RACING POST POWER RANKINGS

TRAINERS

Do you have a go-to trainer? Having spent a lot of time around genuine racing fans and punters alike, I’ve come to realise that almost everyone has a yard which they hold dear.

It’s a bit like supporting a football team and, once you’ve made your allegiance, it stays with you forever. When I was young my dad used to follow Jenny Pitman’s horses blind and, as I grew to love the sport, I became fond of a Paul Nolan runner – particularly Accordion Etoile.

In modern-day jump racing there is no debate. Willie Mullins is the best around and by a long way. He is dominant to such an extent that I’ll be surprised if anyone can knock him off the top spot in my Power Rankings this season, but those underneath him may surprise a few.

The places below Mullins are likely to be more fluid and change as the season progresses but, writing in the middle of October on the back of the summer season, Joseph O’Brien is a clear second. Busselton’s victory in the Kerry National at Listowel helped cement that position.

Nigel Twiston-Davies, Alan King and Venetia Williams all come in ahead of the power pair Nicky Henderson and Paul Nicholls, but Henderson and Nicholls have yet to hit full stride.

Henderson in particular has the calibre of stable capable of challenging Mullins for top spoils as the season develops. Nicholls, meanwhile, might not have a Constitution Hill or

Shishkin in his yard, but he has a number of high-class horses who can help him challenge for a 14th champion trainer title.

Tom Lacey might catch a few eyes sneaking into tenth ahead of bigger names like Henry de Bromhead, Gordon Elliott and Dan Skelton. It will be interesting to see whether Lacey can continue to hold that place as the summer fades and the sport’s stars emerge from hibernation.

Of course De Bromhead, Elliott and Skelton are unlikely to be out of the top 10 for long. De Bromhead, in particular, will be one of the favourites to challenge Mullins come March, with the likes of Honeysuckle and A Plus Tard at his disposal. However, it might be Elliott who will make bigger gains during the early part of the season as he unleashes his battallion of budding and established stars.

‘WILLIE MULLINS IS SO DOMINANT THAT I’LL BE SURPRISED IF ANYONE CAN KNOCK HIM OFF TOP SPOT’