David Wachman (born 5 July 1971) [1] is a retired Irish racehorse trainer who specialised in flat racing.
Before taking out his own licence to train horses, Wachman worked for trainers in Ireland (Jessica Harrington, Michael Hourigan and Jim Bolger), Australia (Bill Mitchell and Brian Mayfield Smith) and England (Jenny Pitman). [2] He began training near Carrick-on-Suir at the age of 25 with runners in point-to-point races and had his first winner in 1996 with Middle Mogs in a hurdle race at Clonmel, followed by his first flat race winner in June 1997 with Clewbay Pearl at Cork. [2]
In 2002 Wachman married Kate Magnier, daughter of breeder John Magnier, and moved to a stables near Cashel. He began to concentrate on training for flat racing and subsequently won Group One races in Ireland, Great Britain and France as well as Grade I race in the United States and Canada. His best season was 2008, when he trained 40 winners in Ireland. In 2015 he scored his first victory in a British Classic when Legatissimo won the 1000 Guineas Stakes. [1]
In August 2016 Wachman announced that he would retire from training at the end of the season. He saddled his final runner when Rekindling ran in the Critérium de Saint-Cloud in October 2016. [3]
Thoroughbred racing is a sport and industry involving the racing of Thoroughbred horses. It is governed by different national bodies. There are two forms of the sport – flat racing and jump racing, the latter known as National Hunt racing in the UK and steeplechasing in the US. Jump racing can be further divided into hurdling and steeplechasing.
The 2000 Guineas Stakes is a Group 1 flat race in Great Britain open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket over a distance of 1 mile and scheduled to take place each year at the start of May.
Vincent O'Brien was an Irish race horse trainer from Churchtown, County Cork, Ireland. In 2003 he was voted the greatest influence in horse racing history in a worldwide poll hosted by the Racing Post. In earlier Racing Post polls he was voted the best ever trainer of national hunt and of flat racehorses. He trained six horses to win the Epsom Derby, won three Grand Nationals in succession and trained the only British Triple Crown winner, Nijinsky, since the Second World War. He was twice British champion trainer in flat racing and also twice in national hunt racing; the only trainer in history to have been champion under both rules. Aidan O'Brien took over the Ballydoyle stables after his retirement.
Virginia Waters is an American-bred, Irish-trained Thoroughbred racehorse. In a racing career which lasted from September 2004 to October 2005 she ran twelve times and won three races. After winning once from four starts as a two-year-old, she won the Group Three Leopardstown 1,000 Guineas Trial Stakes on her first appearance of 2005. She then recorded her most important success when winning the Classic 1000 Guineas two of her six races including an upset win in the Group Two Rockfel Stakes at Newmarket Racecourse. Virginia Waters failed to win her remaining six races, her best results coming when she finished fourth in The Oaks and second in the Matron Stakes. At the end of her three-year-old season she was retired from racing to become a broodmare.
Again was an Irish Thoroughbred racehorse and broodmare. She was one of the leading Irish two-year-old fillies of 2008, when she won three of her five races including the Debutante Stakes and the Moyglare Stud Stakes. She recorded her most important win when taking the Irish 1,000 Guineas on her three-year-old debut, but was beaten in her three subsequent races.
Legatissimo is a British-bred Irish-trained Thoroughbred racehorse. After showing some promise as a juvenile, she showed marked improvement in the spring of 2015 and recorded her first major success in the 1000 Guineas. On her next appearance she was narrowly beaten when favourite for The Oaks. After another narrow defeat in the Pretty Polly Stakes she returned to top form to win the Nassau Stakes and the Matron Stakes
The 2015 1000 Guineas Stakes was a horse race held at Newmarket Racecourse on Sunday 3 May 2015. It was the 202nd running of the 1000 Guineas.
Qualify is an Irish Thoroughbred racehorse. On 5 June 2015 she was a 50/1 winner of The Oaks. She ran seven times as a juvenile in 2014, winning a maiden race and the Group Three C. L. Weld Park Stakes but was well-beaten when tried against the best fillies of her generation in the Moyglare Stud Stakes and the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf. In the spring of 2015 she was initially disappointing as she finished unplaced in both the 1000 Guineas and the Irish 1,000 Guineas before being stepped up in distance and winning the Oaks.
Together Forever is an Irish Thoroughbred racehorse. After being beaten in her first three races she showed significant progress in the autumn of her two-year-old season winning three races of increasing prestige. She followed up a win in a maiden race with a victory in the Listed Staffordstown Stud Stakes before ending her season by taking the Group One Fillies' Mile. She failed to win as a three-year-old but finished second in the Musidora Stakes and fourth in the Irish Oaks.
The 2016 1000 Guineas Stakes was a horse race held at Newmarket Racecourse on Sunday 1 May 2016. It was the 203rd running of the 1000 Guineas.
Bushranger is an Irish Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. He showed his best form as a two-year-old in 2008 when he won four of his seven races including the Anglesey Stakes in Ireland, the Prix Morny in France and the Middle Park Stakes in England as well as finishing second in the Phoenix Stakes. He was rated the second-best juvenile of the year in Europe. Bushranger failed to recapture his form in three starts as a three-year-old and was retired to stud at the end of 2009. He has had some success as a sire of winners.
Bethrah is an Irish Thoroughbred racehorse and broodmare best known for winning the Irish 1,000 Guineas in 2010. After finishing unplaced on her only run as a two-year-old she reached her peak in the following spring, winning a maiden race and the Derrinstown Stud 1,000 Guineas Trial before taking the Irish 1000 Guineas. She was well beaten in her only subsequent race and was retired at the end of the year.
Winter is an Irish Thoroughbred racehorse. She won one minor race from three starts as a two-year-old in 2016, but made considerable improvement in the following spring and won the 1000 Guineas on her fifth racecourse appearance. She went on to record further Group 1 victories in the Irish 1,000 Guineas, Coronation Stakes and Nassau Stakes.
Pedro the Great is an American-bred, Irish-trained Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. He raced only as a two-year-old in 2012 when he won two of his five races including the Group 1 Phoenix Stakes. He was retired from racing in 2013 and became a breeding stallion in France.
Sudirman is an American-bred, Irish-trained Thoroughbred racehorse. As a two-year-old in 2013 he was beaten in his first two starts but then ran up three consecutive victories including the Railway Stakes and the Phoenix Stakes. He also finished second in the National Stakes later that year. He made little impact in two starts as a three-year-old.
Damson is an Irish Thoroughbred racehorse and broodmare. She showed her best form as a two-year-old in 2004 when she was unbeaten in her first four races including the Fillies' Sprint Stakes, Queen Mary Stakes and Phoenix Stakes. On her only subsequent start that year she finished third in the Cheveley Park Stakes. At the end of the year she was rated the second-best filly of her generation in Europe. She failed to reproduce her juvenile form in three starts as a three-year-old in 2005 and was retired from racing. She has had some success as a broodmare.
Alfred Nobel is an Irish Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. As a two-year-old in 2009 he was beaten in his first two races but after winning a maiden race at his third attempt he went on to record major victories in the Railway Stakes and the Phoenix Stakes. He was beaten in three subsequent races that year and failed to recover his form in two starts as a three-year-old. After his retirement from racing he stood a breeding stallion in Ireland and Australia.
Wayne Lordan is a multiple Group race winning Irish jockey.
Rekindling is a British-bred, Irish-trained Thoroughbred racehorse, who won the 2017 Melbourne Cup. After winning once from three starts in 2016 he developed into a high-class staying colt in the following year, winning the Ballysax Stakes and Curragh Cup as well as producing several good efforts in defeat including a second place in the Irish St Leger Trial Stakes and fourth-place finishes in the Dante Stakes and the St Leger Stakes. In November 2017 he became the youngest horse in 76 years to win the Melbourne Cup.
Diamondsandrubies is an Irish Thoroughbred racehorse and broodmare. After failing to win on her only start as a two-year-old in 2014 she improved to become a top-class performer in the following year. She won a minor race on her seasonal debut and went on to win the Cheshire Oaks before finishing an unlucky fourth in the Epsom Oaks. She recorded her biggest success on her next start when she took the Group 1 Pretty Polly Stakes, but failed to reproduce that form in three subsequent races and was retired from the track at the end of the year.