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He hasn’t even had a runner in a pattern race since 2012. Just 10 winners from 388 runners in almost the last two years. Losses to a level stake of circa 80%, over the same period.
The heady days of Rising Cross, Kingsgate Native, Sunny King, Hurricane Spirit, Flashmans Papers etc…are distant memories now.
Did he get a longterm virus or something, that would explain a strike rate of just over two per cent in 2013 and 2014 combined?
He was certainly a young up and comer just a few years ago.
I did a quick search of RP news archive – couple of stories about St Moritz earlier this year but nothing else recent. Tough old game, training.
Cav,
It’s certainly been a massive crash from the heady days of Kingsgate Native. The figures are quite dreadful, e.g his last turf winner was on Jun 15th last year. And how can any trainer survive when his 3-y-olds are are 0/189 since the start of 2013.
He did have a few runners in France last year which produced one winner and enough place money to add up to 40,000 euros, but this year there’s only been a single runner.
I reckon the basic problem is that all the owners who were with him during the good years have either died, given up the game or moved elsewhere. Findlay and Bloom, Dave Gorton and John Mayne seem to be out of the game for one reason or another, as well as a number of syndicates like G G Racing.
His main owner now seems to be the football agent Mark Curtis, who represents Allardyce and about half of his West Ham squad, some of whom are also involved as part owners. So perhaps it’s just the curse of Andy Carroll crossing over from football to racing!
Thanks, AP.
He caught the imagination a few years ago with those fairly big money yearling syndicates, the flash owners, Dave Nevison was involved there as well as I recall, and a steady output of pretty decent horses.
But the recent numbers are diabolical. I’d struggle to find another trainer with that win to run ratio anywhere, particularly as most of those horses would be low grade and you’d imagine he’d find a race for them somewhere.
In fairness to him he still does his weekly video blog. You’d wonder how he keeps going with those returns over an extended period.
Tough game indeed.
Had a look at his horses in the list of handicap ratings, where he currently has 23 horses with an official rating.
Of those, 17 (!) are rated under 60 and 7 of those 17 are actually on a mark lower than the minimum they can race from, which is 46.
He has only one horse rated over 70, the 6-y-old sprinter Stone Of Folca, who has declined from a mark of 100 after his last win more than two years ago to his current 78.
Still I suppose if his name was B Curley, you’d say everything was proceeding to plan!
A new betting system seems to have emerged at Lingfield AW.
Look out for potentially well handicapped horses moved from Best and sent elsewhere and back them first time out for the new trainer.
Last Saturday, SABRE ROCK won at 9/2 first time up for Julia Fielden.
Today’s gamble on LEWAMY (2/1 F), first time with Michael Bell went astray.However Bell did land Division 2 with HABESHIA (7/4F).
Habeshia previous 12 runs with John Best over a period of about 13 months, beaten a combined 122 lengths, mostly between 8-10 furlongs, dropped 28lbs in the process.
Enter Michael Bell. 5.1 early doors, backed into 2.9 BFSP, solid support all day, duly obliges.
Insult to injury.
Another 9 losers since this thread started. Handicapper going off at 100/1 the other day.
2014 strike rate 2.2% (4-181)
But fair play to the bloke, he does his video blog every week without fail.
http://www.johnbestracing.com/video-blog.html
Would be very happy to see him turn it around.
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