“I won’t give up the day job”

“MY heart is in the horses, but then variety is the spice of life,” says Sheila Lewis, who is both a National Hunt trainer and a beautician.

Sheila, who grew up racing trotters with her father, enjoyed her best-ever season last term from her small yard near the Brecon Beacons, scoring 12 wins with six horses – including a treble at Hereford with Knight Commander, Cotton End and her Grade One prospect Straw Fan Jack.

After a 6.30am start at the yard to feed and ride, Sheila heads to The Beauty Mill, the salon she set up 20 years ago. Then it’s back for evening stables after a full day of delivering pampering treatments.

“My salon clients know about the racing; a lot of them opened betting accounts during Covid, which makes me laugh,” she says. “But unless you know the horseworld, you don’t really understand how cold and wet it is, and how physically hands on.

“There’s always a bit of fun at the races, with the stable staff,” she adds. “Someone will say, ‘Have you got your tweezers, Sheil, to do my eyebrows?’”

Sheila’s salon has so far propped up the racing, although recent good form suggests that the situation might change.

“I’m definitely a better trainer than I am a beautician,” she laughs. “But it’s easy to get carried away with horses and tie up a lot of money in them. My dad said to me, ‘You go and train, but don’t give up your day job,’ which was sound advice.”

WHEN TWO WORLDS MEET: Sheila’s spoof Facebook post offering her “waxing clients” syndicate shares in a stunning new racehorse called The Brazilian raised a chuckle among those in the know.

“Joking aside, it could be an option,” she mused.