Based at Craiglands Farm near Bingley Moor, In West Yorkshire, Sue Smith was only the third female trainer to win the Grand National when the 66/1 outsider Auroras Encore won the famous Aintree race in 2013 putting her alongside the great Jenny Pitman and Venetia Williams. The one time top class show-jumper clearly loves horses and her first win came in 1990 when African Safari won at Ascot. Her first Cheltenham winner came in the name of Mister McGoldrick in 2008 and plenty of big winners have followed.
A big thanks to Sue Smith for answering a few questions for my blog and good luck for the rest of the season.
Sue, how long have you been involved in horse racing? I got my full licence in 1990 but my dad owned racehorses and I used to ride out for a local trainer when I was still at home.
If you weren't a trainer what would you have done?
It would have been something with horses, I was a show jumper and I liked bringing on the younger horses so I probably would have carried on in something like that. Do you feel a lot of pressure training horses? There can be a lot of pressure and it’s non-stop, every day no matter what the weather is doing but I love doing it and when the horses run well and we get winners it is worth all the hard work. If you could train any horse in history who would it be and why? To be honest we’ve been very lucky with what we have trained and had some really special horses like The Last Fling, Auroras Encore and Mister Mcgoldrick. Winning the Grand National with Auroras Encore must be up with the highlights of your career, what others stand out for you? Beecher Chase – Ardent Scout and Kildimo, Mister Mcgoldrick at Cheltenham, Royal Emperor 2nd in The RSA. A typical Christmas at the Smith household? Starts the same as most other days with getting the horses out and making sure everyone is ready for racing on boxing day. Harvey cooks a lovely Christmas dinner and some of the lads will join us. What do you do to relax when you get the time? We don’t really get a chance to relax at home, we try to go to our place in Spain a few times a year and that is when we get to relax and not do a great deal other than a bit of swimming and sunbathing! Tell us something we don't know about Sue Smith? Erm… I don’t know what to say. I still ride out when the horses first come in, I like Never Up – do people know that? The old fella Vintage Clouds looked in fine shape in the Tommy Whittle last time out and kept on nicely, will he be taking another shot at the Grand National? No, he doesn’t like the fences there so we will be looking for something else for him.
Do you have any dark horses for my readers to follow this season?
We have plenty of young horses that we are looking forward to like Aire Valley Lad and
Jayaaah as well as Flamboyant Joyaux and Frimeur de Lancray. Visit Sue Smith's Website
Twitter: @Suesmithracing Instagram: Suesmithracing I would like to thank Sue for taking the time to answer these questions and wish the stable a successful season. Thanks for reading. Photo: Midnight Shadow winning at Cheltenham
Based in Cullentra House Stables Ireland, Gordon started his career as an amateur jockey at 16 years-old. By all accounts, he was pretty decent with, 46 winners in total including the Punchestown Bumper in 1998 on King’s Road. In 2005, Gordon hung up his boots and started his new career training thoroughbred horses. What an impact he has made since those formative years. Silver Birch put Elliott into the spotlight winning the 2007 Grand National. He purchased Silver Birch from Paul Nicholls in 2006 and five starts later he was the youngest trainer to win the famous Aintree Grand National Steeplechase. Silver Birch, a 33/1 shot, hung on to win by less than one length from the staying on Mckelvey. Elliott didn't just stick to the National Hunt racing - he landed the Ebor Handicap at York in 2010 when Dirar stayed on strongly to beat Rosika at odds of 14/1 with jockey Jamie Spencer in the hot seat. The winners never stopped with some brilliant horses over the years including Chicago Grey who won the Cheltenham National Hunt Chase Challenge Cup in 2011 and, of course, who could forget the one and only Don Cossack taking the 2016 Cheltenham Gold Cup. I have saved the best till last. Tiger Roll has captured the heart of every racing fan around the world. Even though he is a small horse, he has the heart of a Lion (or should I say Tiger). Bought by Gigginstown Stud in 2014 and placed in Gordon Elliott's care he went from strength to strength winning four times over the years at the Cheltenham Festival including the Triumph Hurdle and the Cross Country Chase. As we know, he went on to become the first horse since the legendary Red Rum in 1974 to win back to back Grand Nationals in 2018 and 2019. It would be amazing if he could do the treble next year but I for one just want him back home safe and sound. QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS WITH GORDON ELLIOTT. You have been involved in the racing game since an early age, what was your first memory? Going point to pointing with my uncles from an early age. What's your favourite part about training horses? Training big winners. You became the youngest ever trainer to win the Grand National in 2007 with Silver Birch, that's some achievement. How did it feel and how long did the party go on that night? It was an unbelievable feeling, hard to put into words. The party continued for weeks not just the night. Favourite racecourse Cheltenham or Aintree and why? Aintree as it is more relaxed and it has been a lucky place for me. What would you do if you weren't training horses? A bloodstock agent. What do you like to do in your spare time? Watch Home and Away. How is the fans' favourite horse Tiger Roll? He is in great form and just starting back to his work. If you could train any other horse in history who would it be? I would love to have trained Red Rum. Other than Tiger Roll which other horse gets you excited for this season? Envoi Allen. Who is your Novice Hurdler and Chaser to follow this season? Malone Road – Novice Hurdler & Felix Desjy – Novice Chaser. A big thanks for Gordon Elliott and his team Alex and Pip for making this happen. Visit his Gordon Elliott's website.
It was the Grand National morning. I had time for a quick run before I got back and wrote the families bets out. The weather in Liverpool was perfect, the sun was out, a slight breeze, but a perfect day for anyone who was going to Aintree racecourse. I see a few racegoers when I was out on my run and was a bit jealous, to be honest. I am hoping to get back to a racecourse sometime in the near future, maybe Chester or even Ascot would great. If you read my last post on the National you will know my daughter wasn’t having a bet due to it being too cruel for the poor horses, but yes this soon changed once she started thinking about how much she could win and how many bars of soap she could buy from Lush! All bets wrote out, so I went to the local bookmakers (where most of the staff look like they are going to kill you if you dare to ask how to write a bet out) but of course, with me being on first name terms with them all, am safe from the deadly glare. It’s been a while since I actually sat and watched the build-up to the National on TV, but this year I did, and the Mrs and I even managed to do a lucky 15 each on the early races. The build-up on ITV was, in my opinion, brilliant, it had a bit of everything, an insight into the fancied runners, interviews with the jockeys, trainers and owners, and even had the legend Mat Chapman making a tit of himself dressed in a tiger costume and stuffing cupcakes down his gob. It was all great TV and kept us interested until the big race itself. Onto the big race and my bets. Well, first off my lucky 15 was full of near misses with all being placed (thanks sam for them tips), my four horses I picked for the National were Rathvinden, who ran a great race to finish third, then I picked Lake View Lad, who was my next door neighbours tip (won’t be asking him again) Jury Duty was my next who I put up on my blog and was running a great race until unseating at the 20th fence, and the last one which I got in the work sweepstake, Joe Farrell, who pulled up before 2 out. I have to admit once I seen Vintage Clouds fall and Up For Review brought down after the first my heart sunk, as I had a feeling it was bad and my daughters face dropped, and she said that’s the last time any of us could bet on horses again. Watching Tiger Roll (pictured) was like poetry in motion. The little horse popped over every fence like it was a hurdle, even though I didn’t bet on him, I was cheering him on all the way to the line. You could see how well he was going two fences out. What a magnificent horse he is and the nation has fallen in love with him like they did with the mighty Red Rum. Tiger Roll is the first horse to do back-to-back Grand Nationals since Red Rum done it himself in 1974. Some people may say the fences where a lot harder and bigger back then? Who gives a fuck, this horse will go down in history as one of the best, and good luck to him in the future. Thanks for reading, let me know how you got on, and look out for my next post.
Love it or hate it, it’s that time of year when the whole world tunes into the biggest race of the year, an estimated 600 million people watch the Grand National on TV while 150.000 people attend Aintree racecourse. Bookmakers predict 250 million will be spent on betting in this year's race (about a fiver off me) from the young to the old we all love a bet. I actually had a bit of a vote on Twitter this week because a few of my National Hunt follows couldn’t say a good word about the Grand National but the public spoke and it seems the race is as still loved as ever. Being from Liverpool and only a 20-minute drive away from the course you would have thought I would have attended more than once but as much as I love racing, sitting at home watching it with my family wins any day, being packed like sardines into the course is not my idea of fun. The Grand National has a maximum of 40 runners in the field so you have to pick 3 or 4 horses at least (or is that just my family). This year could be a different story in our house as my daughter is at that age where horse racing is cruel, and she’s boycotting it completely. I can imagine in years to come she will be protesting outside Aintree. Picking our donkeys is normally the same routine, the day before we get the local paper and while I study form the rest of the family pick colours or names they like, maybe I'm doing it wrong because I never seem to win, and they do. This year, I have actually looked at a few trends and found some interesting pointers. Over the past 4 years the winner was 8 or 9 years old so am definitely sticking to a horse under 10, two winners over the past 4 races were owned by Gigginstown House Stud, Tiger Roll (pictured) last year and 2016 winner Rule the World, Gordon Elliott has sent out a first, second and a third in the last 3 races, the last 3 races the winner has weighed under 11 stone the only one not to was favourite Many clouds back in 2015 who shouldered a huge 11 stone 9 to win. The last 3 races, the winner’s official rating has been between 148 and 150. What do we take from all that? Can Tiger Roll become the first horse to win back-to-back Grand Nationals since Red Rum in 1974? Well, he will have to do it carrying 11 stone 5 lb since Bristol De Mai has been taken out. No doubt Tiger Roll is a class act. If getting past the first circuit without any trouble could well do it again but the extra weight is playing on my mind and the short price is too. Conclusion: So my three horses this year are Mall Dini, the second who just makes the list is Jury Duty (official rating 151 but I will let that slide), and my wild card is Lake View Lad, who is off my wise old next door neighbour Dave. Let’s hope it’s a great race and all the horses come home safe.
