Alice Haynes has sights set on further progress in 2023

Simon Milham
December 26, 2022 3:44 pm

Newmarket trainer has made her mark this year – and now wants to raise the bar again.

Alice Haynes admits that replicating the results of her first full season as a trainer will be a challenge in 2023.

The young Newmarket handler recorded her 50th domestic winner of the campaign when Silks Pass scored at Southwell on Tuesday, making it 52 overall.

Having previously worked for the likes of Henrietta Knight, Mick Channon and David Simcock, before setting up a successful business breaking in young horses for Roger Varian, William Haggas and Blue Diamond Stud, Haynes took out a training licence in 2021.

Based at the historic Cadland Cottage Stables at the foot of Newmarket’s famous Warren Hill gallops, success has come quickly.

“People say ‘well done’, but I tell them I’ve just made it a lot harder for myself next year!” Haynes laughed.

“We have always tried to up our quality. Why I look forward to next year, from 2021 to 2022, we didn’t have any two-year-olds going through as three-year-olds. They were all sort of fresh stock.

“For next year, I think we have a really nice bunch of three-year-olds and while the yearlings are completely unknown, there looks to be a nice bunch there.”

Following her older horses, particularly on the all-weather, has proved lucrative for punters, her three-year-olds boasting a GBP 28.25 profit to a level GBP 1 stake and older horses a tidy GBP 25.55 profit.

Along with a half-century of winners, she also saw another 81 horses placed from a total of 385 runners, so it is clear something is working.

Lady Hollywood flew the flag, the Amo Racing and Omnihorse Racing-owned juvenile took the Listed Marwell Stakes at Naas in July, Haynes’ first runner in Ireland, and then gave the handler her first Group-race success in the Prix d’Arenberg at ParisLongchamp.

🇬🇧 British success in the Listed Marwell Stakes as Lady Hollywood completes the hat-trick with a fine effort for @ahaynesracing, @Rossaryan15 & @amoracingltd at @naasracecourse pic.twitter.com/pTNGw9JLJZ
— Racing TV (@RacingTV) July 20, 2022

Subsequently fifth to Godolphin’s Mischief Magic in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint at Keeneland, she left Haynes to continue her career in the States.

“Lady Hollywood was a superstar,” said Haynes. “To go to the Breeders’ Cup in really what was my first full year of training, we have to pinch ourselves.

“It is a big thanks to the team and we have a great bunch of supportive owners, who are all working together. You need to have a great working relationship with owners.”

It has not been all plain sailing. There are pitfalls, as she explained: “There have been some big learning curves along the way.

“The biggest thing is bad payers. People don’t realise the lack of support there is for trainers. You have to sometimes take a hit.”

Yet she quickly accentuates the positives and is already focussed on what 2023 may bring.

“What I look forward to, if you have a couple of nice horses, is setting a target and working back from that. I like making a plan for each one and treating each horse is an individual,” she said.

“I would like to think I try to get the best out of our horses and really look forward to unleashing some superstars for next year. It is great having 50 winners, but you want to try to get the better quality winners the whole time.

“You can only win with what you’ve got and you might as well win with what you’ve got. But it has been a phenomenal year, really.”

Who, though, can fill the void left by Lady Hollywood next year?

“There is a lovely Australia filly called Ajyad,” said Haynes. “She has had one start this year, but we have put her away for next year.

“There is another older horse that Amo have moved from one yard to another, Great Max, a miler, who has come over (from Irish trainer Michael O’Callaghan) and I’m really looking forward to him next year. He’s having a change of scenery and we are just trying to tweak and get the best out of him.

“He’s rated 100, so it’s great to have horses of that calibre and to try to produce horses of that quality yourself, not necessarily get them off other people.”

Steady improvement, rather than lofty goals, is the aim for next year. She added: “This year we set a target of 30, that changed to 40. We will have to sit down and make a target for next year. We’ll say 60 winners and we’ll work even harder to try to meet that target.”