{"id":417022,"date":"2025-09-11T23:40:17","date_gmt":"2025-09-11T23:40:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/417022\/"},"modified":"2025-09-11T23:40:17","modified_gmt":"2025-09-11T23:40:17","slug":"lisa-knight-where-the-horses-were-waiting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/417022\/","title":{"rendered":"Lisa Knight: Where the Horses Were Waiting"},"content":{"rendered":"

How this groom of Woodbine champions found her true calling \u200b<\/p>\n

There was a time in Lisa Knight\u2019s life when she was immersed in the film and television industry \u2013 unaware she was living a story worthy of a Hollywood script.<\/p>\n

In her late 20s, despite a successful career, Knight couldn\u2019t shake a persistent feeling of unease and lack of fulfillment. She knew something needed to change \u2013 perhaps something drastic \u2013 but at the time, she had no idea what that would be.<\/p>\n

\u201cI went to school with the intent of working in film and television,\u201d recalled Knight. \u201cI went to college for a year in that program, as well as multimedia. I spent time working on video games and then went to work on a couple of TV shows.\u201d<\/p>\n

When her role shifted into something more technical and isolating, Knight began to crave a new path.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t want to spend the rest of my life in a cubicle, staring at a computer, which is what my career had been chiseled down to. I was making very good money, but I came to realize you can\u2019t do something you don\u2019t have any joy for.\u201d<\/p>\n

After much contemplation and reflection, an unexpected thought came to her.<\/p>\n

Why it did, she had no idea.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had an inkling that I might like to work with horses. I had never been around them, but it just seemed like it would be cool. I didn\u2019t know how to get into the industry, so I jumped around doing different jobs to pay the bills.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then came a chance encounter that changed everything.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt one of these jobs, someone actually asked me what I wanted to do and I told them. They told me they could get me a job working with horses \u2013 it turned out her husband was a jockey agent.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not long after that chat, Knight found herself on the expansive Woodbine backstretch, heading to the barn of longtime trainer John MacKenzie.<\/p>\n

She drew a deep breath as she walked the shedrow for the first time, taking in the sight of horses peering out from each stall. She was speechless. Somehow, it felt like she was meant to be there.<\/p>\n

\u201cI started out like everyone else,\u201d recalled Knight. \u201cI was a hotwalker, but I couldn\u2019t even spell horse back then, as far as knowledge. John taught me from the ground up. I was hooked.\u201d<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t until a few years into her career that Knight stumbled upon a truth that made everything click \u2014 perhaps she hadn\u2019t just chosen the Thoroughbred racing world.<\/p>\n

Maybe it had chosen her.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe funny part was that after doing this for a couple years, I got reunited with my biological family. I was adopted as a baby. My biological family were, as it turns out, trainers and jockeys \u2013 both sides of the family. That\u2019s how my parents met. They were galloping horses for their parents down at Calder.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were teenagers when I was born \u2013 and this was the early 1970s \u2013 so it wasn\u2019t a good time for them to be teenage parents. I was adopted by a fantastic family, so I was very fortunate. I have a great relationship with my biological family as well. It was a bit of a surprise to find out the thing I came to was the thing I came from. I never felt I had to question my decision once I found that out.\u201d<\/p>\n

And she never has \u2013 not for a moment.<\/p>\n

Her bond with horses is undeniable.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just love this connection I have to horses,\u201d said Knight, who also worked in the barn of Debbie England and her husband, fellow trainer, Phil England. \u201cI always had dogs and cats growing up, but horses are so complex. I love getting to know them, figuring them out and finding what makes them happy. Grooms spend a lot of time with the horses, and they know their personality more than anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Knight has worked with champions, allowance types, upper-level and lower-level claimers.<\/p>\n

To her, they are all equal.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Lisa Knight and Cruden Bay<\/p>\n

\u201cI was close with Cruden Bay,\u201d she said of the multiple graded stakes winner trained by Don MacRae. \u201cI fell in love with him right from the start, but he was someone else\u2019s horse at the time. As the years progressed, I ended up looking after him \u2013 just luck of the draw. We got on so well. He has a fantastic groom right now and I could not be more thrilled. He is one of those special horses. He is more of a champion each year.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut it\u2019s never been about those big-name horses for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Knight, it\u2019s often the horses whose stories echo her own that stand out the most.<\/p>\n

\u201cI sought out the underdogs, the ones who take time to figure things out. Maybe they do well, maybe they don\u2019t, maybe they haven\u2019t reached their full potential. I like those ones.\u201d<\/p>\n

MacRae, a multiple graded stakes-winning trainer with over 600 career victories, is effusive in his praise of Knight.<\/p>\n

\u201cLisa is someone who flat-out cares. She comes in with a positive mood every day and wants to make the team around her better. Her horses know her and even other horses in the barn know who she is and stop to be around her.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe is a pleasure to be around and keeps the vibe in the barn solid every day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Currently,\u00a0Knight\u00a0is working Tuesdays and Sundays with veterinarian Candace Allen. There could be other work \u2013 back in the MacRae barn \u2013 on the horizon.<\/p>\n

Wherever she is, it feels like she\u2019s living her own version of a Hollywood story \u2013 one where horses take the lead roles.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have always tried to go the extra mile with horses and learn as much as I can. I am always trying to learn to be better at what I do, so that they can be the best version of themselves. Sometimes these horses just need a friend, and I always try to be that for them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chris Lomon, Woodbine<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"How this groom of Woodbine champions found her true calling \u200b There was a time in Lisa Knight\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":417023,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4107],"tags":[1071,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-417022","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-racing","8":"tag-racing","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115188309889284447","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/417022","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=417022"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/417022\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/417023"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=417022"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=417022"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=417022"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}