Trainer Form

Trainer Form / Editor / 10 December 2008 / Leave a Comment

Timeform weigh up the fortunes of three prominent trainers...

It has been quite a fortnight for Durham-based trainer Howard Johnson, despite disappointments for stable stars Inglis Drever and Tidal Bay.

As of Wednesday morning, Johnson had won with ten of his last thirty runners, which included a four-timer at Musselburgh on the 28th of November. Despite all of these successes, such is the perceived strength of the Johnson string that he has only managed to make a small level-stakes profit in that time, with six of his ten recent winners returning at shorter than 2/1.

With thirty-nine winners already this term, Johnson looks on course to better his highest seasonal tally of 68 winners should his yard's form stand up through the winter. As would be expected, the majority of Johnson's success comes in novice events- especially over hurdles- where his runners have tended to dominate the Northern scene in recent seasons.

With a 23 percent strike rate and a healthy profit to level stakes, runners from Crook command plenty of respect in such contests and this should continue throughout the season. A glance at Johnson's upcoming entries highlights the depth of novice hurdlers he has, with previous winners Indian Groom, Don't Stop me Now, Door Boy and Drever Route all due to run before the week is out.

At the other end of the country, runners from the Lambourn yard of Oliver Sherwood have been in fine form of late. Though without a winner since a fine treble at Hereford last Tuesday, inmates of Rhonehurst House have continued to run creditably, with more than three-quarters of runners in the last two weeks making the frame.

Overall it has been a relatively quiet year so far for Sherwood, with his current winning ratio lower than for all but one season since 1990. He will also have to increase his income considerably to match the yard's prize money from last year, when Eric's Charm and Jaunty Flight both landed valuable prizes to yield Sherwood's biggest return in terms of win prize money this century.

Recent Leicester third Circus of Dreams holds several entries in the next few days, some of which would grant him the step up in trip that he has been shaping as if in need of. The lightly-raced Widely Accepted is also entered in the upcoming days, where he will be looking to go one better than the second place he achieved at Leicester last time.

A trainer worth avoiding at the moment is Carl Llewellyn. He has managed only one win since the start of October, that coming when Roll Along beat Air Force One at Ascot on his reappearance, though he looked quite laboured when third behind Barber's Shop at Sandown last week. Following an excellent first full season as a trainer, Llewellyn had a far more sobering year last year, and has struggled to match up to even that form so far in 2008/9. His runners are especially worthy of caution in novice events, where Llewellyn is without a winner all season.