Henrietta Knight

With the popular racehorse trainer returning to the fray, this National Hunt specialist tells Kate Johnson about her foolproof training tactic, her ambitious plans to win more big races and a certain lucky blue suit

-  Kate Johnson

IT took a single-word text to convince Henrietta Knight to apply for her racing trainer's licence again, 11 years after she retired. Now in her 77th year, she texted the Grand National-winning former jockey, retired trainer and close friend Brendan Powell, "Would you think I was mad to train again?" He replied, "No".

He's now her new assistant trainer and as she waits for her licence from the British Horseracing Authority, Henrietta says with some understatement, "Brendan knows me; when I get an idea, I go for it."

He replies, "Without doubt, you do." 

We're in Henrietta's living room. Between Brendan (watching the racing on television), Dawn Graham (Henrietta's long-standing secretary with her terrier puppy in her hands) and Henrietta (sitting at the head of the table, which is strewn with copies of the Racing Post and this magazine), and the framed photographs and paintings of her great horses and her family that line every inch of wall space, this room is absolutely packed with history, experience and knowledge.

Henrietta had retired in 2012 to look after her husband, the former triple champion jockey and trainer Terry Biddlecombe, who died two years later in 2014, and she reflects, "Terry was so knowledgeable, I couldn't carry on on my own. You need two people. There are so many aspects to it - teaching horses to jump and gallop, planning of races, it's so important to put the horse in the right race, the right ground, the right jockeys, keeping the owners happy, coping with injuries and reading races."