‘Nobody can say I’m cheating’ - Sir Mark Prescott defends methods as 27-length winner follows familiar formula

Sir Mark Prescott has insisted there is nothing questionable about the approach that sees his horses regularly well beaten at big prices as two-year-olds before racking up winning sequences over more appropriate distances the following year, often at much shorter odds.

Prescott was talking to the Racing Post for a major feature in Sunday’s Racing Post exploring the mind of a trainer whose triumph with Alpinista in last year's Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe brought joy to so many. In an introspective interview, the 75-year-old discussed how he was shaped by his mentor Jack Waugh, revealed what brings him most pleasure in the job and opened up on why he has never settled down with a family.

Prescott also mused on the method that has become his trademark, with middle-distance handicappers who hadn’t come close to troubling the judge as juveniles often starting on a low mark and rattling off win after win. The latest example is Golden Shot, returned at 50-1, 125-1 and 250-1 twice in four novice outings over seven furlongs in 2021 but successful in four of his six races since and second in the other two. The latest victory came on Tuesday at Ffos Las by 27 lengths off a mark of 77, after he had begun in handicaps off 56.

"Everybody always thinks there is some awful plot," said Prescott. "That's only because they believe the trainer is a villain. When one of the horses starts at a short price, I always say to the owner: 'They don't trust you, that's the trouble.'"

Prescott explained that the yearlings he buys are often too large to fulfil their potential at two.

"I've never been embarrassed about training a winner," he said. "That's my job. Nobody can say I'm cheating because the horse has been thoroughly exposed and everybody knows what sort of horse he is. If there is a stewards' inquiry, I always point out I wouldn't have kept the horse if I didn't think he would improve. You can't help having bad two-year-olds but a so-called middle or upper-class trainer shouldn't have bad three-year-olds.

"Look at Golden Shot. He is 17 hands high. With a horse like that, you have to ask yourself if it's all going to come together. It's an act of faith, but I normally get it right. I sell a few each year that haven't shown me enough and I can't think of one who has gone on to win four or five races."

Read more from Sir Mark Prescott in The Big Read, available in Sunday's newspaper or online for Members' Club Ultimate subscribers from 6pm on Saturday. Click here to sign up.

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