Exclusive Racing Interview: Gary Newbon interviews dual-code trainer Ian Williams

this is Gary newbomb the sporting ambassador prevent masters inviting you to join me for another racing interview the subject this time is Ian Williams the successful Midlands trainer who saddled a winner at every single UK race course he's got a wonderful set up at the Dominion racing stables just outside Birmingham where he's got the state of the art complex Ian you've got excellent facilities with the Dominion racing stables where exactly are you I'm web-based just off the m42 on the outskirts of Birmingham Junction 3 which is actually the Redax Junction Junction 3 at the m42 we're one mile away from that Junction now you've got a state-of-the-art complex can you take us through it verbally about what it's like yeah we're very lucky to have some quite extensive weather gallops we've got a neck wine pool a very nice indoor schooling arena and indoor school and the back 213 stables we have 113 stables lots of turnout and lots of lots of grass areas to be able to to get the horses out during the summer for there generally where the quad rest will go over your career in a moment but it's down to the local businessman Patrick Kelly that you're there is that correct yeah I started training in Oxfordshire quite a long time ago now 20 plus years and the first six months weren't going particularly well at all and it was actually Brendan Powell who retired recently told me to have a word with Pat Kelly he said this guys up in Birmingham and he wants to build a yacht and when I when I first came here Pat had built 30 stables and there was a horse walker and already an all-weather gallop and between us we've developed the facility over the last 20 years and we've now got in excess of a hundred stables accommodation for 40 staff lots of all-weather gallops lots of lots of good stuff going on now obviously gonna have good horses but does they does that complex give you that little bit extra if you've got a decent horse it helps enormously I mean facilities are important the ability to swim up a horse that's maybe got a small injury or is suffering from sore shins or you know you're preparing for a decent race and gets a stone bruise or a twisted ankle ten days before it can be the difference between getting that walls to the races fit and being unable to sew facilities like we have whilst they're not a necessity they're very very nice to have and make a big difference on the occasions that you need them is it unusual to have a trainer with so many on the flat and so many jumping which would you do you're a dual trainer yeah I think we we were primarily national heart and we had a moderate national hunt season one year and had the opportunity strain some flat horses and you know the flat horses did well there's the string increased and we probably now adays have a little over fifty fifth probably 60/40 flat against the jumping we were very fortunate there the season before last we actually managed a million pounds in prize money which was a huge effort from the string that we had we didn't have many what I could refer to as group performers but we want some big handicaps did some great things and that's as good as season as we've had having those winners on the flat and the national hunt runs alongside it and to be honest it's the national hunt that I'm very passionate about but the flap is a real good business and it helps pay the wages and when will you be running again we're going to have racing it seems behind closed doors how has this affected you it's it's not been as bad as it could have been the national hunt horses as soon as racing was stopped soon afterwards the BHA made an announcement the national horses wouldn't be racing until the first of July which was great because it was clear cut for everybody it meant we could turn the national also national hunt horses out to grass give them their summer holiday probably five six weeks we would have done normally and we had a lot of horses that were primed and ready to run at that state but having turned all of those out it left us with about 50 horses that we haven't training currently to run on the flat from when we hope racing kicks off on the 1st of June what that's enabled us to do is keep a number of staff who live on-site and and the staff that don't live on-site they actually haven't been in to the since shutdown so we've managed to keep ourselves quite a tightly secure unit and I'm just thinking about racing behind closed doors I don't think it will be as bad as looking at football behind closed doors do you depends on the football and the racing no I think the yeah well Racing racing is a is a [Music] the spectacle becomes in the last furlong really when the the people who would be at the races really enjoy the thrill of the race but you know we've been watching TV pictures for many years in the betting shops on on the racing TV and I think people will just enjoy seeing the racing back seeing the horses back and the crowd participation isn't as much as as you maybe as you would have in a football match or a rugby match or a cricket match the only sad thing is that when things do start that if the people who own the horses and some of those people have bred them their whole passion for the sport is about going to see them perform and seeing them before the race and how they are after the race that will make a difference but hopefully it shouldn't be too long before owners are allowed to go and watch their horses running in small numbers and yeah the sport could get back to doing what it does best and providing entertainment for a lot of people and actually television coverage is very extensive in the me at least they'll be able to see them run on the screen yes Racing's very lucky it's got two designated racing channels an ITV ITV three magnificent job of showing the racing and I think they'll probably have far more coverage in the first three weeks month during the summer anyway of the racing and it'll be a great shop window opportunity for race and to put itself back in everybody's trunk room and hopefully people will enjoy it just so people don't go the wrong channel it's actually ITV for ITV threes Morse and all those sort of repeats so my TV for an ITV one will be showing it there sorry the correct you might even want people go in the wrong channel if they want to see every single UK race course I don't think anybody else has done that dude are you aware of anybody else doing that very quite incredible I'm not I'm not aware of anybody who's done that it was quite a challenge and being based where we are it's particularly easy to get to or easier than some people get to all parts of the country but obviously there's flat trainers who've trained a winner on every flat track and there're a number of national hunt trainers that have trained the winner on every national hunt trap where we've been fortunate is being dual-purpose we've managed to do that on every track in the country and and I I don't know of anybody else who has done it so it was it was a nice achievement and something that we're very proud of as a team and you've had over a thousand winners do you know actually do you know exactly how many when as you've heard remember that I can remember the day we drained our fattest winner I can't remember the date of it and I should think we're probably on about twelve hundred and something now I'm not sure but we're trekking onto all the second anyway yeah your your thousand winner was happy days at Linfield on November the 29th yeah oh the golfers Phillipe Lee Westwood and chubby Chandler and the other boys Danny Willett was involved yeah it was a good day yeah bunny day very amusing but a great great I mean when I look back on my career I would have been happy to train a hundred winners so to train a thousand winners and train a winner at every race course in the country is you know they're real highlights of my career so far you're obviously good at counting because you did train for a year to be an accountant actually as you know I knew your parents in the late 60s when I was styling my TV career in the West Country with Billie and Bridget Williams you did it for a year and then what happened you decide not to start with not to go into racing what happened after a year of studying accountancy well I studied accountancy and then I actually joined William Hill as a as a trainee stroke betting shop manager yeah after about six months of managing betting shops and my area manager at the time always used to say why aren't you out with the horses here and you wasted here I applied for a job with mrs. Pitman to be assistant and was fortunate enough to get the job and started the apprenticeship of Bheema train that stayed really I had spent a bit of time with my father at home and plenty but having sort of arrived in lamborne and thinking I knew quite a lot I appreciate it quite little ei knew very little and you know we never stopped learning but you can you can learn in you can learn masses in a short time if you have a good tutor actually Jenny had some great horses I'm thinking checking here raw athlete garrison Savannah Toby Tobias just to name three III bright era now she was she was fantastic fantastic trainer and I think the one of the years I was there we actually managed to accumulate 97 winners in one season but mrs. P wouldn't go for the hundred because the ground had dried up and she was not prepared to risk any of her horses in that in you know the chase for the hundred which this going to us as members of staff but we totally respected her decision obviously and it was ashamed not to we've got a hundred because she deserved it amongst the many other things that she achieved in her period well you assistant trainer they you certainly learnt your trade because then you had six months with Martin pipe yeah that was a totally different experience and a totally different job Martin and his wife Carol were exceptional of the job they didn't you know they really knew how to train winners and how to get best out of courses the levels of fitness of those horses and the the knowledge of the program but within that within that yard was incredible and again although only staying a short time it was quite incredible to see the levels of fitness and the levels of work behind the scenes that went into ensuring those horses were fit and well on the day and then you went to France with Francois Dumont and a wonderful horse called a fellow that won the King George twice and Cheltenham Gold Cup yeah not win the King George three times possibly I thought it was twice by happy to stand corrected but he he by the way by the way I thought it was twice but he could have been certainly could have won three gold cups only beaten very narrow margins in two and thankfully he managed to win well because he deserved the the plaudits of winning winning three and the two King George's that we referred to he was an exceptional horse but although he handled the UK better than than a horse that France won never bought to England would cello to was probably a superior athlete but just never got the chance to come here he probably wouldn't have cope with the fences as as well as the fellow did but back home while the fellow was doing all he did here he was achieving great things in France and along with another horse Ubu that Francois trained at the same time they were widely known as the three musketeers and back 25 years ago they each won over a million pounds in prize money which the person doing that for a national Hannibal's yeah by the way I got the to San Jorge with King George winners off your website zooms accurate just checking out speed it's people donate weeks well we haven't done any racing Gary yeah fair enough one of the great highlights must be on the 15th of March 2016 not only is that my birthday the 15th of March but it's your festival winner with Bali Alton I was your first festival winner and and deservedly so because it been second in 2014 to Pauline actually 14 so that was a worthy winner wasn't it he was he was a worthy winner and he was a great horse we were quite fortuitous with him actually because he he fell in one of the graded races at Ascot in the race before when going quite well and should have even completed that day I'm sure his handicap mark if he hadn't have one would have gone up 10 pounds so he wouldn't have qualified for the Chapman race but we were a little anxious because he had made some novice e mistakes in his previous races obviously taking a heavy forward that's got the time before and we were undecided up until the final week as to whether or not would run in the in the novice chase or going and he was owned by Lee Westwood's father John and fortunately between us we came to the right decision and Brian Hughes Ronin for us and he did the job nicely but it was it was it was a huge relief as a as a trainer particularly in my position I've worked for trainers who've had numerous winners at Chapman it was a real relief just to get one on the board and I hope to follow in the rest of my career your late father Billy actually would have been really proud because he got third in the Sun advances one year which was fantastic they had being a small Devon trainer he'd I love that Willie we would have done I mean he was he was very proud of what was going on but fortunate he passed away before we had some of our bigger moments he was we did win the French King George the jumping equivalent with a horse called Batman Senora which he was alive and got to see that and he was he was very happy and very proud as I was to go back to France and win one of their major races probably the second most important steeplechase on their car he was about for that but he would have enjoyed every success and he'd probably have helped me through one or two of the failures as well it's always good to have a chat with somebody when things aren't quite going yeah and it happens in all walks of life um you've got a great relationship with the vent masters and they've had three horses with you so far they've just acquired a fourth and they've had winners with you each time so that's that's good and they're well pleased with that just talk about before we go back to the previous horses just talk about the new one party business I mean mark and Denise have come up with a great name for if that helps immediately he's a he's a four year old by shantu his mother was a useful performer we did quite a bit within last at the beginning of the spring but obviously we'd like to have running round about sort of May time in a national home flat race that wasn't going to happen this season with everything so he's out in the field he's a bit of an escape artist he's a bit of a character and he's actually managed to get away out of his paddock on two occasions during the last three or four weeks but he's a really good sort but a great attitude and to be fair was showing his plenty at home before we were obliged to let him off for the season and give him a break but he'll be back in July time and we'll get him ready for a bumper in the spring and hopefully crack on with him hurdling but size and scope snow chasing so he's got a bright future ahead of him good well Malcolm Denise she's been as I say had three horses with you let's talk about the first one 1998 hurdler and a chaser Latchford named after a great player for Birmingham who went on to play for Everton Latchford Bob actually came up when he was the Birmingham City youth team coached for a publicity shot at your stables I think he did that was a long time ago now and that fit was one of our what was the first horse that we were involved with did math he won a new toxa - one day he was he was going well enough to have won in in a race three weeks earlier and he fell at the second-last and we were all a little disappointed but we knew that if he was going that well on that day if we found the same race for him in similar conditions then he was probably quite a good thing and there was a race I think it was three weeks later back at you talk suitor and he duly did the business in no uncertain terms and the boys all like to have a little interest when things are looking good yeah it was great the hit was it was a great day and it was it resulted in a flight to earth I think for one of his later runs which was which was rather hectic rather long and enduring I would say but he went up there and we had some we had some great time for the horse he was a little fragile and probably didn't achieve everything he'd have been capable of but he was well named well Walt and we had some good sport and he was owned by actually a consortium with mark and Denise who are still event masters clients which is nice if we move on to a filly called turanga leela who claimed off a claimer at lip Litchfield I think yeah sorry link field we'd had we'd had a Sunday lunch with mark and a few other clients and market being following his horse and was D determined that she had some potential and she was running at Lincoln field in a claiming race and we both said we'll keep an eye on there it wasn't a particularly good race in the race that she should win so with keeping an eye on her unfortunately I was stuck on a roof for some reason or another and I couldn't get reception on my phone and all I heard was that she won by 20 legs mark we sort of discussed him said right she's won that well we'll claim her or put a claim in her and we were fortunate enough to to get when when we saw the result that the second favorite had actually got stuck in the stools and hadn't hadn't raced at all so in effect she'd she won at three or four run a race where she was the only girls in the race that could win we were a little anxious but we got a home and her sameness issues that she supposedly had didn't cause us any problems and we took her back for her first round to Chester where I believe she duly bolted up yeah she didn't we we had some great days with her and I think Mark might have might have put her in foal that she's quite a nicely bred Chilean mare won plenty of races and certainly a certainly a breeding prospect so we'll look forward to see what she produces in the years to come for those watching you just sort of fairly new to racing can you explain what a claimer is yeah yeah a claimer is a race where as a trainer or and only you put a value on a horse and you decide that you can put them in a claiming race which means that all the horses that are in that race can be claimed so you can purchase a horse out of the race for the stated value that the owner and trainer have put and that horse is actually weighted against the value of the also for example if you have a race a claiming race of horse that's in for a value of fifteen thousand pounds would probably clay would probably carry more weight than a horse that is in for eight thousand pounds so their official ratings don't come into it it's about how much waiters know who or training you want your horse to carry it's a trading race and you put horses in claiming races sometimes hoping to sell them sometimes just hoping to find an easier opportunity for them and hoping that somebody doesn't purchase them but if you run horses in claimers as a trainer you have to expect them to be bought if they perform above what was expected or somebody feels they can do a better job with them they are Trading races right and last of those three that have run so far gamble no I remember him bringing winning at Stratford he did win a few races didn't he gamble he won a few races never when we expected him to win he was he was a very talented horse but had had his issues which we thought we could overcome and and we did on occasion but never when we thought we were going to overcome them one day he was running a toaster and Mark and Deniz were in a meeting and they were very late getting away and they they're literally arriving at the races just as the race is about to start but gamble was a little bit keen and free willed so he had actually taken off at the start got to the start but continued fast the starter over the fence at the back and was galloping loose in the field behind although the field was a I think it was about a 400 acre estate field and he took a long time to catch him so although the race was held up he was in no fit state to take part in that race and the the whole trip was was a waste of time and marking Deniz Ben how they are were very relaxed we we had a couple of beers and had a chat had a bit of a giggle about the whole situation and enjoyed our day all the same maybe not quite what it would have been if Gambel had won on that occasion but at least he didn't get beaten actually you three going very well because I've often had a drink with you at places like Cheltenham and Warwick and you always pop in to say hello to them well mark Indonesia extremely hospitable as you pointed out earlier they've got clients that go back from well over 20 years ago and it's it's a little bit of a family so whenever you go and see mark and Deniz you will always meet and see people that you've known for years and you might only see them on a one-off basis at Cheltenham or Chester but they're always in good company always in good spirits and we always have a good laugh win lose or draw finally in if somebody's watching this and they quite fancy putting a consortium together or even owning a horse themselves or with friends what should they do would you would you show them around your your Dominion or listen friends of event masters or friends of mine they can either contact mark or Deniz and just say look we'd like to go and have a pop round and Lybrand ian's or they can always come to directly to us all of our contact details are on our website in Williams racing car and you can have a look around there see what we do and you're more than welcome you know it's a it's a big family we all stick together and we all look after one another so anybody that's a friend of event masters is a friend of Ian Williams racing if only I could afford one you could afford to Gary um thanks ever so much for talking to us been a pleasure for me and as for you yeah it's been an absolute pleasure and good luck and let's look forward to Cheltenham Chester next year when we can yeah all go and have a good day I you know I'm really looking forward to it we're all missing it

Channel: Eventmasters Limited

Views: 56

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: interviews, sport, ian williams, horseracing, racing, cheltenham festival, royal ascot

Id: fqzyVcZpdf8

Length: 26min 0sec (1560 seconds)

Published: Tue Jun 02 2020