Well-travelled Smith puts experience to good use at Newton Abbot

Kremlin House's Martin Smith

The racing game is full of enthusiasts willing to fulfil a dream of becoming a trainer, despite the remonstrations of those within the sport telling them there's little money in it. But when you strike it rich, doors open for you.

Of one thing though, you can be certain. Racing is a sport with no fast-track. You have to do your time, learning the psyche of the Thoroughbred, then learning how to monetize this in a horse-coping business. The two disciplines are very different, and arguably, the first is the easier. 

Around 500 trainers co-exist across both codes of the sport in the UK, and around 10% leave training each year, to be replaced by youngsters hoping to make the grade. Remarkably, despite all the prognostications about prize money, staff shortages and so on, this lifestyle choice continues to attract new entrants every year. 

One such is Martin Smith, who trains a select band of dual purpose horses from Kremlin House Stables on Newmarket's Fordham Road, since setting up in 2013. Sixty-four winners later, this fledgling operation has pioneered a low risk syndicate ownership solution alongside owners who own whole horses for themselves. It's part of a business ethos to protect the business from over-reliance upon a small group of people. 

Martin's experience is considerable, from assistant positions with Richard Hannon to a spell as Clerk of the Course at Jebel Ali, then training in the USA, but Newmarket ticks all the boxes. 

And it certainly seemed to work this afternoon, when six year old gelding Friends Don't Ask picked up his third chase victory in a handicap at Newton Abbot, steered by Nick Schofield. He'd appear a value horse; his last 10 runs have seen him out of the frame on just 3 occasions and a winner twice. 

​Now that's the sort of horse any trainer wants to have.

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