Nigel Twiston-Davies believes “extra numbers and young horses” will give him every chance to maintain his great start to the season.
Twiston-Davies and his son Willy, who is playing an increasing role at the yard as an assistant with the aim of being jointly licensed with his father next year, spoke to the Racing Post for a major interview discussing the future. on site, the horror of dealing with the shocking injuries suffered by head boy Richard ‘Sparky’ Bevis last season and the search for the next superstar.
There are hopes that the likes of Broadway boy and Master Chewy could fill that particular gap, but if racing is a numbers game, the Twiston-Davieses are better positioned than in previous seasons with around 100 horses in training, compared to less than 80 last season, and Nigel is particularly pleased with the orders for single point-to-pointers.
“The extra numbers and the young horses give us an opportunity,” he said, when asked about the prospect of maintaining a start that already sees the yard almost halfway to improving on last season’s tally of 78 winners , while Willy harkens back to cross-generational, family-building horses from the past, a list of current reasons to be cheerful.
“Jamie and Anne-Marie Shepperd are wonderful owners and sponsors of the stable. They have now bought a stud farm and have some beautiful horses. It was obviously a blow to lose I Like To Move It, but they have Master Chewy, who on par seems to be going better than last season, and Glynn Brae, who looks really nice.
“Push The Button would have needed the run the first time and is showing promise, while Broadway Boy looks to be a real standard bearer for the season. He’s going for the Coral Gold Cup, which will tell us whether he gets a Gold Cup or a Grand National horse – or both.
“The numbers are good and there are a lot of three-year-olds and four-year-olds coming in, which is exciting. “We had a big build year last year, with a lot of new owners, so hopefully we can go up to 110 or 120.
“We need a new superstar, but hopefully that can be Broadway Boy or Master Chewy.”
Read more from Nigel and Willy Twiston-Davies in The Big Read, available in the Sunday newspaper or online for Members’ Club Ultimate subscribers from 6 p.m. on Saturday. Click here to sign up.
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