Horse racing is a hugely popular sport in the UK and around the world. It's known as the sport of kings for good reason and is a sport enjoyed by everyone from casual punters, all the way to royalty. During the Cheltenham Festival in February many looked forward to the 'Queen Mother Chase', a race named after the much missed queen mother, a keen follower of horse racing. The Royals actually have a few horses in training.
Just days ago, we all got to enjoy the 2018 Grand National, a national hunt event watched by hundreds of millions of people around the world, which draws in the very best horses, jockeys, trainers and owners in an exciting top class race where the winner goes straight into the history books. Another noteable festival themed event is surely Royal Ascot. Who doesn't love Ladies Day? With huge TV audiences and top racecourses all around the country (Aintree, Newmarket, Goodwood, the list goes on) it's hard to resist the excitement of horse racing here in the UK.
Let's not forget though that horses of the likes of Red Rum, Frankel, Sea the Stars, Arkle and so on haven't and don't exist in a vaccum. In addition to their natural ability and being ridden by talented jockeys, horse trainers also play a vital role. With expert knowledge of horse racing and getting horses into condition the likes of Paul Nicholls, Nicky Henderson, Michael Stoute, John Gosden and others really do add a lot to racing, bringing out the best in the horses they train. Training a horse certainly isn't about winging it or getting lucky, it's a science. Horse trainers manage all aspects of a horse's well being during training, from diet, exercise, mental wellbeing and over all management. It's no small task.
Some horse trainers started out as jockeys and so have a very complete understanding of racing as a whole. This is true of Paul Nicholls, who was a talented jump jockey and made the transition to (very) successful National Hunt trainer, training over 2000 winners and winning some of the big races, such as the Cheltenham Gold Cup and Grand National. His training career and list of major wins has to be seen to be believed.
The winner of the 2018 Grand National, Tiger Roll, was trained by Irish racehourse trainer Gordon Elliot. Remarkably, he also trained the 2007 winner, Silver Birch. Again, he stared off as a jockey, with quite some success and branched out into becoming a horse trainer.
