Best racehorse trainer from Barnsley until Mick Appleby came along (with a nod to Bryan Smart). Trained the winners of the Gimcrack, the Prix Marcel Boussac and the Fred Darling Stakes. He had a 1-2 in the Cambridgeshire with Leysh and Mowray Boy in 1984. He trained at High Hoyland on gallops adjoining Bretton Park (now YSP). He looked set to prosper, with early patronage from one Arab owner, but seemed to fade from view in the late 80's. A character, by all accounts!
Albion Turner of the King George Hotel once gave me a tip for one of Steve's horses. Must have been 1973. He said that a horse was running at Pontefract the following Tuesday that would win. Not may win, would win. He said it had been held back and they were putting a decent jockey on him, I wasn't to go overboard, no more than £500. I said that as I was on £15 a week back then there wasn't much chance of disturbing the betting. Horse was Perfect Match and came in 14-1. I managed to raise £35, had £30 to win and then doubled the fiver up on an even money favourite. Walked out with a years pay and bought my first car. Thank you Steve. RIP.
I was never a betting man, but in the early ‘80’s I was told to follow a Norton horse called ‘On Edge’. I did so, and it won several races on the trot. Very exciting. Once it lost I stopped betting, and haven’t done so since.
I knew Steve Norton very well he used to train at Throsle Nest Silkstone Common then went to train near Haigh of the M1, he started training jump horses. most with the name Wave in it, Wave, Wave on, Another Wave to name but 3 his top horse at that time was called Narak(spelled Karan backward after his wife) Narak came 3rd in the Triumph Hurdle at Cheltenham then went on to train on the flat one of his jockeys Mick Wood went to school with me.
Orsen it was John Norton who trained at High Hoyland you are right about Bretton Park though more Haigh off the M1.
Full Extent and Goodbye Shelley were the Group 1 winning 2 year olds,, I believe most of his good horses were American bred, Leysh and Mowray Boy were sold to America. As it happened Leysh and Mowray Boy were taken to Doncaster the Monday before the Cambridgeshire for a gallop over the Straight mile and Leysh beat Mowray Boy by a length and they ran almost exactly the same in the big race with 33/1 Leysh beating 10/1 second favourite Mowray Boy in the 34 runner Handicap ., John Lowe rode winner and Tyrone Williams rode the second, Remember watching Mr Meeka finish second to a future Champion sprinter Forzando at Pontefract in 1983,
Cowboy, Silkstone was trained by John Stanley who trained at Hoylandswain he suffered a life-threatening injury when his horsebox back door fell on him think it put him in a wheelchair. if my memory serves me over the years I think there have been 2 horses called Silkstone.
Yes, UTC, I was kind of thinking of the Haigh setup as still 'High Hoyland', which may not be quite right. When our kids were young we used to walk at Bretton Country Park. You could walk up the hill into the woods and come back down where Steve's old gallops were. They were more or less abandoned by then, but you could still make out the track he'd set out. A good uphill climb back to the barn - no wonder he could get them fit. His old barn ('Longside') looks to be part of the Sculpture Park now. A shame he didn't push on in the late 80's/early 90's?
Albion had a picture of (I think) his own horse, didn't he? I can't remember the name, but for some reason I do remember the caption saying 'N. Connorton up.' I think he had the picture up in the King George and latterly in the Tommy Treddlehoyle when he took over there.
A bit more info is on the Betfair Forum, where someone has posted the article from today's Racing Post. It indicates he trained at Throstle Nest, Silkstone Common from 1959-77 and then from Longsides, High Hoyland from 1978-95. I presume that 'Longsides' is what is now the Longside Gallery run by the YSP.
