A pair of 9-2 shots took Mark Johnston alongside Richard Hannon Sr as the most successful British trainers, a title they share for what may be only a matter of hours.
Quintada at Doncaster and Dr Richard Kimble at Ripon obliged for Johnston, taking him to a career total of 4,193 in Britain; the next time he enters a winner’s enclosure, he will have the record all to himself.
He watched Dr Richard Kimble’s race in a bar at a sales ring in Deauville, which is a stylish way to relish any winner. But he did rather wish he had been able to follow up immediately with Rastacap at Newmarket.
“We were getting ready to order in some champagne if he had won as well,” Johnston said on Saturday evening. “I don’t think I can celebrate until the next one wins and sadly we’ve only got one runner at Pontefract on Sunday.
“Winners are what it’s all about,” Johnston had said in midweek, when asked about the approaching landmark at his Middleham stables. “We know when we’ve had lots of winners in a season that we’re going to have a good season the next year because owners are happy. All owners want winners, it doesn’t matter what level you’re talking about, they all want winners. So that’s why it’s vitally important to win more than anybody else.”
Aside from buying yearlings, his job in France is to prepare for Sunday’s valuable Prix Morny, in which he will field Marie’s Diamond. That race, however, cannot contribute towards Johnston’s tally for the purpose of this particular record, which relates only to winners in Britain. Her stablemate Lynwood Gold could garner more headlines by landing a lowly Pontefract handicap 15 minutes earlier.
At some point last autumn, Johnston became aware of the likelihood he would reach Hannon’s total this year. Since then, he has had an app on his phone, counting down the winners needed to bridge the gap, a sign of his competitive nature that will surely surprise absolutely no one.
During July, success came so easily to the inmates of his two Yorkshire yards it seemed he might crash through the record in a matter of days. The first reports hailing a record began to appear three weeks ago but August proved harder work and there was a positive slowdown this week, when Johnston strung 24 consecutive losers together and flirted with an appearance on the Racing Post’s dreaded “Cold List” of out-of-form trainers.
Some observers were moved to wonder, privately, if there may be a bug in the yard of the kind which has apparently afflicted Aidan O’Brien this summer. Whether or not, there was no chance of Johnston taking a pull and running fewer horses. One of his several trademark practices is a willingness to keep sending out runners unless there is an undeniable reason for not doing so.
Pontefract 2.00 Hard Solution
2.30 Arrowtown 3.05 Becky The Thatcher (nb) 3.35 Dance Diva 4.05 Georgian Manor 4.40 Hareeq 5.10 Power To Exceed
Southwell 2.20 Old Pride
2.50 One For Billy 3.25 Hargam (nap) 3.55 Zebi Boy 4.25 Sheelbewhatsheelbe 5.00 Cosmic Tigress 5.30 King’s Reste
He said this week: “When I started, you were forever hearing about trainers closing down for a month because they’ve got the virus. We couldn’t close down for a month in those days, ‘cos we would have gone bust. But if I didn’t believe in it then, I certainly came to believe there was never any reason to close.
“I remember a time, I think there was 28 horses in the yard, and we had a lot of coughing. And even with 28, I remember saying, partly driven by an overdraft, 28 can’t all be sick at once. Well, 200 can’t all be sick at once, that’s absolutely for certain.”
Meanwhile in Britain, Harry Cobden hopes a scan on Thursday will show he has made a full recovery from the neck injury that has sidelined him since early June. The jump jockey plans to be race-riding by the end of September.
