Business as usual – Charlie Johnston off the mark as he aims high in first season

‘Any dip in form or standards and people will attribute that to the change in control’.

Charlie Johnston has ambitious plans for a double century in 2023 after saddling his first winner in his own name at Kempton.

Following a year with a joint-licence alongside his record-breaking father Mark, it was confirmed last week that Charlie would hold the licence outright from the new year.

And while Johnston jnr insists it is very much business as usual at his Middleham base, he admits it was a relief to see Asdaa get the job done as only his second runner on Wednesday.

Mark and Charlie Johnston at Goodwood
Mark and Charlie Johnston at Goodwood (Alan Crowhurst/PA)

“As we’ve said all along, we’re not treating it as a huge change, but at the same time there was always going to be more eyes on those early runners than there would be ordinarily at this time of year, so it was good to get off the mark at just the second time of asking,” he said.

“With the change will come a greater scrutiny of results for the season ahead, so in that sense there is a bit of added pressure.

“Any dip in form or standards and people will attribute that to the change in control.”

Mark Johnston is the most successful trainer in the history of British racing in terms of numbers, having gone through the 5,000-winner barrier in the summer.

He also became the first trainer to saddle 200 winners in a calendar year in 2009, a feat a repeated on a further nine occasions, with his tally of 249 victories in 2019 his best.

With a joint-licence the Johnstons enjoyed 176 winners in Britain last year, as well as three on foreign soil, and Charlie is keen to ensure there is no slipping of standards.

He added: “As I jokingly said yesterday, one down, 4,999 to go – at least he hasn’t set the the bar too high!

“We’ll be setting out to better last year if at all possible and we’ve got one on the board. There’s a few to go still, though.

“As people probably know, we like to set targets. We set targets for each of our individual yard managers and then a target overall for the yard as a whole.

“It’s ambitious to beat the 179 winners from last year, but we’ll be targeting 200 winners again this year. That is the standard that we like to set ourselves and that’s what we’ll be aiming towards.

“We’re not all doing vastly different roles this week to what we were last week. A lot of the day-to-day management of things here at Kingsley Park in terms of what the horses are doing and what horses are galloping and such like, I’ve been planning the majority of that for a few years now, so in that sense no one’s role has really changed.

“No one is taking any feet off the pedal, that’s for sure – we’re all still full gas to achieve as much as we can in 2023.”

As far as Asdaa is concerned, there will be no chance to bask in the glory of becoming Charlie Johnston’s first winner, having been declared to run again at Kempton on Saturday.

Charlie Johnston has a lot to live up to
Charlie Johnston has a lot to live up to (Mike Egerton/PA)

Having also struck gold Newcastle on December 28, the seven-year-old will be bidding to complete a hat-trick in the space of 10 days, while Johnston also has high hopes for Star Mood on the same Kempton card.

He said: “Asdaa goes again over the same course and distance on Saturday. I think he’s effectively running off 71, but it will be his last chance to run in a 0-65 handicap so it seemed too good an opportunity to pass by when he’s obviously in very good fettle in himself.

“It will be a big ask for three wins in 10 days, but you’ve got to strike while the iron’s hot.

“Star Mood made a lovely debut at Kempton a few weeks ago and hopefully he’ll be able to go one better on Saturday.”

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