The Top Horse Trainers in the UK and Ireland

 

Horse racing is hugely popular in both the UK and Ireland, worth 1.8 billion euros in the latter alone. In the UK, it’s the most popular sport after football.

As well as employing 28,000 people in Ireland and 85,000 in the UK, it is enjoyed by millions. People love the excitement of watching the horses run, and many also enjoy placing a bet on horse races.

From Perth in Scotland down to Devon in England, there are 60 racecourses in the UK. In Ireland, horses race at 26 different courses, which is staggering in a population of less than 5 million.

The biggest of any of these is Aintree in Merseyside, where the Grand National is held every year. It has a capacity of 75,000, which is usually filled to the brim every April.

Cheltenham, which hosts a world-famous festival every March, holds around 67,500 spectators. While Ascot, a favourite with the Royals, holds around 70,000.

In Ireland, Leopardstown racecourse in County Dublin, is the largest and hosts Dublin Racing Festival annually. The Curragh racecourse in Kildare is the best-known flat racing course in the country.

As already touched upon, in the world of horse racing, sports betting is huge. In fact, there are now more bookies who offer horse racing bets and odds to their punters and more punters placing bets on horse racing events.

Its popularity can be traced back over a century, and there are many reasons for this:

  • Lots of information

Finding out how the horse has performed recently, what jockey is riding, and other information helps make a decision.

  • Exhilarating

The thrill of placing a bet and shouting for your horse is exciting.

  • Options on betting

You can bet each way, or on certain horses coming in first, second and third place.

  • Possibility to win big

There are always surprises and the money in horse racing means that you can win big from a small wager.

In horse racing, it’s not just about the horse, there are many factors that go into making it successful. Certain jockeys have a lot of success, but it’s also the people behind the scenes.

If you want to make an informed choice when betting, then it’s important to know the good trainers. A good trainer puts in all the hard work, although they rarely get the glory.

 

Look out for some of these top names in the horse racing world:

  1. W.P. Mullins

Known as Willie to everyone in the horse racing world, this former jockey has become synonymous with winning. His current strike rate is 28%, which is higher than any other trainer in the British Isles.

Willie has had 78 winners in the Cheltenham Festival, making him its most successful trainer ever. Here are some of the champions he has trained:

  1. Al Boum Photo

Bred in France, this dark grey gelding with a white star only made three appearances in the 2018/2019 season. However, he took home two wins and a second place during that time.

In 2020, he won his second consecutive Cheltenham Gold Cup.

  1. Hurricane Fly

This gelding began his illustrious career in France, before coming under Willie’s care. He then gained the world record for most Grade 1 wins, which he held until 2019.

Now, he enjoys his retirement at the Irish National Stud.

2. Nicky Henderson

Nicky followed in his father’s legendary footsteps becoming a horse trainer in 1978. His training stables are at Seven Barrows in Berkshire.

Henderson has had 70 winners at Cheltenham and has swept the board of many other races. His notable champions include:

  1. See You Then

Showing good form on the flat before he competed in hurdles. In fact, he only ran 15 hurdle races, but won ten of them, gaining his place in history.

He was classy in victory, often sprinting away after the last hurdle to win easily. He retired to Italy, where he spent more than 20 years after his career.

The Top Horse Trainers in the UK and Ireland

  1. Sprinter Sacre

This legendary gelding made his first appearance at Ascot in February 2010, winning by a nose. In April 2016, he won the Celebration Chase at Sandown Park by 15 lengths.

3. Henry de Bromhead

Irishman de Bromhead now runs his family stable, where he has trained plenty of stars. His first winner, Sizing Europe, won the Irish Champion Hurdle in 2008 and the success has continued.

De Bromhead has also had winners in:

  1. A Plus Tard

Sired by the great Kapgarde, A Plus Tard has run 18 times, winning seven of those, and placing 11. Last year, the attractive gelding and the year prior won the Savill’s Chase.

  1. Minella Indo

This Irish bay horse with a white star made his first professional run at Punchestown in April 2018, coming third. In 2021, he won the Cheltenham Gold Cup when partnered with Jack Kennedy, although usually Rachel Blackmore is his jockey.

Other trainers to look out for include:

  1. Henry Daly

He has had six winners this season, including Hillcrest, who is one to watch.

  1. Sam Thomas

This young trainer is operating well above a 20% strike rate at present.

  1. Samuel Drinkwater

In this season alone, Drinkwater has run 20 horses with five winners.

Knowing the trainers will give you a better idea of which horses to choose for a good bet.

Venetia Williams – Grand National Focus

 

Getting involved with horse racing on any level is anything but a formality. The spiraling costs that are involved and somewhat ‘closed shop’ nature of the sport , often means that many with a passion for racing are always outside looking in, rather than actively involved. Add being a woman to that already tough road, and some would argue that it becomes even more difficult to make it. Racing isn’t quite as much as an old boys club as it used to be, but it’d be naive to imagine that element doesn’t still exist in the minds of some. Still, whether jockeys, trainers or owners, the glass ceiling is starting to shatter and we have the likes of trainer Venetia Williams to thank for that.

Venetia Williams has the distinction of being only the second woman – after Jenny Pitman in 1983, and again in 1995 – to train the winner of the Grand National. In 2009, her nine-year-old, Mon Mome, ridden by Liam Treadwell, was driven clear to beat the 2008 winner, Comply Or Die, by 12 lengths. In so doing, he became the first 100/1 winner of the Grand National since Foinavon in the infamous renewal of 1967, when a mêlée at the smallest fence on the National Course gifted the winner an unassailable lead. So while many of us are scouring through tips for 2020 Grand National Festival, Williams has walked the walk, and in spectacular fashion.

Prior to winning in 2009, Mon Mome had finished tenth of 15 finishers, beaten 58 lengths, behind Comply Or Die in the National the previous year but, nevertheless, fared best of the 13 runners that Williams had saddled in the race in her 14-year training career up to that point. However, when asked about her chances of winning in 2009, she said, “They [Mon Mome and stable companion Stan] should both manage on the ground and the fact that I’ve got two to line up at the start is exciting enough, so anything is possible.” Ironically, Stan fell at the fence now called “Foinavon” on the first circuit, but anything was, indeed, possible.

Venetia Williams’ association with the Grand National started over two decades earlier in 1988 when, as an up-and-coming amateur rider, she had her one and only ride in the iconic steeplechase aboard 200/1 outsider Marcolo. In the days before the landing zone at Becher’s Brook was levelled, Marcolo fell at the formidable obstacle, knocking Williams unconscious in the process.

The eventual winner, Rhyme ‘N’ Reason, also blundered at the same fence, slithering down on his haunches before making a dramatic recovery. As Williams later recalled, the Racing Post ran a series of photographs showing his recovery which, quite by accident, also showed her coming a cropper in the background.

Williams is a rare breed, and no doubt she appreciates that other women, such as the aforementioned Jenny Pitman (winning with Corbiere in the 1983 Grand National, and Royal Athlete in 1995) paved the way for her success. They both dared to do what hadn’t been done, to train a Grand National winner, despite the challenges and naysayers that paved the way to that lofty goal.

Nigel Twiston-Davies

Nowadays, farmer-turned-trainer Nigel Twiston-Davies operates one of the most successful National Hunt yards in the country. From his base at Grange Hill Farm in Naunton, Gloucestershire, he has sent out over 1,500 winners, including 17 winners at the Cheltenham Festival and two Grand National winners.

Formerly a moderately successful amateur rider, Twiston-Davies learned his trade under the auspices of Fred Rimmell, Kim Bailey and David Nicholson, before starting training, under permit, in 1981. He saddled his first winner, Last Of The Foxes, at Hereford the following year, but agricultural recession finally forced him to abandon his farming interests and, in 1989, he took out a public training licence.

In 1992, Twiston-Davies saddled his first winner of the Scottish Grand National, Captain Dibble and, in 1994, his second, Earth Summit. Four years later, in 1998, the latter would complete a notable career treble by winning both the Welsh National and the Grand National. However, it was his second Grand National winner, Bindaree in 2002, which renewed his appetite for National Hunt racing and caused him to abandon plans to wind down his training operation and return to farming. His notable Cheltenham Festival winners include Imperial Commander in the Ryanair Chase in 2009 and the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 2010, Blaklion in the RSA Chase in 2016 and Ballyandy in the Champion Bumper in the same year.

Sue Smith

Not to be confused with East Sussex trainer Miss Suzy Smith, Mrs. Sue Smith is married to former champion show jumper Harvey Smith and based at Craiglands Farm, near Bingley, West Yorkshire. Mrs. Smith first took out a public training licence in 1990 and saddled her first winner, the cheaply-bought African Safari, in the Hurst Park Novices’ Chase at Ascot in November that year. However, she is probably best known as the trainer of Auroras Encore, who sprang a 66/1 shock when winning the Grand National in 2013; in so doing, the 11-year-old made Mrs. Smith just the third female trainer, after Jenny Pitman and Venetia Williams, to win the race.

Surprisingly, in her lengthy career, Mrs. Smith has yet to saddle a Grade One winner, but has numerous Listed, Grade Three and Grade Two victories to her name down the years. She has won the Grade Two Peter Marsh Chase at Haydock four times, with The Last Fling in 2000, Arctic Jack in 2004, Cloudy Too in 2016 and Wakanda in 2019, the Grade Three Racing Post Plate at the Cheltenham Festival, with Mister McGoldrick in 2008 and both the Grade Two Scottish Champion Hurdle at Ayr and the Grade Two Relkeel Hurdle at Cheltenham, with Midnight Shadow in 2018 and 2019, respectively. Of course, these are just a handful of over 1,000 winners Mrs. Smith has saddled and, although into the veteran stage of her career, she maintains a hungry enthusiasm for the game.