High up among the rolling hills of north-west Oxfordshire, Charlie Longsdon has created a state-of-the-art training facility which he hopes will propel him to the next level in his burgeoning career.

Hailed as one of the rising stars of the training ranks, Longsdon, who was 34 last Thursday, has now settled in at Hull Farm in between Chipping Norton and Great Rollright following a summer move.

It comes after he launched his career at Cotswold Stud stables at Sezincote, near Moreton-in-Marsh, three years ago.

During that time, Longsdon sent out 47 winners to establish himself firmly on the training map.

But keen to take the next step up the ladder, he was looking for bigger premises and when point-to-point enthusiasts Chris and Fran Marriott offered him the chance to move to Hull Farm, he jumped at it.

“They approached us originally and you couldn’t meet better and more enthusiastic people,” says Longsdon. “They are absolute legends and have been brilliant.”

Walking across to the converted barn at his smart new yard, Longsdon admits even he has been taken aback by what they have created in such a short space of time.

“It’s unbelievable,” he says. “Even when we moved in, that barn was just a shell, but nothing else. There were no stables and what has been done now is fantastic.”

Making his way from box to box, the trainer soon comes to stable star Songe, who gave him his biggest success to date when winning the Blue Square Champion Hurdle Trial at Haydock in January.

The five-year-old is set to go over fences this year, with Ludlow or Carlisle on Thursday, October 22 pencilled in for his reappearance, and the Arkle Trophy at the Cheltenham Festival next March his long-term target.

“He speaks for himself, really,” says Longsdon. “He will go chasing this year, which should be exciting.”

But it’s not just the stables – which already house 40 horses with room for more – that have been built from scratch.

Bumping across the fields on the 500-acre estate in his 4x4, it’s easy to see why Longsdon is so excited with new gallops and schooling areas.

“We are lucky really,” he says. “It is a nice place to be training from and is very peaceful and relaxing as well.”

Returning to the office – which is also newly-built – Longsdon reflects on the journey which has seen him arrive at Hull Farm.

“I have been involved in horses all my life,” he says. “I always loved racing and going to the racecourse.”

He spent time during his student days – when he played representative rugby alongside future England internationals Andy Gomersall and Will Greenwood – with Nigel Twiston-Davies and Oliver Sherwood, before going on to be assistant trainer to Kim Bailey and Nicky Henderson.

During his days at Seven Barrows, he won the Alex Scott Memorial Fund Assistant Trainer’s Scholarship in 2004, which took him to the United States, where he worked for the champion Flat trainer Todd Pletcher.

It helped provide Longsdon with the foundation to set up on his own.

Now he has set his sights on beating his previous best tally of 20 winners in a season.

“We certainly want to get the best part of 30 winners,” he says. “A lot of the horses will be aimed at better races, which will make them harder to win than smaller ones, and we want to increase the prizemoney won.”

Mexican Bob gave him his first winner from Hull Farm when scoring on the Flat at Beverley in August.

But as predominantly a National Hunt trainer, it was the first success over jumps from his new base which really counted.

And it came when Majic Moments scored under Paddy Brennan at Fontwell on October 3.

“It was great to have our first proper jump winner from the new yard,” he adds.

Aside from Songe, Longsdon selects Trafalgar Road, I Hear A Symphony, a winner at the Punchestown Festival for Philip Hobbs two years ago, and Otto Quercus, a winner of a Flat race in France, as ones to follow.