Betfair Official Blog

What exactly does a trainer do on race day?

The Assistant gives you the inside track on what the big guy (or gal) gets up to at the track...

I overheard the following conversation recently. I was in one of those massive supermarkets that sell everything. A man is stood in front of a television talking to a girl whose badge informed me she was called Jeanine.

Man says to Jeanine: "I bought a TV from you at Christmas and the remote control doesn't work."

Man produces said remote control from his pocket and tries to use it on the television in the shop. It works.

Man continues: "Oh look, it works on this TV, but not on my TV at home."

Jeanine replies: "Well it won't work on your TV at home sir, you're too far away."

I'm still trying to work out if Jeanine is a freakishly talented (and deadpan) comic, or the most stupid person on the planet.

This story has nothing to do with racing, but I needed to share it. Now to business... Editor-In- Chief has asked that I shed light on race day routine. What has to happen to get a horse to a race and back home again?

Well, the story really falls into two parts - what the trainer does, and what everyone else does. This week I'll deal with the trainer.

Whether the trainer actually attends will depend on two key questions. First, will the owner be there? Second, does the trainer have a runner at another meeting that can be used as a valid excuse for not attending?

What you soon learn is that trainers, when faced with this situation, always seem to attend the closest meeting to home. That's if they attend at all. The beauty of the runners-at-different-meetings scenario is that a trainer can tell both sets of owners they are at another racecourse.

If in attendance, the trainer's job is quite simple: stay in the bar and entertain owners.

Some who perform less glamorous jobs in the industry begrudge trainers who do this. The reality is that trainers are merely attending to their most important function: regaling owners with stories of hope and ability that will keep them paying the training expenses.

About 30 minutes before the race, a trainer walks (or waddles, depending on the amount of entertaining done) to the weighing room to pick up the saddle, and then heads for the pre-parade ring, where a member of his dutiful staff has brought the horse (more of how the horse gets to this point next week).

The trainer then puts the saddle on the horse - a sometimes stressful activity when a horse is anxious about their new surroundings - and checks, as much as they are able, the bridle and other equipment.

They then move to the parade ring and stand with the owners until the jockey arrives. They go through the charade of giving the jockey instructions, even sometimes allowing the owner to feel engaged in the process by asking them their thoughts. The trainer, of course, knows this to be a highly theatrical farce. The chances of a jockey remembering much beyond their own name, let alone a furlong-by-furlong race plan, is slim. Nonetheless, the owners enjoy it, and so it will be done.

The trainer then watches the race and meets his horse afterwards - victorious or otherwise - to be unsaddled. It's then a case of listening to the many and varied excuses as to why the jockey was unable to follow the instructions given. The real reason, that the jockey was riding to a race plan given him by another trainer, for another horse, earlier in the day, is not touched upon.

The trainer then, in earshot of the owners, will bark an instruction to the groom along the lines of: "Make sure you give him a good walk before washing him down." This is an attempt to demonstrate how closely the trainer attends to the needs of his horses, right before he heads back to the bar.

That's it. Yes, really. Save for the rare occasion when a trainer is required to object to a performance or attend a stewards' enquiry, that's the trainer's job done for the day.

Next week, the other side of the story...