Mark Johnston stable form

The guy does not have a clue about training horses to progress steadily, never mind what trip they may prefere. Just fires plenty off arrows and hits the bullseye sometimes.

Probably a worse trainer than JohnJO and that is saying something

Quite a few of them are running no race at all,Surely they would know if there's a problem.

Mr Johnston is a good trainer of racehorses who at the

moment has in his care animals who are mainly filth.

strange yard indeed duncan

dont think there is much wrong physically with the mj runners,the bad form coincides with the wet weather and the soft goin. think most runners from the yard prefer better ground imo.

Mr Wee Eck---"animals that are mainly filth"----what a touching turn of phrase !

i think i did see some stats once that said you would make a profit backing his horses immediately after they had run a stinker (large sample size!) but could have been a few years ago and never followed it up

Has always been a dart throwing yard, but racing on water for the past few months does him no favours given that so many of his horses are US bred and want better ground...any sun will see a huge improvement..

wee eck
12 Jul 12 10:28
Joined:
20 Aug 01
| Topic/replies: 8,738 | Blogger: wee eck's blog

Mr Johnston is a filth trainer of racehorses who at the

moment has in his care animals who are mainly good.

He's just a factory gets Godolphins cast off's.. High end handicappers that are too high handicapped.  I've seen him galloping horses that are lame!  Good yard but not a tlc or race friendly yard too much money involved and too many animals to keep on top off.  Greyhounds next.....

Mr Johnston Has a fabulous herd of Prize Cattle and his own aeroplane I am told.

Mr Johnston and Deidre are the Master and Mistress of Middleham.

overseas you have hit the nail on head, most of his horses are american bred and they usually prefer a quicker surface, the rest of you are all talking out of your arse

Mr Johnston has some very nice motor cars.

griffo that is unusual I personally shyte out of my "aris.

Didn't Willo opine recently that he thinks it's a bit of a myth that American breds don't handle soft ground?

Anyone got any stats on the subject, comparing the record of US breds on fast and slow turf?

Could be a question for Saint Hugh on the Form Factor, imo

Mr Johnston in the fullness of time could be Knighted and Deidre will the be a Ladyshit.

Sorry Deidre should read Ladyship, slip of the forefinger.

Conveyor belt training; owners with more money than sense. You want to entrust your horse to a yard with 150-200 competing thoroughbreds-good luck to you.

Give me subtlety and planning any day.

Can it possibly be sensible to be "always trying" with a horse never likely to make it out of the bottom grade?

I've seen various trainers make this claim and they rely on age/maturity and "naturally-occuring" improvement to get them to win. Its a pretty questionable strategy if its costing you 20k a year.

A good trainer will also get the best out of "filth"-charming!

Mr Johnston is a director of the BHA.

Didn't Willo opine recently that he thinks it's a bit of a myth that American breds don't handle soft ground?


George, from what i can remember of the stats i've seen on this, US breds as a whole are more effective on fast grd than soft but it's only a few percentages points and any statement like 'American breds don't handle soft ground' is plainly ludicrous...there are many US breds that have been perfectly at home in the mud, Teenoso won a Derby in the mud.

Sadler's Wells was US bred of course and if you look at the stats for his progeny, there is a 15% strike rate on gf down to 13% on sft and 12% on hvy (obv he will have been mated with non-US bred mares much of time)...a difference but not massive.

Mr Johnston is a employer of many people in the Middleham area

and is a great aid to the prosperity of the area especially the

Public Houses.

Thanks for that, duncan.

I know Willo has said in the past that horses who are effective on dirt will often have a "knee curl", in his opinion, and they say horses with a "knee action" are more effective on soft ground.

Although a knee action may differ from a knee curl , cos as Saint Hugh has pointed out, there is no evidence that horses who act well at Southwell (obviously the closest surface we have to dirt) prefer soft ground on turf.

Mr Johnston has friends in high places.

yes, they say Southwell fibre is like soft turf but they also say that US breds go well at Southwell (which i belive the stats confirm) and not on soft! something doesnt add up

i'm always wary of reading much into knee actions...there was a Northern handicapper back in the 90s whose name i forget that had the most pronounced knee action but did all his winning on top-of-the-ground and was struggled on soft...that horse of Cecil's this year, Wrotham Heath, shows lots of knee and i thought he might struggle with Epsom's undulations on fastish grd...travelled like a dream, he did!

Another good example imo of a horse with quite a pronounced knee action who handled quick ground well was Bollin Eric.

yes, very good example that...defo think tv pundits are wrong to trot it out almost as a given that knee action= needs some give

Mr Johnston is a qualified Vet.

I think I remember that horse Uncan, was it bridger that trained it, looked
like both front legs went in opposite directions, won around bath and places
like that, when the ground was rattling, awful to watch, would'nt go a yard
on sft grnd.

some sh1t being talked here..hes a top trainer who simply needs the weather to improve.im sure by the end of july his horses will be flying,as soon as the ground dries out.

mutley, that isnt the one i was thinking of but i think i also remember the one you're thinking of

re. needs ground to dry out...the idea that you can have 150+ horses that all need decent ground is ridiculous imo

90% of his horses need good ground.thats a fact

fact

Kavvie, I think you might want to have another go at that. If I'm honest

Fennell Bay    
Ithoughtitwasover    
Licence To Till    
Scatter Dice    
Good Morning Star
Prussian
Gulf of Naples
Copperwood
Galician
Hajras
Fulbright
Storm Moon
Heavy Metal

all won on good to soft or softer from the first 25 i've looked at.

fact

I think you make my point kavvie: if its unquestionable that his horses are unsuited by the ground, why run them?

You want to pay your dough for the ready-made excuse?

There's another thread running concurrently asking the rather naive "do owners pay for bad horses in training?" or some such topic.

I've had lots of horses in training and my strongest view was that there was no hiding place on the track, nothing for the trainer to say except contradict what your own eyes may have told you.

Nothing, except maybe "unsuitable ground".......

The training game is a battle of wits with the trainer if you suspect your horse is a nag. This doesn't apply if your owner is lighting cigars with hundred dollar petro-bills.

Ger Lyons won't generally run his horses on bad ground and this I believe would be the hallmark of a trainer who thinks about the game and is isn't masquerading as a jocky wilson.

Mr Johnston if he moved East would be an Honorary Sheikh or at leas

an Emir Deidre would be a Princess or even a Sultana.

You're in fine form today wee eck.

holywell do you think so? Pleased I am amusing you, stopping now to enjoy

a well grilled Bacon sarnie.

Royal academy "the training game is a battle of wits if you suspect your horse is a nag"
Phone your trainer up the day before it's due to work, tell him you want to stick your lad it, simple.
You need to tell him from the start, that if it's no good, move it on. It's your horse, you own it
and pay the bills, you want another opinion, if he doesn't agree, move it

easy lays on the shorties?.

I expect you would be limiting your options quite severely if you adopt that approach motley. I wouldn't train a horse for someone who didn't implicitly trust me. complete non-runner imo.

Best guide is the track and not a home gallop whoever is riding. If you pay 100k for a yearling you have certain hopes and expectations. Whether and how slowly you want to follow it into claimers and sellers is your call and you won't need to be an Oxford graduate to find out. The programme doesn't lie even if your trainer is a little shy.

Kavvie reminds me of ANOTHER twaat I heard in the bookies once

This guy told me Hamdan Al maktoums horses only win in the soft

wish you'd posted that before the last race, ed....Hamdan's just scooted up

You gave the impression that trust was an issue, Royal academy, that he might (the trainer) be evading
the truth concerning a horses true ability or lack of it, In order to prolong the training fee's.
In my experience when they are useless at home they are invariably useless on the track too.
No point in spending two years fee's, if the horse is of ltd ability.

He takes a chunk out of the market in the 2.25 if you want to oppose

My Systim shows that Fennel Bay has a good chance. If it runs badly, I will take that as confirmation that the stable is under a clod!

It would be nice if Mr Johnston and Deidre performed the balcony scene from

Romeo and Juliet at Xmas time in aid of the injured jockeys fund.  Mr Johnston

would make a dashing Romeo and Deidre a delectable Juliet.

hmmm, 6th, 11th and 12th of 13

Slicer, one or two require your services in the gelding dept.