Having this year joined forces with his legendary father Nigel, trainer Willy Twiston-Davies speaks candidly about his decision to retire as a jockey claiming "It Was Time To Move On" given the toll racing was now taking on his body and what working more closely with his father is actually like, claiming that "Dad Will Always Be Boss!".
Elsewhere he offers some insight into their growing racing team, their expectations and goals for the new season with special word for their Novice Hurdle Team.
From Saddle to Stable
Joining Training Licenses With His Father
I started officially in May, and we've had a good start. I think we're on 19 winners already, and with a healthy strike rate of about 23%. The horses are running well, so it’s all good.”
I have always loved the training side of things. It was something I was always going to do and something I think Dad always hoped we'd do at some point. The timing just seemed right this year. I was doing more and more, so it was a natural progression.
“Tough” Retirement Decision, But It Was Time
Yes, it was. I was just getting heavier and heavier as the season was going on. I decided I'd take a break over the winter and see what my weight levelled off at. I think within two days I'd put on well over a stone and a half, and I realised it wasn't going to come back down. It was facing reality, really. It was time to move on.
Family Ties and Teamwork: Running the Yard with Dad
Family Reflections
It was on my mind a lot, really. I probably haven’t had the healthiest of families. For instance, I barely met my grandparents. You always worry about hereditary things, and pushing my body to the limit was something that you should probably only do for a certain amount of time.
They died early. I can't really remember Dad's mum at all, and both of their fathers had passed away before I was born.
Dad Will Always Be The Boss!
Everything's been faultless so far. We very rarely have a crossword. Most of the time, we just have a conversation, and we usually agree on the same thing. It's a family-run business.
I'd say it couldn't have gone more smoothly. The transition was very, very straightforward. It does help when the horses are running so well, I suppose. We'll see what it's like at the end of the year when we think about having bad results!
Obviously, Dad will always be the boss, but to be honest with you, we never really have that situation. He'll hear my ideas, and I'll hear his, and we'll usually find common ground between us.
Working Side-By-Side
You'd be shocked. We don't actually leave each other's sides much! We'll be on the gallops all day together. We sit in the office from six in the morning doing the race planning up until twelve.
We'll both always be looking for entries, so we won't ask for each other's approval. We see an entry we think needs to go in, we'll do it. We both talk to all the owners as much as we can. Everything we do is very much a 50-50.
Building a Legacy: Fresh Faces and Future Winners
Growing Horse Team And Season Expectations
We have roughly about 85 to 90. We can take more. We could get up to 120 if we wanted to. At the minute, we're very happy with our numbers and what we've got. We've got a lot of young horses. Hopefully, we'll beat last year's record, but I wouldn't be shocked if the numbers were slightly down because most of the horses are four and five, and we don't want to burn them out.
A lot of the owners have reinvested, we've got a lot of young pointer-pointers, some of which have won very well already this season and look to have very bright futures. We're missing the likes of the Casa No Mento and The Kniphand, horses that have been running in those big handicaps and who all won good prize money every year. It’s hard to take when you lose them.
But we've still got very good flag bearers with the likes of Master Chewy and Matata. They’re so consistent. You’d have set your clock by them. Every year, the two of them win a big race. Matata hacked up at Windsor last year and won a big pot.
They're both rated 156 and 160, so they'll be the two flag bearers. They're two very good horses who don't really know how to run bad races. They might just be short of the grade ones at Cheltenham, but they're both very capable of winning a lot of prize money in Graded races, especially Master Chewy, who we might start in the Old Roan Chase on Sunday. I've got a feeling he might get three miles this year, which could be another string to his bow.
Freshening Up The Yard
It's just a fact of where we are. For example, Phil Cunningham found out I was going onto the license. I rode a lot of his Flat horses, and he wanted to have a horse in training with us, so that was exciting.
Then we've had lots of new owners wanting to reinvest. Another had his first horse a year ago, and he's gone and invested in two new point-to-pointers. We've just had a lot of influx of new owners who want to start buying nice horses, and hopefully, Saturday horses.
If you look through our lot lists, you'd struggle to find a horse on there that shouldn't be winning a race this year. Obviously, we're a lot more about quality over quantity this year.
Strong Novice Hurdle Team
It looks that way so far! Un Sens A La Vie looked a bit special at Market Rasen. He did what we expected first time out over hurdles, having won his Bumper well, quickening away smartly. I am sure he will improve for the experience and has always looked like a natural jumper.
He's going to run on Friday in the Grade 2 at Cheltenham. Shabalko d’Herm won very well on Friday by 12 lengths. Spectacular Sunrise ran very well at Perth and should be winning very soon.
We’ve got a very nice point-to-pointer called Big Ticket, he should be out soon, possibly at Aintree on Sunday. We also have a very nice horse called Leader Crik, who could run on Friday at Cheltenham, in the two-and-a-half-mile novice hurdle. He looks quite smart.
We all think the world of Tread Carefully, who was seventh at Chepstow. He was just very clueless and green. He could be very nice. Race to Base” disappointed the first time out, but that was myself and Dad's fault. He needed the run. Super Freddie is unraced but looks quite good.
Bet on Horse Racing Odds at BOYLE Sports
*Prices are subject to fluctuation.
Remember, Always Gamble Responsibly.
