The new Flat season is underway at Beverley, with racing now scheduled all the way through to September. One of the highlights is the Beverley Bullet Sprint Stakes in August, a Listed race over 5f.
If you are heading to Beverley racecourse this year, here are three trainers to look out for on the race card.
Richard Fahey
Malton-based trainer Richard Fahey is a regular at Beverley with his horses. The racecourse is one of his local tracks, so you can expect to find several runners from his yard on most cards across the season.
Fahey had one of the best campaigns of his career in 2021. The former Hilary Needler Trophy winner prevailed in the Group One Middle Park Stakes at Newmarket and the Prix Morny in France.
The Flat trainer will be hoping for more major success this year, and it could come at Royal Ascot. His colt Perfect Power is the 9/2 favourite in the Ascot betting for the Commonwealth Cup, a sprint race for three-year-olds. If his talented sprinter did go on to prevail in the race, it would be one of the biggest wins of his career.
Fahey still has the appetite to train more winners. If he continues to have horses like Perfect Power in his yard, he will have a lot of success in the sport.
Tim Easterby
No trainer has had more victories at Beverley over the last five seasons than Tim Easterby. He has saddled over 50 winners, a sign of how consistent he has been in that period. The 60-year-old knows the racecourse better than any active trainer in the sport today.
The North Yorkshire-based man has won the Hilary Needler Trophy a record five times. However, he will be bidding for his maiden success in the Beverley Bullet Sprint Stakes this year. Expect to see him saddle at least one runner as he bids to lift the trophy for the first time.
Easterby comes from a strong racing family. His father Peter was also very successful, with his victory in the 2002 St Leger at Doncaster with Bollin Eric being the highlight of his career. His uncle Mick also remains in the sport as a trainer, albeit with fewer horses now.
Mark Johnston
Scotsman Mark Johnston is the most successful British Flat trainer of all-time. He has trained over 4,000 winners in his career, and that number is growing fast.
In 2003, Johnston opted to run his star filly Attraction in the Hilary Needler Trophy. She won the two-year-old contest in impressive fashion. The following season, the filly scored in the 1,000 Guineas and Irish 1,000 Guineas, becoming a dual-Classic winner.
Johnston has some really good two-year-old colts and fillies in his yard this year, so they are worth looking out for at Beverley. He could have another Classic contender on his hands in 2023.
Enjoy your next visit to Beverley racecourse. Hopefully one of the above three trainers ensure you back lots of winners on the card.
