Ramsden starting over again

LAURA KING

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JOEY RAMSDEN is in excellent spirits. Maybe it’s his natural bonhomie, maybe the time of year or perhaps it’s the genuine excitement which comes with a new venture.

A new venture, that is, a long way from where you might expect, because it’s not in South Africa where Ramsden is one of the most successful trainers of all time, with 1,850 winners on his CV - nor Australia, where he lived during Covid. Rather, it’s in the UK away from the bright lights in Nottinghamshire - which, with the best will in the world, is not necessarily regarded as a hotbed of international racing.

Appleby

The 57-year-old is based near Newark from a 62-box yard where Breeders' Cup-winning trainer Mick Appleby enjoyed success. “I love where we are,” says the trainer, who was known as 'The Captain' in South Africa. “It’s in the Midlands and it may not be as fashionable as some of the training centres, but the facilities are incredible.”

Be that as it may, this is a bit of a departure from Ramsden’s peak in Cape Town, where he once had 180 horses. They included the star Variety Club, winner of three Gls in South Africa, the G2 Godolphin Mile in Dubai and the G1 Champions Mile in Hong Kong (albeit in Mike De Kock’s name owing to quarantine regulations).

Admittedly, there is probably nothing of that elite talent among Ramsden’s current string, which numbers, in his own words, “a whopping 14!”

However, he is full of praise for his new base. “We have an 800-metre heavy round track and a 7½-furlong uphill all-weather, which has just been relaid and is gorgeous,” he says.

'Gorgeous' isn’t a word you hear too often in association with a training surface, but Ramsden’s enthusiasm is genuine. It comes with a dose of realism too, when asked how many horses he would ideally like to train.

“Fifty is a nice number,” he ponders. “But I wouldn’t like to go as big as I was and have 180 again.”