Olympian-turned-trainer Sir Mark Todd to hand in licence after six years

Sir Mark Todd is set to step away from training in Britain after six years but plans to remain involved in racing as an owner.

Todd, 68, had his first runners in Britain in August 2019 having retired from event riding for the second and final time the month before following a highly successful career at international and Olympic level.

Among his achievements, the New Zealander represented his country at seven Olympics and won gold medals at the Summer Games in Los Angeles in 1984 and Seoul in 1988.

During his first break from riding, Todd enjoyed Group 1 success as a trainer in New Zealand with the likes of Bramble Rose and Willy Smith. He returned to training in Britain following encouragement from long-time ally Sir Peter Vela, for whom he trained Eminent to finish second in the 2019 Group 1 Ranvet Stakes in Australia.

Todd said on Tuesday: “I won’t be renewing my licence when it runs out. There are a lot of reasons for it. I never got involved with training to set the world alight but I wanted to try it and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it. 

“I would like to stay in racing and we have a couple of horses that we will look to put into training at some point. We’ve recently sold our farm and are looking for somewhere a bit smaller, so where we end up will be a factor in that.”

Todd enjoyed his best season in 2021 with 13 winners collecting £121,072 in win and place prize-money headed by Tasman Bay, who finished runner-up in the Group 2 King Edward VII Stakes at Royal Ascot.

Tasman Bay chased home Alenquer in the 2021 King Edward VII StakesCredit: Edward Whitaker

However, the following year Todd’s licence was suspended for two months as part of a BHA investigation into a video circulated on social media showing the Olympian hitting a horse with a branch. The disciplinary panel subsequently found Todd guilty of prejudicial conduct and imposed a backdated four-month ban, of which half was suspended for two months.

A number of items of tack and stable equipment are being sold by Todd as part of his plans to stop training, with the sale taking place at his Wiltshire base on December 1.

Todd said: “It took a little while to get my head around it all training here, and it didn’t help that the BHA banned me, which is a whole other story, but we had some success and it was something I enjoyed doing having been talked into it a little bit at the start.

“It just feels that now is a good point for a lifestyle change and I’m not getting any younger. I do think it’s a younger man’s game.”

Read these next:

Vauban to stay in Australia after Rich Ricci sells star for A$2 million 

Kia Joorabchian submits bid for Sir Michael Stoute's Freemason Lodge yard in Newmarket 

The Racing Post is now available to follow on WhatsApp channels! Follow Racing Post Insider on WhatsApp and you can now start receiving messages and alerts for the latest news, tips, insights, live reactions and much more. Click the group link and get Racing Post notifications straight to your phone via WhatsApp.