May 2026

Willie Mullins

admin May 13, 2026

To anyone with even a passing interest in National Hunt racing, Willie Mullins probably needs little or no introduction. The most decorated trainer of his generation, he has been perennial champion trainer in his native Ireland since 2007/08 and won the British National Hunt Trainers’ Championship two seasons running in 2023/24 and 2024/25, thereby emulating his illustrious compatriot Vincent O’Brien, who achieved the feat in 1952/53 and 1953/54.

Mullins is also the most successful trainer in the history of the Cheltenham Festival, where he has been leading trainer on 13 occasions since 2011, with 121 winners to his name at the last count. He has saddled five winners of the ‘Blue Riband’ of steeplechasing, the Cheltenham Gold Cup – Al Boum Photo (2019 and 2020), Galopin Des Champs (2023 and 2024), Gaelic Warrior (2026) – and jointly holds the record for most winners, alongside Tom Dreaper, the trainer of Arkle. Mullins has also saddled four Grand National winners, namely Hedgehunter (2005), I Am Maximus (2024 and 2026) and Nick Rockett (2025).

Born in Goresbridge, County Kilkenny on September 15, 1956, Mullins is son of the late Paddy Mullins, another great Irish trainer, who saddled Dawn Run to an unprecedented double in the Champion Hurdle and the Cheltenham Gold Cup. Willie Mullins saddled his first winner in his own right, Silver Bachelor, whom he rode himself, in a ‘bumper’ at Thurles on 18 February, 1988, and his first Cheltenham Festival winner, Tourist Attraction, ridden by Mark Dwyer, in the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle – a race he has now won a record eight times – on March 14, 1995. He has since carried all before him, on both sides of the Irish Sea, reaching the landmark of 4,000 careers with Bronn, ridden by Daryl Jacob, in a beginners’ chase at Fairyhouse on January 28, 2023.

A National Hunt maestro he may be, but Mullins is no slouch on the Flar either. His high-profile winners on the level include Wicklow Brave, ridden by Lanfranco ‘Frankie’ Dettori, in the Irish St. Leger at the Curragh on September 11, 2016 and Ethical Diamond, ridden by Dylan Browne McMonagle, in the Breeders’ Cup Turf at Del Mar on November 1, 2025.

William Haggas

admin May 13, 2026

Born in Skipton, North Yorkshire on August 23, 1960, William Haggas is the son-in-law of the late Lester Piggott, having married Maureen, the elder daughter of the 11-time champion jockey, in 1989. Having previous worked for John Winter and Sir Mark Prescott, Haggas took out a training licence in his own right in late 1986 and sent out his first winner, the two-year-old Tricky Note, over five furlongs on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket, on April 15, 1987.

Haggas has remained at Somerville Lodge Stables on the Fordham Road in Newmarket ever since, whence he has sent out 35 Group 1 winners worldwide, including two British Classic winners, Shaamit, ridden by Michael Hills, in the Derby at Epsom in 1996 and Dancing Rain, ridden by Johnny Murtagh, in the Oaks, over the same course and distance, in 2011. Dancing Rain was subsequently beaten in the Irish Oaks at the Curragh, but went on to win both the Group 1 Henkel-Preis Der Diana at Dusseldorf and the Group 2 British Champions Fillies’ And Mares’ Stakes at Ascot later in her three-year-old campaign.

On British soil, Haggas enjoyed his most successful season, numerically, in 2025, when he saddled 176 winners. His biggest win that year came courtesy of Dubai Honour, ridden by Tom Marquand, in the Group 1 Tancred Stakes at Rosehill in Sydney, New South Wales, which yielded £430,593 in prize money. Nevertheless, his domestic haul came from 731 runners, at a strike rate of 24%, and yielded £4.23 million in prize money, the third-highest total of his training career.

The best horse that Haggas has trained was the Sea The Stars colt Baaeed, who was awarded a Timeform Rating of 137 after winning the Juddmonte International Stakes at York by six-and-a-half lengths, as a four-year-old, on August 17, 2022. At that stage, Baaeed was the highest-rated horse in Europe since Frankel achieved a rating of 147 in the Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot on June 19, 2012. Unlike Frankel, Baaeed lost his unbeaten record when only fourth, beaten a length and three-quarters, in the Champion Stakes at Ascot on October 15, 2022, his final start, despite being sent off at prohibitive odds of 1/4.

Ian Williams

admin May 13, 2026

Ian Williams is the son of the late William ‘Billy’ Williams, himself a trainer and former National Hunt jockey, and nowadays holds a dual-purpose licence at Dominion Racing Stables in Alvechurch, Worcestershire. Williams Jnr. learnt his trade under the tutelage of Jenny Pitman, Martin Pipe and Francois Doumen before setting up on his own, initially near Oxford, with just half a dozen horses, on his return to Britain.

Williams saddled his first winner, Alarico, ridden by Darryl Holland, in a maiden stakes at Lingfield on January 28, 1997. However, it was the creation of Dominion Racing Stables, under the auspices of successful businessman Patrick Kelly, who has been his landlord since 1998, that was the making of him as a trainer. Under National Hunt Rules, Williams enjoyed his most successful season, numerically, in 2002/03, when he saddled 51 winners and, fiscally, in 2018/19, when he amassed £506,416 in prize money. On the Flat, his most prolific and prosperous season came in 2025, when he saddled 79 winners and accumulated £1.33 million in total prize money.

Highlights of Williams’ career so far have included his first Grade 1 winner, Batman Senora, ridden by Cyrille Gambeau, in the Prix la Haye Jousselin at Auteil on November 9, 2003. He has since saddled two more on British soil, Brewster, ridden by David Dennis, in the Challow Novices’ Hurdle at Sandown at Newbury on December 29, 2004 and Wayward Prince, ridden by Dougie Costello, in the Sefton Novices’ Hurdle at Aintree on April 9, 2010.

On October 15, 2015, Williams achieved the remarkable feat of having saddled a winner at every racecourse in England, Scotland and Wales – including the defunct Folkestone Racecourse – courtesy of victory for Brasted, ridden by Tony Hamilton, in a claiming stakes race at Chelmsford.

His first and, so far, only Cheltenham Festival winner came in the form of Ballyalton, ridden by Brian Hughes, in the Close Brothers’ Novices’ Handicap Chase on March 15, 2016.

On November 29, 2016, Williams reached the landmark of 1,000 winners worldwide with Appy Days, ridden by Tom O’Brien, in a ‘bumper’ at Lingfield. On June 18, 2019, he saddled his first Royal Ascot winner, The Grand Visir, ridden by Richard Kingscote, in the Ascot Stakes.

Alan King

admin May 13, 2026

Born in South Lanarkshire on December 13, 1966, Alan King began his career in racing in 1984 as a stable lad to Jim Wilson at the now-defunct Cree Lodge, just across the road from Ayr Racecourse. The following year, he moved south to join the legendary David ‘The Duke’ Nicholson in Condicote, Gloucestershire and, the year after that, was promoted to assistant trainer. King remained in that role until Nicholson – who was champion trainer in 1993/94 and 1994/95 – retired in 1999. Their time together included a move to Jackdaws Castle, a state-of-the-art training establishment in nearby Temple Guiting, in 1992, and it was there that King began training in his own right.

King saddled his first winner in his own name, Mini Moo Min, ridden by Warren Marston, in a novices’ hurdle at Towcester on December 4, 1999. He went on to saddle 27 winners in his inaugural season at the helm, including Anzum, ridden by Richard Johnson, in the Grade 1 Long Walk Hurdle at Ascot, but his tenure at Jackdaws Castle lasted only until June 1, 2000. Businessman Colin Smith sold the property to John McManus, who installed Jonjo O’Neill as his salaried trainer, necessitating a move to Barbury Castle, near Wroughton, Wiltshire, where King remains to this day.

King sent out his first winner from his new base, Diva, again ridden Marston, in a maiden hurdle at Hereford on October 13, 2000. The 2000/01 season, as a whole, yielded just 18 winners, but thereafter King improved his winning tally year-by-year, peaking with 136 National Hunt winners in 2008/09. His most successful season, financially, though, came in 2007/08, during which he won the Champion Hurdle and the Spa Novices’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival with Katchit and Nenuphar Collonges, respectively, the Melling Chase at Aintree with Voy Por Ustedes and the World Series Hurdle at Punchestown with Blazing Baileys and amassed £2.35 million in prize money.

Fast forward to December 3, 2013 and King reached the landmark of 1,000 National Hunt winners courtesy of Sego Success, ridden by Wayne Hutchinson, in a novices’ hurdle at Southwell. He currently has 16 Cheltenham Festival to his name, but holds a dual-purpose licence and has enjoyed his fair share of success on the Flat. His best horse in that sphere was the late, lamented Trueshanm who won 16 races for the yard, including the Goodwood Cup and the Prix du Cadran at Longchamp twice.