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Delighted for Clive on Saturday as Hattan grabbed another nice polytrack prize. Over 400,000 in prize money and more to come. Almost a private trainer these days for Saeed Manana.
Some people think winners to runners is the best yardstick for how good a trainer is but to me that’s
Nonsense on Stilts
If Clive had that mentality he would have won as few good races as Mark Prescott. (don’t like hereditary titles) Clive will go down as a great.
Amen to that ~ CB is constantly cited as a bad trainer by punters but his roll of honour is quite stunning, especially compared to some more fashionable Newmarket yards.
Hi Spitfire
Hope the mags get sorted out soon. I’m a rare bird – supporting both Newcastle Utd and Sunderland, although the latter team is my home town side.
I’ve always liked Clive Brittain. He seems to have been around for ever, always with a cheeky grin and never afraid to discuss his horses chances in public. He is a very good trainer, but doesn’t get the best horses these days and it is to Saed Manana’s credit that he has stayed with him. He often gets criticised for aiming his horses too high, which is a fair point, but he could still win a classic if he had the right animal.
Fair play to Clive but some of his entries are verging on the fanciful if you ask me. Excuse Moi was looking good for a decent heritage handicap over a stiff 6f and is now being totally overmatched in Group 2’s. Some of his 2YOs get similarly impossible assignments early-on in their careers.
I’m a fan of both Clive Brittain and Mark Prescott for entirely different reasons, but it must be said that while Clive overfaces his horses at times, he has won several G1 races with horses Sir Mark would be running in 0-55 handicaps.
I don’t know how many people remember this, but on the last day the Sporting Life was ever published, Tony Elves, the Newmarket gallops correspondent of that journal, rang Clive Brittain to see whether he had a goodbye winner for Elves’ column.
Clive gave him his own World Premier at York as a likely runner; (the same horse was also the last major 20 point nap Henry Rix gave before leaving the Racing Post to do his own thing. I reckon Clive was behind that too!)
The horse was punted from 20 in the morning down to 13/2 and won by a head under Dettori. They were happy days!
Got a lot of time for CB!
Delighted for Clive on Saturday as Hattan grabbed another nice polytrack prize. Over 400,000 in prize money and more to come. Almost a private trainer these days for Saeed Manana.
Some people think winners to runners is the best yardstick for how good a trainer is but to me that’s nonsense on Stilts
If Clive had that mentality he would have won as few good races as Mark Prescott. (don’t like hereditary titles) Clive will go down as a great.
I wouldn’t consider Clive Brittain a great, but he’s a fantastic trainer and I’d imagine he’s given his owners a lot of great days out over the years.
As for aiming his horses too highly, nothing wrong with that. What’s that saying…
‘Aim for the stars and you won’t get stuck in the mud’. It’s certainly not done Clive any harm.
I started to follow racing about the same time Sayyedati won the 1000 Guineas for him. A great filly.
You don’t like hereditary titles? Don’t ever write a letter to Michael Caine. He doesn’t open a letter unless it’s addressed Sir Michael Caine! If they can’t get his name right, then he doesn’t bother reading the letter.
Fair.
I find it hard to agree that Clive isn’t a great ~ in my view he must be regarded as a colossus of the modern game. He’s certainly been a pioneer, being the first British trainer to win both the Japan Cup and a Breeders Cup race and he went awfully close to being the only one to land a leg of the US Triple Crown when Bold Arrangement was 2nd in the Kentucky Derby. Here’s his roll of honour in the highest grade as listed in Wikipedia. Who wants to dig up John Gosden’s?
Domestic
1,000 Guineas – (2) – Pebbles (1984), Sayyedati (1993)
2,000 Guineas – (1) – Mystiko (1989)
Champion Stakes – (1) – Pebbles (1985)
Cheveley Park Stakes – (1) – Sayyedati (1992)
Coronation Cup – (2) – Warrsan (2003, 2004)
Coronation Stakes – (1) – Crimplene (2000)
Eclipse Stakes – (1) – Pebbles (1985)
Falmouth Stakes – (2) – Gussy Marlowe (1992), Rajeem (2006)
Fillies’ Mile – (2) – Ivanka (1992), Teggiano (1999)
International Stakes – (1) – Terimon (1991)
Nassau Stakes – (1) – Crimplene (2000)
Oaks – (1) – User Friendly (1992)
Queen Anne Stakes – (2) – Sikeston (1991), Alflora (1993)
Queen Elizabeth II Stakes – (1) – Air Express (1997)
St. James’s Palace Stakes – (2) – Averof (1974), Radetzky (1976)
St. Leger – (2) – Julio Mariner (1978), User Friendly (1992)
Sun Chariot Stakes – (1) – Warning Shadows (1995)
Sussex Stakes – (1) – Sayyedati (1995)
Yorkshire Oaks – (1) – User Friendly (1992)France
Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud – (1) – User Friendly (1993)
Prix de l’Abbaye de Longchamp – (1) – Var (2004)
Prix Jacques Le Marois – (1) – Sayyedati (1993)
Prix Jean Prat – (1) – Lapierre (1988)Germany
Deutschland-Preis – (1) – Luso (1997)
Grosser Preis von Baden – (2) – Warrsan (2004, 2005)
Mehl-Mülhens-Rennen – (1) – Air Express (1997)
Rheinland-Pokal – (2) – Luso (1996, 1998)Hong Kong
Hong Kong Vase – (2) – Luso (1996, 1997)
Ireland
Irish 1,000 Guineas – (1) – Crimplene (2000)
Irish Oaks – (1) – User Friendly (1992)
Moyglare Stud Stakes – (1) – Sayyedati (1992)Italy
Derby Italiano – (2) – Hailsham (1991), Luso (1995)
Oaks d’Italia – (1) – Menhoubah (2004)
Premio Parioli – (1) – Air Express (1997)
Premio Presidente della Repubblica – (2) – Sikeston (1991, 1992)
Premio Regina Elena – (1) – Love of Dubai (2008)
Premio Roma – (1) – Sikeston (1991)
Premio Vittorio di Capua – (2) – Sikeston (1990, 1991)Japan
Japan Cup – (1) – Jupiter Island (1986)
United States
Breeders’ Cup Turf – (1) – Pebbles (1985)
Wow! Very impressive, Rory!
Talk about doing your homework!
I stand by what I said (you nearly swayed me and perhaps I’m being stubborn!). It all depends on your definition of great.
How would you rate him amongst other ‘greats’?
Wow! Very impressive, Rory!
Talk about doing your homework!
I stand by what I said (you nearly swayed me and perhaps I’m being stubborn!). It all depends on your definition of great.
How would you rate him amongst other ‘greats’?
He’s never going to be fashionable, and he’s undoubtedly an eccentric, but his record must stand up well against any other trainer of the last twenty odd years, with only Cecil and Stoute in this country being obviously comparable over a prolonged period. Those two will be regarded by the majority as being superior for obvious reasons, but it was noticeable how much Cecil struggled without the backing of Sheikh Mohammed for some years and Clive has been dealing with homebreds and the patronage of one major owner, Saeed Manana, for some time, and before that with Captain Marcos Lemos in similar mould, so his results are even more remarkable.
Lady Beaverbrook as well,the owner of Terimon and Mystiko.
Terimon being one of two of my all time faves trained by Clive,the other being Shambo.Am I right in thinking that Uncle Clive was involved in the Noel Murless set-up?
Colin
Am I right in thinking that Uncle Clive was involved in the Noel Murless set-up?
Colin
He was apprenticed to Noel Murless in the late ’40s before staying on as a stable lad (he wasn’t much of a jockey!) and he clearly learnt a good deal there.
Just done a bit of reading up ~ according to an article written by Hugh McIlvanney, Brittain spent 20 years working for Noel Murless (earning a top wage of £17 per week!) and his wife Maureen was Murless’s secretary. He set himself up as a trainer by punting Murless runners Ante Post.
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