To win a race, and certainly a group one or grade one race, or a race in noteworthy racing festivals (royal ascot, cheltenham festival etc) takes what amounts to finely tuned machine. The horse, essentially being the engine at the core of it, is without a doubt a major component, but it takes the right jockey on board too as well as the horse trainer guiding this whole process from beginning to end. Horse trainers have a keen awareness of horses, often built over decades or even generations of how to best train a horse based on its specific talents, and guide it to victory.
Deciding which distance a horse should run over (and whether on the flat or over the jumps), its temperament, level of natural or nurtured talent, who the best jockey is to bring out its ability, the list goes on. From being tested over the gallops, health checks, diet to then deciding which race to enter the horse into and how the jockey should ride it, there are so many cogs to this machine. Some horses prefer certain ground conditions, there’s trial and error to it, with often, where the horse is exceptional, an eye by the trainer to which big race to aim for down the line.
Where a horse trainer is top tier, there are Trainer championships (Flat & Jump) to be won, based on the number of wins over a racing season. Over the flat, races such as The Derby, Guineas, Oaks, Royal Ascot and the National Hunt the likes of the Grand National the King George VI Chase are serious goals of many horse trainers looking to stamp their name in horse racing history. Punters are well aware of who the cream of the crop of UK horse trainers are. The likes of Paul Nicholls (with multiple Champion Jump Trainer titles), Nicky Henderson (with Cheltenham Festival dominance) and big race king Aidan O’Brien , are all at the forefront of achievement as they have been for decades. This site tells their story, as well as other famous as well as lesser light horse trainers who dare to dream and give their all to the sport of kings.