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While the world’s leading
racehorses and the jockeys that ride them often get the headlines and the accolades, the individuals who prepare them for their races are not always given the credit they deserve.
Training is not just about making sure the horse gets to the track safely. Months of patience and care go into a horse’s career which starts when they are selected at auction sales, invariably with the trainer’s input, followed by schooling, starting stall practice, systematic introduction of pace work, veterinary attention for what can be a number of small niggles or more complicated ailments, selecting suitable races, nominations, pre-race preparation, consultation with assistant trainers, farriers and work riders, and more.
Trainers often work under intense pressure, because managing a barn full of horses (the major trainers can have up to 400 in their care) takes not only training expertise, but expert management skills which involve overseeing team of qualified assistants and stable hands, sometimes in different centres. A trainer, then, is much more than the man or woman who puts the saddle on a horse before race time, and here are some of the world’s best, of the last four decades.
Aidan O’Brien (IRE)
The trainer of choice for John Magnier’s Coolmore empire in Ireland, Aidan O’Brien is known not just among horse racing fans, but among all sports fans, and even among those that love real money pokies, as being the most talented trainer of all time. O'Brien set a new world record by training 26 Group or Grade 1 winners in one calendar year when Saxon Warrior won the Racing Post Trophy at Doncaster, which beat the US-based Bobby Frankel's 2003 mark of 25. He has won most of the world’s greatest races at least once, training many superstars including Galileo, Giant’s Causeway, Rock Of Gibraltar, Hawk Wing, Highland Reel, Kingsbarns, St Mark’s Bassilica, Camelot and Snowfall, among many others.
John Gosden (UK)
Gosden was born into the world of horse racing trainer, and is the son of John Gosden, another legendary trainer. And while his father is without a doubt one of the most memorable trainers of all time, his son would become even more famous. Gosden learnt the tricks of the trade from his father and also worked alongside Noel Murless as well as Vincent O’Brien. Over time, he became a household name, and has been at the head of some of the greatest success ever. He has trained over 3,000 winners worldwide, including winners of the Breeders' Cup Classic, the Derby, the Arc, the King George, the Eclipse, and over 600 winners in the United States. His best horses include Oasis Dream, Cracksman, Enable, Palace Pier, Mishriff, Roaring Lion and Dar Re Mi.
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Charles Appleby (UK)
A relative newcomer to the ranks of the greats, Charlie Appleby burst onto the scene in recent years courtesy of his association with Sheikh Mohammed’s Godolphin operation. He has proved himself to be a horseman of rare quality. He was the World Trainer of 2021 in the TRC Global Rankings and the British flat racing Champion Trainer in the 2021 season, with runners like Pinatubo, Creative Force, Blue Point, Masar, Adayar and Hurricane Lane flying the flag.
Chris Waller (AUS)
A Hall of Fame trainer in Australian and New Zealand, Chris Waller has taken giant leaps in racing in the last 10 y ears and is best known the superstar mare Winx, a four-time winner of Australian Horse of the Year honours. He has trained 130 Group 1 winners and is known for exceptional stable management and attention to detail.
Andre Fabre (FR)
A leading jumps jockey in his younger years, Fabre is now acknowledged as France greatest horse trainer. He has won races all around the world and achieved a lifelong goal when he won the English Derby with Pour Moi in 2011. Even more impressive is the fact he has won 24 French trainers’
title, including 21 in a row from 1987 to 2007. He also has won his country’s greatest race, the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, seven times. He is a man for the big moment, and his expert handling of runners like Paintre Celebre, Rail Link, Waldgeist, Trempolino and Hurricane Run made him famous.
Todd Pletcher (USA)
New York-based Todd Pletcher learnt his skills as the right-hand man for the legendary D. Wayne Lukas and has won the Eclipse Award as US trainer of the year seven times, including four times in a row from 2004-2007.
His runners have won regularly at the Breeders’ Cup and his crowning glories are Kentucky Derby wins with Super Saver in 2010 and Always Dreaming in 2017. Horses from Pletcher’s barn have earned more prizemoney than any other trainer in US history, somewhere north of
$US370 million.
Mike de Kock (SAF)
With 128 G1 winners to his credit, Betway ambassador Mike de Kock shot to fame in the early 2000s as a “pioneer of travelling horses abroad, and he has trained winners in 10 countries. De Kock was not born into a racing family but learned his craft the hard way as part of the SA Defence Force’s equestrian unit as a teenager and later working for top trainer Ormond Ferraris. He has won all the major races in his homeland many times as well as finding success in England, the US, Singapore, Hong Kong and Dubai. He has enjoyed particular success with the prominent Oppenheimer family in South Africa and also trains for the late Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum’s Shadwell operation, and for Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Maktoum. He has over 3500 career winner and his best runners include Horse Chestnut, Right Approach, Victory Moon, Asiatic Boy, Eagle Mountain, Irridesence, Sun Classique, Mubtaahij and more recently SA Triple Crown winner, Malmoos.
Steve Asmussen (USA)
Steven Asmussen is undoubtedly one of the best racehorse trainers in the world. He has sent out an amazing 9000 winners in North America alone.
His best horses include the champions Curlin, Kodiak Kowboy, Untapable, My Miss Aurelia, Rachel Alexandra, and the Pegasus World Cup and Breeders’ Cup Classic winner, Gun Runner.
Chad Brown (USA)
Brown graduated in animal science from Cornell University and honed his craft working as an assistant to Bobby Frankel in 2002. He launched his own career in 2008 and in the decade since has rocketed up the ranks to claim a hat-trick of Eclipse Awards as the outstanding trainer in the US from 2016-2018. He has started to collect an impressive array of feature-race wins, none bigger than the 2017 Preakness Stakes with Cloud Computing. Brown is growing in popularity, has made a major impact on US racing and is likely to be among the top handlers for many years.
Justin Snaith (SAF)
Youthful Justin Snaith, who admits to being besotted with horses, is a born-and-bred horseman from the prominent Snaith racing family. His father Chris established Snaith Racing in 1974 and Justin was raised in the yard, learning the ropes, riding work and learning how to run a successful stable from the ground up. He is also a keen polo player.
Justin has delivered incredible results from his Cape Town based stable over the last decade and has won the South African Trainers’ Title three times and the prized Durban July four times. His best runners among a host of top performer include Do It Again, Kasimir, Jet Dark (currently rated Top 5 in the world), Legislate, Ebony Flyer and Rio Querari.
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