Trainer Q&A: 'I've been backing my horses at prices I couldn't believe'

Over the next few weeks we will bring you a series of app-exclusive Q&As with pro punters, trainers and jockeys which will offer unrivalled insight to our sport. This series continues this week with trainers. Today: Milton Harris

Who's the best horse you've ever trained?

The highest-rated horse I've ever trained was Chaninbar, who was 155 at his peak and won the Red Rum Chase at Aintree for me in 2010, but although Knight Salute is only 146 after winning a Grade 1 at the same track last season I'd say he could go higher, so it's hard to split the two.

Who's your favourite horse of all time?

Chaninbar. He came along at a good time for me and his Aintree success, by 15 lengths, was a real highlight, but he was an enigmatic character and eventually refused to race. He was very good on his day but I think you'd call him 'mercurial', and I was very fond of him.

Which horse was the most difficult to train?

It has to be Chaninbar. Towards the end of his career he was almost impossible to school. You had to take him round the corner of a field and put some fences in a position, where by the time he got to them he couldn't do anything about it and had to jump them. But I only paid a few thousand for him out of Paul Nicholls' yard and he came to me rated 115, so despite everything he was a success story.

Herecomesstanley was another nutcase and I remember Jonathan Neesom saying on Racing UK that he'd never win a race. Every time I saw Jonathan for the next couple of years, I told him he'd just won another – ten in all. I didn't mind him saying it, but you have to understand how hard it can be to win even one race with some horses.

Which winner has given you most satisfaction?

Paxford Jack was my first Cheltenham winner, in December 2002, at a time when I hadn't been training long and I was going through a difficult time in my life – as I seem to do every few years. It was an emotional day, as was Knight Salute winning at Aintree this year, when I thought very seriously about quitting on the spot – it was only the obligation to my owners and the people who worked for me that stopped me from doing it. I'd got back to where I wanted to be and I wanted to make a statement – and that's how it's going to end at some stage, suddenly and on my own terms. I just hope that my story will make a few people realise that you can do it, you can come back from tough times.

What's the funniest thing you've seen on a racecourse?

I took Chaninbar to Paris for a valuable race in Auteuil. It was a wet day, so I had a raincoat on, and because he was a tricky customer by then I was down at the start trying to get him to jump off, with my hand in my raincoat pocket, making very vigorous motions that still look quite obscene on the video. The truth is I was shaking a tin of stones to get them to rattle so he'd start, but it wasn't pretty. Luckily the stewards had a sense of humour. They said: "Mr Harris, in France we like to start our horses naturally." I said: "Gentleman, they were natural stones." They didn't even fine me, which was a relief, because Chaninbar fell at the first.

What's the key to doing your job well?

Good staff – which is a problem in the industry – good owners and having an open mind. Not coming from a racing background has been an advantage, and I hope I think a little differently from most trainers.

What's the one thing the average punter misunderstands about racing?

Most punters don't understand the mathematics. Punting is about backing things at the right price and prices are put up by other human beings, who make mistakes. There have been times over the last couple of years when I've been backing my horses at prices I couldn't believe. I think the odds compilers must have been young men who were thinking 'who the hell's M Harris?'.

Which horse are you most looking forward to running again?

Twinjets. I still don't have the money the big boys have but our success over the last couple of years has meant we've been able to buy a better quality of horse and this is one of them. I bought him for £45,000 after he'd finished alone in his only point-to-point, but research told me he ran a fast time and would have been third, beaten about four lengths by horses who sold for a lot more money than him. He won a bumper for me first time, and another under a penalty, and I think he's good. He'll probably go to Hereford on Tuesday.

Can you give us a horse to follow?

Gentle Slopes. He's very good but more importantly he's the kind of horse I'd go for a beer with if he were a human being. He won a little bumper at Sedgefield recently without coming out of a hack canter and all being well he'll go to the first Cheltenham meeting for another bumper this month and then go straight hurdling. He's the kind of horse who doesn't look as though he's going that fast but actually has a lot of speed, and I think he's up to that class.

Read more trainer Q&As:

Kim Bailey: 'You can ask my jockey David Bass why the win was so satisfying' 

Fergal O'Brien: 'The only person who is a worse tipster than a trainer is a jockey'   

David Pipe: 'She asked if I was David Pipe - and if I could sign one of her boobs'   

Paul Nicholls: 'I felt my head was on the chopping block - he had to win'