Miles Henry Easterby (5 August 1929 – 9 June 2025), known as Peter Easterby, was a British

racehorse Horse racing is an equestrian performance activity, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its bas ...

trainer. He was British jump racing Champion Trainer three times.

Life and career

From starting with seven horses at his stables at Habton Grange near Malton,

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in Northern England.The Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority areas of City of York, York and North Yorkshire (district), North Yorkshire are in Yorkshire and t ...

in 1950, he became one of the most successful trainers in British racing by the time he retired in February 1996. He is the only trainer to have saddled over 1,000 winners in Britain in both flat and

National Hunt racing National Hunt Racing, also known as Jump Racing, is a form of horse racing particular to many European countries, including, but not limited to: France, horse racing in Great Britain, Great Britain and horse racing in Ireland, Ireland. Jump Racin ...

. He was Champion trainer in the 1978–79, 1979–80 and 1980–81 seasons and amongst the horses he trained were Saucy Kit, winner of the

Champion Hurdle The Champion Hurdle is a Grade 1 National Hunt racing, National Hunt Hurdling (horse race), hurdle race in Great Britain which is open to Horse racing, horses aged four years ...

in 1967; Alverton, winner of the

Cheltenham Gold Cup The Cheltenham Gold Cup is a Grade 1 National Hunt horse race run on the New Course at Cheltenham Racecourse in England, over a distance of about 3 miles 2½ furlon ...

in 1979, who was killed in a fall when favourite for the 1979

Grand National The Grand National is a National Hunt horse race held annually at Aintree Racecourse in Aintree, Merseyside, England. First run in 1839, it ...

; and

Little Owl The little owl (''Athene noctua''), also known as the owl of Athena or owl of Minerva, is a bird that inhabits much of the temperate and warmer parts of Europe, the Palearctic east to Korea, and North Africa. It was introduced into Britain at t ...

, winner of the

Cheltenham Gold Cup The Cheltenham Gold Cup is a Grade 1 National Hunt horse race run on the New Course at Cheltenham Racecourse in England, over a distance of about 3 miles 2½ furlon ...

in 1981. In the late 1970s and early 1980s Easterby's stable housed two of the leading horses in British National Hunt racing. Sea Pigeon won the Champion Hurdle in 1980 and 1981 and was also the winner of the Ebor Handicap and Chester Cup (twice) in flat racing. Night Nurse was the Champion Hurdle winner in 1976 and 1977 and became a leading steeplechaser. He finished second to his stable-companion Little Owl in the 1981 Cheltenham Gold Cup, just failing to become the first horse to complete the Champion Hurdle-Cheltenham Gold Cup double. His

Timeform Timeform is a sports data and content provider located in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. Founded in 1948, it provides systematic information on form to punters and others involved in the horse racing industry. The company was purchased by th ...

rating of 182 is the highest ever given to a hurdler. On his retirement, Easterby was succeeded as trainer at Habton Grange by his son, Tim Easterby, who trained Bollin Eric to win the

St. Leger The St Leger Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at Doncaster over ...

in 2002. Easterby's brother, M. W. (Mick) Easterby, is still an active racehorse trainer, and his cousin Henry is the father of Irish

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

internationals

Simon Simon may refer to: People * Simon (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name Simon * Simon (surname), including a list of people with the surname Simon * Eugène Simon, French naturalist and the genus ...

and

Guy Easterby Guy Easterby (born 21 March 1971) is a former rugby union player for Ireland. He is currently head of rugby operations of Leinster. His father is English and his mother is Irish. He is the brother of Simon Easterby, also an Ireland internation ...

. In July 2009, Easterby was convicted of an offence under the

Hunting Act 2004 The Hunting Act 2004 (c. 37) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which bans the hunting of most wild mammals (notably foxes, deer, hares and mink) with dogs in England and Wales, subject to some strictly limited exemptions; the ...

after allowing his land to be used for a

hare coursing Hare coursing is the pursuit of hares with greyhounds and other sighthounds, which chase the hare by sight, not by scent. In some countries, it is a legal, competitive activity in which dogs are tested on their ability to run, overtake and turn ...

even
Horse trainer and retired army major guilty of hare-coursing
Easterby died on 9 June 2025, at the age of 95.

References

Sources

Tim Easterby's website

Peter Easterby, legendary dual-purpose trainer and founder of Yorkshire dynasty, dies aged 95

Racing Post ''Racing Post'' is a British daily horse racing, greyhound racing, and sports betting publisher published in print and digital formats. It is printed in tabloid format from Monday to Sunday. , it has an average daily circulation of 60,629 ...

, 9 June 2025 1929 births 2025 deaths British racehorse trainers

Peter Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

People from Malton, North Yorkshire Sportspeople from North Yorkshire {{UK-horseracing-bio-stub