13/03/2025
🐎✨Throwback Thursday is here, and this week, we’re going back to where it all began, making this a special one!✨
🐴Wet Sail—the very first yearling I ever bought. I paid £40,000 for him at Goffs, and he became the first horse I trained to earn black type when he finished third in the Redcar Two Year Old Trophy. He was beaten by two top class sprinters—Limato, who went on to be an outstanding sprinter, and Mattmu, who also developed into a high-level Group performer.
Wet Sail then took me on an unforgettable journey to the Breeders’ Cup, marking my first-ever international runner. After winning his maiden at Salisbury, he was purchased by Sheikh Fahad’s Qatar Racing before his Redcar run. He was then sent to Santa Anita to compete in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf, where, unfortunately, he didn’t stay the mile. He travelled beautifully through the race, sitting in third with a furlong to go, but just didn’t get home and faded to finish last.
The following year, he had a solid season. He had an incredible personality, a real cheeky chap, full of character. Without a doubt, he remains one of my favourite horses of all time. He was a small, sharp sprinter type by Henrythenavigator.
Sadly, his story ended on a sad note. To this day, it remains one of the worst moments of my career. Wet Sail broke down galloping on the Al Bahathri and had to be put down. That morning was, without question, the toughest I’ve ever had in racing.
Despite the tragic ending, Wet Sail was a hugely important horse for me. He proved that we could buy and train a two year old stakes horse in my very first season as a trainer, which was a huge milestone. ✨ He paved the way for many more to come—some of whom we’ll remember in the upcoming Throwback Thursday series.
