Interview with Ed Bethell who discusses his horses to follow including Regional, Chillingham and Yorkshire
Adam Houghton speaks to Ed Bethell, a trainer with some promising young horses on his hands who are well worth following.
You’ll forgive me if I don’t give away the full list of names included in Timeform’s Horses To Follow for the 2023 Flat season – we’ve got a book to sell, after all – but I can point you in the direction of a few trainers who might be in for a productive year if our predictions prove correct.
You won’t be surprised to learn that the stables of John and Thady Gosden and William Haggas have the strongest representation in our Fifty with five horses apiece, nor that the likes of Ralph Beckett (four), Roger Varian (four) and Charlie Appleby (three) have plenty of exciting prospects in their care, too.
However, what that information does do is put into some context the high hopes we hold for up-and-coming trainer Ed Bethell in 2023, with three horses from his Thorngill Stables in Middleham featuring in our Fifty.
While the likes of the Gosdens and Haggas could easily fill our list multiple times over, Bethell only has around 60 horses in training full stop, a number which has itself nearly doubled since his father, James, handed over the reins at the start of the 2021 campaign.
The increased support Bethell has received is just reward for the giant strides he’s made in his first two seasons with a licence. For context, he earned at least £322,000 in total prize money in both 2021 and 2022, more than the stable had ever previously won in a single calendar year.
With Group Three and Listed wins also ticked off, Bethell described himself as “delighted” with how his burgeoning training career has played out so far. And if nothing else, he’s taking his dad’s hands-off approach as a sign that he’s doing something right.
“Dad’s around and he’s always there as a good sounding board,” Bethell explained. “But he’s definitely taken more of a back seat – I think he now trusts that I can train a racehorse!
“I started with around 30 horses and we were lucky to have Artistic Rifles [Group Three Superior Mile winner] and Fearby [Listed winner] bringing in nearly £100,000 each in that first year. We’ve grown in numbers since then and we’ve got a better type of horse now competing in better races.
"I’m really pleased with how it’s gone and, if you’d told me this was going to be the case when I first started, I would have bitten your hand off."
James Bethell enjoyed his best season numerically when saddling 25 winners back in 1977 – the same year he celebrated one of his biggest successes when Celtic Pleasure won the King George V Handicap at Royal Ascot – but that record could be in danger in 2023 from son Ed, who saddled 22 winners on the Flat in Britain in both 2021 and 2022.
Indeed, it’s not just in our Fifty that the young trainer is keeping good company this year having made an impressive start to 2023. A double at Ripon on Thursday took Bethell's tally to 11 winners from 31 runners at a strike rate of 32.3%. Out of the Flat trainers who have saddled at least 25 runners in Britain in 2023, only Charlie Appleby (37.3%, 22/59) is operating at a higher strike rate.
“Long may it continue” was Bethell’s verdict before betraying a mix of excitement and trepidation as the turf season really kicks into gear.
He added: “They’re very healthy and really well in themselves, but it’s going to become a lot more competitive now than it was earlier in the year. Some bubbles are going to be burst I’d imagine, but I can’t wait. I just want the weather to be a bit more consistent and the ground to be good or good to firm. Then we’ll be rip-roaring, because we’ve got plenty of them ready to run.”
One of those horses ready to run is Fifty member Chillingham, who is an intended runner at Thirsk on Saturday as he attempts to pick up where he left off in a three-year-old campaign which saw him win two of his four starts having only made his debut in June.
Described in Horses To Follow as “just the type to make his mark in some of the more valuable middle-distance handicaps”, Chillingham is certainly a horse for whom Bethell has high hopes, with the £500,000 Sky Bet Ebor being identified as a possible target if things go to plan in the interim.
Bethell said: “Chillingham is a lovely, big horse who was always going to be a three- or four-year-old when we bought him as a yearling. He’s taken time to mature. I could have run him at the backend last year after he won at Thirsk in September, but I made the decision to give him a break and a nice winter off to try and have a big year with him this year.
“He dispatched what was probably a fairly average field at Thirsk, but he’s stepping up again on Saturday. He’s up in grade and it’s a good starting point for him with a view to bigger and better things later on in the year.
“In the back of my mind, I’ve got the Ebor as his primary target if I can get him up to a BHA mark of 100 [currently rated 90]. The way he won back in September, he didn’t look like that was out of the realms of possibility. The typical improvement over the winter should be such that you’d hope he could get there.
“I’m not going to tell you that he’s going to win the Ebor, but it’s a case of getting the experience into him to get there on a confident note. I’ll start him at Thirsk on Saturday and then I’ll probably look at something like the Duke of Edinburgh at Royal Ascot. That’s the kind of route I’m looking at, possibly with a race in between Ascot and York.”
Another horse with a date on the Knavesmire in his diary is Yorkshire, who has won both his starts since finishing third behind the subsequent Group Two winner Charyn on his debut at Haydock in August.
Last seen defying a penalty in a novice event at Southwell a few weeks ago, Yorkshire was included in our Fifty as “a useful handicapper in the making” and Bethell is clearly hopeful that an opening BHA mark of 84 can be exploited if the son of Harry Angel lines up at York’s Dante Festival.
“Yorkshire is an absolute beauty,” Bethell summed up. “He’s a beautiful-looking horse and he’s got great athleticism. I definitely wasn’t surprised by the way he won at Southwell. I always thought seven furlongs would be his trip, or a mile. He needed the run at Southwell and had a proper blow after that. He’d probably only done two pieces of work prior to going there.
“His first run was probably his best run and that race has worked out fairly well. He could only do what he did in his win at Redcar and I probably tested him a bit going over six at a relatively sharp track like Southwell when he wasn’t 100% fit. He was well clear after the line and he galloped out really well, so I would think that we’ll definitely step him up to seven.
“I would imagine I’ll start him off in a 0-95 handicap at York. I think he could be pretty good and I’m hoping the handicapper has got him completely wrong.”
The final member of our Fifty from Thorngill Stables is Coverdale, another in the black and white silks of Clarendon Thoroughbred Racing, whose syndicates were founded in 1997 by Bethell’s parents.
Coverdale failed to win in four starts as a two-year-old, but he took a significant step forward and was probably unlucky not to get off the mark when beaten just a neck on his nursery debut at Pontefract in October, doing well to finish so close having conceded first run to the winner.
Gelded during the winter, Coverdale begins his three-year-old campaign on a BHA mark of 74 and Bethell shares our confidence that the son of Expert Eye could be well handicapped, particularly with longer trips still to explore.
“I think so,” Bethell agreed when I put it to him that Coverdale was unlucky not to win at Pontefract. “He’s a nice horse and I thought he’d win first-time-out at Haydock to be honest with you. He’s done well physically over the winter and he’s definitely one to keep on the right side of.
“I’d imagine I’ll start him over a mile and a quarter this year. He’s not quite ready to start off just yet, but I’d imagine I’ll have him out in May at some point.”
Away from our Fifty, Bethell gave a positive nod to the three-year-old filly Elim, an effortless winner of a Newcastle maiden in March. Mentions of the Sandringham at Royal Ascot and German 1000 Guineas give an indication of the regard in which she is held and there should certainly be more races to be won with her from an opening BHA mark of 77.
As for the juveniles, Bethell saddled four individual two-year-old winners in 2022 and the first of this year’s crop are expected to hit the racecourse in May, a group he described as “all different shapes and sizes at the moment”.
Similar comments apply to the eclectic bunch of horses included in our Fifty, a list featuring Classic aspirants, low-grade handicappers and everything in between. Unfortunately, I can’t give you the names, but I can give you the prediction of a big year for Bethell.
Bethell on three of his stable stars
Regional (Timeform rating 107)
Useful sprinter who produced his best effort last season when beaten just a length and a half into third in the Stewards’ Cup at Goodwood.
“I love him. He’s a legend of a horse and a great horse to have in the yard considering he cost 3,500 guineas. He was going to start at Pontefract last week, but the ground was too soft. He needs it firm or at least good to firm. I’d imagine he’ll start off in one of the two sprint handicaps at York’s Dante Festival with a view to going for the Wokingham at Royal Ascot.
“The owners and I have been discussing whether to go straight to Ascot, but to win a Wokingham you need more luck than anything. Even if you’re an absolute handicap blot, you can’t win if you’re drawn on the wrong side. God only knows what the weather will do and you could wait until the Wokingham where the ground goes against you.
“I’d love to take him back to the Stewards’ Cup, but he hates undulations. I think that is probably what cost him the Stewards’ Cup last year. The stiff nature of the track at Ascot where he can sit in behind and come through horses might just suit him.”
Oviedo (Timeform rating 97)
Produced his best performance as a two-year-old when third in the Acomb Stakes at York and got back on track after six months off when sixth (beaten less than four lengths) in a Listed race at Newcastle on Good Friday.
“It was a positive run at Newcastle. He ran well for a long way, but he was on the wrong side of the track. I’m not saying he would have won, but Newcastle is a tricky place when you’re on the far side up that straight. Had he challenged up the near side, where the others all challenged, he might have been a good bit closer.
“He went off a bit after the Acomb and I think the ground caused a lot of his issues in those last two races. I think he wants quite quick ground which is unlike a Lope de Vega out of a Galileo mare. He’s always worked like a decent horse and it was probably trainer error last year. I’d draw a line through Newcastle and I think his next race will be the Silver Bowl at Haydock.”
Sandbeck (Timeform rating 96)
Won three times in handicaps last season and was beaten only three lengths when last seen finishing fifth in a Listed race at Ayr.
“The aim will be to try and get black type. She’s just started to really blossom on me which is fantastic. She was going to go to Bath but just had a slight hiccup. She didn’t eat up for a couple of days about three weeks ago and missed a good portion of work which would have had her spot on for Bath.
“She needs quick ground and there is a Listed fillies’ race or the Palace House Stakes at Newmarket on Guineas weekend. All being well, she’ll start off in one of them. The Palace House might be flying a bit high, but those Group Three sprints can cut up a little bit occasionally, whereas the Listed fillies’ race might have a lot of runners.
“She’s very quick and I think she’s probably better at five furlongs. I know that the owner would rather I started at five, so I imagine we’ll go for the Palace House. If she can be placed in that she’s done her job and then we can look for a Listed race somewhere else if we need to.”
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