Archie Watson stable tour
Hitting the ground running is easier said than done in most circumstances, but for Archie Watson it is a statement that fits the flying start he has made to his career as a trainer.
With 11 winners to his name, including seven this year, since sending out his first runner last August, the 28-year-old has demonstrated he is more than capable of producing the goods.
Although under no illusions the competition to keep turning out winners will become tougher with the return to racing on the turf, Watson is optimistic that with the help of five horses in particular, he will be able to continue to build on the solid foundations he has laid.
Watson said: "We have been very happy and I don't think I could ever have imagined it going like it has done. We already have 11 winners on the board and are operating at around a 20 per cent strike-rate.
"We are delighted with how the horses are running, it is just a case of consolidating and keeping it going for the turf season.
"We are up to 35 now and we are pretty much split between babies and older horses which is a nice split. We have a good team going forward."
Watson on five horses to follow:
"She is a lovely filly and ran a very good race first time for us to finish third in the Winter Derby at Lingfield. We are looking forward to running her on the turf, but she will run in the Magnolia Stakes at Kempton on Saturday. All being well, she will then go to Lingfield on Good Friday for the Classic.
"The plan going forward for her will be races like the Princess Elizabeth Stakes at Epsom. Obviously we would like to try to get a Group race win with her. She has already run well against colts at Listed level, so back against her own sex, she should be very competitive."
"She is a lovely, big filly by Dalakhani. She was doing everything we asked of her last year and we gave her a run at the back-end of the year in a mile maiden at Kempton. She finished sixth but clearly wanted more ground.
"She has done well over the winter and we will be looking at starting her off in a mile-and-a-quarter or mile-and-a-half maiden in mid-summer. Dalakhani's get better with age, so hopefully she will make a nice three and four-year-old."
"We picked him up at the Horses In Training Sale in February. I was a big fan of his as he finished second behind another one of ours called Attain at Lingfield and they pulled clear of the third that day.
"He won nicely at Newcastle and then won by a nose next time at Chelmsford - everything went wrong that day as he had to sprint from the back on a speed-favouring track with a big weight.
"I think he will progress again when we step him up in trip and I hope there is more to come. He will run at Kempton on Saturday in either the Roseberry or the 0-85 handicap. I hope towards the summer he might be good enough to pick up a class two handicap."
"We purchased her at the October Horses In Training Sale. She won her maiden very nicely on her second start for us over a mile and a quarter at Lingfield. It was won in a very good time and the form of that maiden has worked out well.
"We gave her the winter off, then started back at Wolverhampton during Cheltenham week. She just needed the run as she did a little bit too much. When we get her back on the turf, I'm hoping there is plenty of improvement.
"She is a lovely, big, scopey filly that will run between a mile and a quarter and a mile and a half. She will start at Nottingham on April 12 and we will go from there.
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"He is a lovely, big Sir Percy and we will look to kick him off in a six-furlong maiden in May. He will make up into a into a nice seven-furlong/miler.
"He has always been very straightforward and on the dam's side it suggests he will be plenty good enough at two. He already looks like a three-year-old and has just done everything right at home."
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