November 2018 – Page 13

Mark Johnston

Mark Johnston is a Scottish horse trainer based in North Yorkshire. Unlike some well known trainers he had no prior career as jockey and instead made moves to become a horse trainer following completing his Vetinary degree in Glasgow. It has been his plan since the age of 14. Johnston’s Father owned horses, and this is often cited as his initial point of interest in both horses and racing.

He begin training at an unassuming Lincolshire stable in 1987, before moving to Kingsley House, Middleham the following year, a location with many more modern facilities. His first winner was Hinari Video over 5 furlongs at Carlisle. He went on to run 126 races, winning 11, bringing home to the trainer what was possible in the sport. Bouyed by the fact that the winning races was not beyond him, Johnston went from strength to strength.

A noteable winner he trained in these early years was Mister Baileys, winner of the 2,000 Guineas in 1994. This was the year that a trickle became a flood, with 100+ wins in every year since, and even over 200 in some. An Ascot Gold Cup win with Double Trigger (who won 13 other races) and in 2004 won the 1,000 Guineas with Attraction came in the following years. Johnston looks fondly upon these times even today with him listing Mister Bailey’s win, and Double Trigger Royal Ascot win as his top career highlights in a recent Sporting Life piece.

As demonstration of his staggering success in the sport, Johnston earned his 4000th win in 2017, a figure most trainers could only dream of (the feat has in fact only been attained by two other horse trainers, Richard Hannon snr with 4,193 wins, and Martin Pipe with 4,183). In August of 2018 he topped Hannon’s total becoming the most success trainer in history with the win on 20-1 shot Poet’s Society ridden by Frankie Dettori at York.

Trainers

Paul Nicholls

Paul Nicholls is a national hunt horse trainer who previously achieved much success as a jockey. In the early 80s his education in racing began under four time champion jockey Josh Gifford, before joining forces with David Barons. In his three years as a jockey he gained a total of 133 wins and won prestigious races as the Hennessy Gold Cup (twice) and the Irish Hennessy Gold Cup. An injury ended his career after three years, prompting a move into training a couple of years later.

In 1991 Nicholls took out his training license, a decision he’s unlikely to regret based on the illustrious career that followed. After a period as assistant trainer to Barons he took a slow and sure approach with just 8 horses at Manor Farm, Ditcheat. The approach paid off with a grade one win with ‘See More Indians’ at Kempton in 1993.

It wasn’t until 1999 that things really went to the next level though, with massive success at the Cheltenham Festival winning the Arkle Trophy Challenge, Queen Mother Champion Chase, and the one they all want to win, the Cheltenham Gold Cup. In the years that would follow a Champion Trainer accolade came Nicholl’s way (a title he’s now claimed 8 times) and now with jockey Ruby Walsh on board the wins came thick and fast. Multiple Queen Mother Champion Chase wins (Azertyuiop, Masterminded), 5 x King George VI chase wins with Kauto Star and two Chelten Gold Cup wins with Kauto Star also.

To many to crowning achievement was in having the 1,2,3 in the 2008 Cheltenham Gold Cup, with Denman, Kauto Star and Neptune Collonges, the latter went on to win the Grand National in 2012, leaving many to think ‘What hasn’t he won?’. With prize money of £2-3 million each year on average (2014-15 – £3,246,894 – 124 wins | 2015-16 – £2,439,740 – 122 wins) and over 2000 wins as a trainer, Paul Nicholls is unlikely to change his winning formula anytime soon.

Races

Epsom Oaks (The Epsom Oak Stakes)

The Oaks Stakes, or the Oaks for short, is the second, and final, Classic horse race of the season restricted to three-year-old fillies. The race is run over the same course and distance as the Derby – that is, 1 mile 4 furlongs and 6 yards on Epsom Downs Racecourse, Surrey – and is run on the opening Friday of the Derby Festival, a.k.a. Ladies’ Day, in late May or early June. Consequently, the race title is sometimes preceded by the epithet ‘Epsom’, but usually only to distinguish the Classic from other, less auspicious races, such as the Cheshire Oaks at Chester and the Lancashire Oaks at Haydock Park.

Inaugurated in 1779, a year before the Derby, the Oaks takes its name from a nearby residence of the 12th Earl of Derby, situated to the east of the town of Epsom. The race is, in fact, the second oldest of the five Classic races run in Britain, after the St. Leger, which was inaugurated three years earlier. The Oaks also forms the second leg of the so-called Fillies’ Triple Crown, after the 1,000 Guineas at Newmarket and before the St. Leger at Doncaster. However, the Fillies’ Triple Crown has only ever been won by five fillies, the most recent of which was Oh So Sharp, trained by the late Sir Henry Cecil, in 1985, and is rarely, if ever, attempted these days.

In total, Sir Henry Cecil saddled eight Oaks winners between 1985 and 2007, but the most successful trainer in the history of the race was Robert Robson, a.k.a. the ‘Emperor of Trainers’, who saddled 13 winners between 1802 and 1825. Robson also saddled seven Derby winners between 1793 and 1823. The most impressive Oaks winner, at least so far, was Sun Princess in 1983. Owned by Sir Michael Sobell, trained by Major Dick Hern and having just her third start, Sun Princess turned the Oaks into a procession, pulling clear under Willie Carson to win by 12 lengths, which remains the widest winning margin since distances were first recorded in 1842.

Races

Champion Stakes

The Champion Stakes is run over 1 mile 1 furlong and 212 yards and is open to horses aged three years and upwards. It is, and always has been, a Group 1 contest, at least since the introduction of the European Pattern System in 1971. The Champion Stakes was inaugurated, at Newmarket, in 1877 and was run, without interruption, at ‘Headquarters’ until 2010. The roll of honour reads like a ‘Who’s Who’ of middle-distance talent down the years and includes such luminaries as Petite Etoile, Sir Ivor, Brigadier Gerard, Pebbles and New Approach, to name but a handful.

Tristan, who won the Champion Stakes three years running in 1882, 1883 and 1884, is the most successful horse in the history of the race. Although the first documented use of a photo finish was in 1881, photo finish technology was not used in British horse racing until 1947, so the fact that the judge called a dead-heat between Tristan and Thebais on the first occasion and another, between Tristan and Lucerne, on the last may not be quite as remarkable as it first appears.

Nowadays, the Champion Stakes is run at Ascot, where it is the highlight of British Champions Day in October each year. The race is, in fact, the finale of the Middle Distance category of the British Champions Series, which was staged for the first time in 2011. At that time, the Champion Stakes was transferred to Ascot, with appropriate hoo-ha and a hike in prize money, from £350,000 to £1.3 million, which made it the most valuable race of its kind in Europe.

In 2012, the Champion Stakes was won by Frankel, who, with a Timeform Annual Rating of 147, is the highest-rated horse in the history of the organisation, and was completing a perfect 14-race winning streak. In 2014, his full brother, Noble Mission, upheld the family tradition by recording an emotional victory in the Champion Stakes for Lady Jane Cecil, while in 2017 and 2018 his son, Cracksman, did likewise, winning the Champion Stakes impressively by 7 lengths and 6 lengths, respectively.