John Gosden: An Embarrassment of Riches

John Gosden OBE has been ensconced at Clarehaven Stables on Bury Road, Newmarket since 2006, but his career as a racehorse trainer, which stretches back to 1979, has taken him all over the world. He started as assistant to Vincent O’Brien, then Sir Noel Murless, then Tommy Doyle and has previously trained, in his own right, in California, in Manton, Wiltshire and at Stanley House Stables, a.k.a. Godolphin Stables, in Newmarket.

Gosden, 66, has trained over 3,000 winners worldwide, including over 600 winners in the United States, but said, in 2013, “I am done with roaming. This house has been very lucky. We have built the business up, done well and last year was my most successful year.”

Indeed, in 2012 Gosden won the Flat Trainers’ Championship for the first time, amassing £3.7 million in prize money, courtesy of horses such as The Fugue, winner of the Nassau Stakes at Goodwood, and Nathaniel, winner of the Coral-Eclipse. He won it again in 2015, thanks in large part to the exploits of Cartier Horse of the Year Golden Horn, who won the Derby, the Coral-Eclipse, the Irish Champion Stakes and the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe before finishing second, beaten half a length, in the Breeders’ Cup Turf on his final start.

Although unable to match the performance of Aidan O’Brien – who saddled a world record 27 Group 1 winners in a calendar year – in 2017, Gosden was fortunate to train another Cartier Horse of the Year, Enable, and the Cartier Champion 3-Year-Old Colt, Cracksman, in the same season. The former, who is a daughter of Nathaniel, won all five starts at Group 1 level, including the Oaks and the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, while the latter won the Great Voltigeur Stakes and the Prix Niel before an impressive 7-length win in the Champion Stakes on his final start of the season. In so doing, he became the first Group 1 winner sired by Frankel.

Both Enable – who is rated just 2lb inferior to some of the best fillies since World War II by Timeform – and Cracksman remain in training in 2018, so jockey Frankie Dettori, who rode both horses last season, will inevitably have the unenviable task of choosing between them. One thing is certain, though; ‘Johnny G’, as Matt Chapman fatefully called John Gosden during the Oaks presentation, has plenty to look forward to in 2018.

Dan Skelton: Champion Trainer in Waiting

A quick look at the National Hunt Trainers Championship for 2017/18 reveals that Dan Skelton is currently in fourth place, with 130 winners and just over £1,166,000 in prize money. Not bad for a man who didn’t start training, in his own right, until the 2013/14 season.

Of course, Skelton is the eldest son of former British equestrian, Nick, whom he acknowledges “has been an inspiration”, and learned his trade as assistant to multiple champion trainer Paul Nicholls. Nicholls arranged for several horses to be sent to him at Lodge Hill, Warwickshire, but Skelton Jnr hit the ground running as a National Hunt trainer, saddling 16 winners by early February in his first season, and hasn’t looked back since.

In the 2015/16 season, he saddled over 100 winners – including his first Cheltenham Festival winner, Superb Story, in the Vincent O’Brien County Hurdle – and amassed over £1 million in prize money for the first time. He bettered both totals in 2016/17 and started the 2017/18 campaign in the best possible way with a double at Warwick on the opening day. However, he did say at the start of the season that the championship was “not within immediate reach”, although he is obviously keen to cement his position among the leading trainers in the country.

Skelton stated that his main aim is to feel that the yard is at least as strong, if not stronger, in the novice hurdle and novice chase division, year-on-year. Among the horses he highlighted at the start of the season were Aintree My Dream, who he believes will be one of his better novice chasers, Bedrock, who he believes will take high rank in the novice hurdle division and Champion Hurdle hopeful Ch’Tibello, who he admits to being “very excited about.”

Skelton has employed his younger brother, Harry, as stable jockey and Tom Messenger, a former professional National Hunt jockey, who retired from race riding in May 2016, aged just 30, as assistant trainer. Lodge Hill, formerly a working livestock farm, has been converted into a purpose built equestrian facility, with 74 boxes and modern training facilities, including a state-of-the-art all-weather gallop. Granted such foundations, not to mention the hard work and ambition of Skelton himself, the National Hunt Trainers’ Championship must surely not be out of reach for long.

Saeed bin Suroor: The Thin Blue Line

Saeed bin Suroor is the longest serving trainer for Godolphin, the international horseracing operation founded by Sheikh Mohammed in 1992. Formerly a member of the Dubai Police Force, he was first appointed in 1995 and, nowadays, splits his year between Al Quoz Stables on the outskirts of Dubai and Goldolphin Stables in Newmarket Suffolk.

Bin Suroor made a dream start to his training career, saddling Lammtara to win the Derby, the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes and the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, Moonshell to win the Oaks and Classic Cliché to win the St. Leger in his first season. In 1996, he collected the 2,000 Guineas with Mark Of Esteem and, in 1998, completed the full set of British Classics, with Cape Verdi in the 1,000 Guineas.

Fast forward two decades and Saeed bin Suroor, 39, has saddled over 2,100 winners worldwide. He has won the British trainers’ championships four times – in 1996, 1988, 1989 and 2004 – and his 180 Group 1 winners include 12 British Classic winners and seven Dubai World Cup winners. He has also won the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (three times), the Breeders’ Cup Turf (twice) and the Arlington Million.

In 2010, out of the blue, Godolphin appointed a second Newmarket-based trainer, Mahmood Al Zarooni, to share responsibilities with Saeed bin Suroor. Despite assurances that Al Zarooni did not “pose a threat” to Bin Suroor, the former did enjoy far and away the better season in 2011. The following season, Al Zarooni won the Dubai World Cup with Monterosso and the St. Leger with Encke but, in 2013, was found guilty of administering anabolic steroids to 11 horses and subsequently “warned off” for eight years.

Meanwhile, Bin Suroor saddled Colour Vision to win the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot in 2012 and Farhh – who’d been placed in Group 1 company five times in 2012 – to win the Lockinge Stakes at Newbury and, on his return from injury, the Champion Stakes at Ascot in 2013.

At the time of writing, Saeed bin Suroor is enjoying a successful time at the Meydan Carnival, with seven winners from his 21 runners in the last 14 days. His recent successes include Thunder Snow in the Al Maktoum Challenge R2 and Promising Run in the Balanchine, both Group 2 events. Domestically, he’s also saddled three winners from seven runners, so far, in 2018 and has plenty to which to look forward when he returns to Newmarket in April.