A HALL-MARK OF SUCCESS

IT might be 300 miles from his Middleham training grounds in Yorkshire, but Mark Johnston has found his spiritual home at Glorious Goodwood where he again hopes to finish the week as leading trainer.

Johnston has taken top honours at the five-day meeting on 12 occasions, saddling 78 winners in the process. Not surprisingly, he has a top team primed for the week.

“Goodwood, along with Royal Ascot, is a meeting that we plan for,” he explained. “We do a spreadsheet in advance and pencil in all the possible horses.They are the only two meetings we do that for.”

Targets will be decided with the assistance of his son Charlie, a pivotal player in the stable that currently boasts 280 horses in training.

Johnston will eventually pass the baton to his son – though not in the immediate future.

“Charlie couldn’t wait for me to retire five years ago, but if you ask him now he admits the job is bigger than he thought.”

Johnston appreciates that his early success at Goodwood helped him become Britain’s most successful Flat trainer after Poet’s Society gave him a 4,194th winner at York last year.

“We won races early on at Goodwood and that really started our relationship with the racecourse,” he said.

“Double Trigger’s three Goodwood Cup wins also helped. I have owners now who first decided to send me a horse after Double Trigger won at Goodwood.”

Johnston is never cowed by defeat and throws Dee Ex Bee into the lion’s cage for the second time with Stradivarius in today’s Goodwood Cup.

“There is nothing we can do about Stradivarius,” he said. “We can’t belittle him, and we are not sure if he has any chinks in his armour. But you never run away from one horse.”

Johnston, who has saddled a record-breaking 48 winners this month, also rates the chance of Visinari in today’sVintage Stakes.

Others to note include: Sir Ron Priestley (Unibet Handicap, tomorrow), Dark Vision (Golden Mile, Friday) and King’s Advice (Summer Handicap, Saturday).