Robert Cowell | |
---|---|
Occupation | Trainer |
Born | 29 November 1968 |
Career wins | 358 (Four Group 1's) |
Significant horses | |
Jwala, Goldream, Kingsgate Native, Prohibit |
Robert Cowell (born 29 November 1968) is an English racehorse trainer based in Newmarket, who is widely regarded as one of the best trainers of horses running over sprint distances. [1] His group one winners include: Prohibit, winner of the King's Stand Stakes, Jwala winner of the Nunthorpe Stakes and Goldream winner of the King's Stand Stakes and Prix de l'Abbaye de Longchamp. [2] [3]
Cowell's father rode in Point-to-point races and bred racehorses including Untold. Cowell began his racing career working for Gavin Pritchard-Gordon. He also worked for John Hammond in France and Neil Drysdale in the United States before starting his own training career in 1996 at Hollywood Park Racetrack in California. In 1997 Cowell returned to Britain and began training at Newmarket and gained his first victory in January 1998 when Mary Cornwallis won at Lingfield Park. [4] In recent years Cowell has become renowned for his ability to take handicappers like Prohibit from other trainers and improving them to gain Black Type success.
Ian Balding is a retired British horse trainer. He is the son of the polo player and racehorse trainer Gerald Matthews Balding and the younger brother of trainer Toby Balding. Ian Balding was born in the US, but his family returned to the UK in 1945. He was educated at Marlborough College and Millfield school in Somerset. He went up to Christ's College, Cambridge, in 1959 to read Rural Estate Management, where he played Rugby for the university team, gaining his Blue in 1961 at full back. He started training in 1964. Kingsclere became his home at the age of 26 and it is here that earned his reputation as an internationally respected trainer.
Dayjur was an American-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse. A specialist sprinter, he ran eleven times between June 1989 and October 1990 and won seven races. In 1990 he dominated European sprinting, winning the King's Stand Stakes, the Nunthorpe Stakes, the Ladbroke Sprint Cup and the Prix de l'Abbaye. On his final racecourse appearance he finished second to Safely Kept in the Breeders' Cup Sprint. The Racing Post called him "the world's fastest horse".
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Try My Best (1975–1993) was an American-bred, Irish-trained Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. A son of Northern Dancer, he won the Dewhurst Stakes in 1978 and was the top-rated two-year-old in Britain and Ireland that year.
Oasis Dream is retired thoroughbred racehorse and active sire who was bred and trained in the United Kingdom. He was the highest-rated two-year-old in the 2002 European flat racing season and won the Cartier Racing Award for European Champion Sprinter in 2003.
Avonbridge is a retired British Thoroughbred racehorse and active sire. He won three Group races including the Group One Prix de l'Abbaye in a career which lasted from 2002 to 2005. In his final year he was named European Champion Sprinter at the Cartier Racing Awards. He currently stands as a stallion in Hampshire.
Nuclear Debate was an American-bred Thoroughbred racehorse. A specialist sprinter, he competed from 1997 until 2003, winning at least ten races. He campaigned in Britain for two seasons with moderate success before being transferred to France in 1999. In the following season, as a five-year-old, he reached his peak, winning the Prix du Gros Chêne, King's Stand Stakes and Nunthorpe Stakes and being named European Champion Sprinter. In the following year he won the Haydock Sprint Cup before being sold and exported to the United States where he raced for two further seasons with mixed results.
Sole Power is a British-bred, Irish-trained Thoroughbred racehorse. A specialist sprinter, he won twelve of his sixty-five races and competed in five different countries in a nine-year racing career. He is unique in being a dual winner of both the King's Stand Stakes at Royal Ascot and the Nunthorpe Stakes at York. His racing style is distinctive: he is usually restrained by his jockey for most of the race before producing a single burst of acceleration in the closing stages.
Jwala was a British Thoroughbred racehorse. As a two-year-old in 2011 she was beaten in her first four races before recording her first success in a minor race at Wolverhampton Racecourse. In the following year she won her first two races before finishing second to Sole Power in a Listed race at Doncaster. Jwala reached her peak as a four-year-old in 2013. After being beaten in her first four races she defeated a strong field to win the City Walls Stakes at York. At the same track in August she recorded a 40/1 upset win in the Group One Nunthorpe Stakes. She was scheduled to retire from racing at the end of the year but was killed in a fall at Sha Tin Racecourse in December.
Margot Did is an Irish-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse and broodmare. After being sold cheaply as a yearling and again as a two-year-old she entered training with Michael Bell at Newmarket. As a juvenile in 2010 she showed high-class form, winning twice and finished second in the Albany Stakes, Princess Margaret Stakes and Lowther Stakes. In 2012 she was beaten in her first two races but established herself as a potentially high-class sprinter with wins in the Scurry Stakes and the Land O'Burns Fillies' Stakes. At York Racecourse in August she recorded her biggest win with a 20/1 upset victory in the Nunthorpe Stakes. She never reproduced her best form thereafter and finished unplaced in her five remaining races. She was retired from racing in August 2012.
Kingsgate Native is an Irish-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse. He was a precocious juvenile sprinter, winning the Nunthorpe Stakes against older horses as well as finishing second in the Prix de l'Abbaye, Windsor Castle Stakes and Molecomb Stakes. He was equally successful in 2008, winning the Golden Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot before being retired to become a breeding stallion.
Luke Morris is an English jockey who competes in flat racing.
Goldream is a British racehorse trained by Robert Cowell and formerly trained by Luca Cumani. He's won two Group one races, the King's Stand Stakes and the Prix de l'Abbaye de Longchamp, as well as the group 3 Palace House Stakes. He won all of these in 2015.
Mecca's Angel is an Irish-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse. She was a specialist sprinter who excelled over the minimum distance of five furlongs. She showed promise as a two-year-old in 2013, winning two minor contests and twice finishing second in Listed races. In the following year she improved to win four of her five races including the Scarbrough Stakes and World Trophy. As a four-year-old she made only three appearances but was rated the best female sprinter in the world after wins in the Prix de Saint-Georges and the Nunthorpe Stakes. In 2016 she struggled for form in the spring but then won the Sapphire Stakes before becoming the first horse in over thirty years to win a second consecutive Nunthorpe Stakes at York.
Equiano is a French-bred Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. A specialist sprinter, he began his racing career in Spain where he won two races as a two-year-old in 2007. He began his second season in France, winning the Listed Prix des Sorbiers before being sent to England where he recorded an upset victory in the Group One King's Stand Stakes at Royal Ascot. He was then relocated to England but failed to win in 2009 before returning to his best form as a five-year-old in 2010. In that year he won the Abernant Stakes and the Palace House Stakes before winning the King's Stand Stakes for a second time. After his retirement from racing he became a breeding stallion and had had some success as a sire of winners.
Prohibit is a retired British Thoroughbred racehorse who excelled over sprint distances, producing most of his best performances over five furlongs. In his first three seasons he was trained by John Gosden and showed useful form, winning three minor races but appearing to be some way short of top class. After being sold and transferred to the stable of Robert Cowell he showed improved form, winning the sprint race at the 2010 Shergar Cup and winning a strongly contested edition of the Scarbrough Stakes. He reached his peak as a six-year-old in 2011 when he won a handicap race in Dubai, the Group One King's Stand Stakes at Royal Ascot and the Prix du Petit Couvert in France as well as running prominently in several other major sprints including the Prix de Saint-Georges, Temple Stakes, Prix du Gros Chêne and Nunthorpe Stakes. He remained in training for three more seasons but never won again and was retired in 2014 with a record of nine wins from fifty-nine starts.
David 'Dandy' Nicholls (1956–2017) was a British jockey and racehorse trainer who competed in flat racing. He was particularly noted for his success training horses who raced over five and six furlongs and was nicknamed “the Sprint King”Sprint-King-David-Dandy-Nicholls.
Marsha is an Irish-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse and broodmare. She was a specialist sprinter, all but one of whose victories came over the minimum distance of five furlongs. After winning two minor races as a juvenile in 2015, she made progress throughout the following year, taking the Land O'Burns Fillies' Stakes and the City Walls Stakes before ending her season with a win in the Prix de l'Abbaye. In 2017 she added wins in the Palace House Stakes and the Nunthorpe Stakes and was sold at the end of the year for a record price of 6,000,000 guineas.
Battaash is an Irish-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse. A specialist sprinter who usually competes at the minimum distance of five furlongs, he is noted for his exceptional speed and unpredictable temperament. He won once from five starts as a juvenile in 2016 and was gelded in an attempt to improve his behaviour. In the following year he emerged as one of the best sprinters in the world, winning the Scurry Stakes, Coral Charge and King George Stakes before ending the season with an emphatic win in the Prix de l'Abbaye. In 2018 he won the Temple Stakes and recorded a second victory in the King George Stakes. As a five-year-old he won a second Temple Stakes and a third King George Stakes before producing his best performance of the season to take the Nunthorpe Stakes. In 2020 he was unbeaten in three starts, namely the King's Stand Stakes, King George Stakes and Nunthorpe Stakes.