Watson sets sights on more glory as he hits ground running

FIRST impressions, instant impacts. Never has it been more important for a new trainer to hit the ground running to inject momentum into his or her embryonic career.

Making an immediate name for himself has not been a problem for Lambourn-based Archie Watson. The 29-year-old took off from the start of the trainers’ grid with F1 acceleration.

In 2017, his first full season, he trained 56 winners, and his foot has been hard down on the gas all winter.

Thirty five wins from only 138 runners, have Watson neck and neck with Mick Appleby in the race to be champion trainer of the all-weather season which concludes at the £1million AllWeather Championship Finals Day at Lingfield on Friday. Watson (below) said: ‘People do make judgments on trainers fairly quickly but it was not something I was thinking about.

‘We were just trying to keep our heads above water and find people who were willing to send horses to the yard. We were lucky the right horses won at the right time and got us noticed.

‘I couldn’t have dreamt we would have over 50 winners in our first year. It’s all down to ammunition and getting the right horses in the yard.

‘We got some competitive horses which progressed after joining us and the two-year-olds contributed massively.’

Those horses are headed by Corinthia Knight, €15,000 buy which has won six of its 12 races and over £100,000, including the Listed Prix Montenica at Chantilly last month. He also finished fourth in a race on the Breeders’ Cup undercard at Del Mar, California, in November.

The son of sire Society Rock heads to Friday’s meeting at Lingfield as favourite for the £150,000 six-furlong Three-Year Championship race. He will be joined by stablemate Petite Jack in the £250,000 ten-furlong Easter Classic.

Watson, whose horse Captain Lars, a seven-time winner during the AW season, is also challenging for the £10,000 prize as the AW season’s most successful horse, said: ‘Corinthia Knight deserves to be favourite but the race will be very draw dependent. He tries his heart out. He is developing into a very good sprinter and I’d love to take him back out to America.’

Watson was born close to the Berkshire training centre of Lambourn but had never worked there until he returned in 2016 after acquiring the Saxon Gate stables. He had served a training apprenticeship on a worldwide stage that included working in New Zealand, California and for four seasons being assistant to trainer William Haggas during a period when the Newmarket trainer won the Eclipse Stakes with Mukhadram.

But Watson says the most influential period came when running a satellite yard for two years for leading South African trainer Alec Laird in Summerville, KwaZulu-Natal.

Watson added: ‘We had 30 horses down near Durban. It is something you don’t get in England being able to be in charge of a yard while not having the financial pressure and all the other stuff which goes with it.

‘You almost get to have a dry run at training horses. That’s probably where I learnt the most.’