to do something similar."

Evidently, he's going to be busy. It doesn't sound much like retirement to the Front Runner.

"No, it's definitely not, it's just a job change.

"I've still got a lot of energy, I'm reasonably young and I've got 25 years to go before I can sit on a beach. You need that purpose in life and the fire still rages in my belly. That competitive itch will be scratched this way and I'm really excited about what the future holds. Everything that's been and gone just puts me in a position to continue to strive for success."

Tom Scudamore: "When I finished riding, I needed to have a purpose"Credit: Edward Whitaker

He joins the Lucinda Russell/Peter Scu operation after a season in which it achieved new peaks of 71 winners and more than £1.5 million in prize-money. "Their standards are very high and they know what kind of horse they want to buy. They've got a very good, loyal team of owners behind them, which allows them to do what they're so good at.

"We've all got very big ambitions and we're now in a position where we can chase those. They've won two Grand Nationals in six years. It's not a fluke and we're hoping this is just the beginning."

Does he miss the riding? This final question brings out the most relaxed version of Tom Scu and I feel that I can hear him smiling as he says, entirely convincingly: "No, I feel very content in what I achieved.

"Even though it's only three or four months since I retired, it feels like a lifetime ago. My life has moved on. I'm very proud of what I did but I'm just looking forward to the next chapter and trying to repeat the success in whatever I do next."

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The Front Runner is our unmissable email newsletter available exclusively to Members' Club Ultimate subscribers. Chris Cook, a four-time Racing Reporter of the Year award winner, provides his take on the day's biggest stories and tips for the upcoming racing every morning from Monday to Friday. Not a Members' Club Ultimate subscriber? Click here to join today and also receive our Ultimate Daily emails plus our full range of fantastic website and newspaper content.