Charlie Johnston: 'To have a number of horses for the Classics in my first season is fantastic'

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For an ambitious, young trainer in his first season with the licence in his name, what could be better than having a runner in both Guineas races? That's the situation in which Charlie Johnston finds himself and there is the still more exciting possibility that both horses will be better suited by the Epsom Classics a month later.

Dubai Mile is the main subject of our chat, having won a Group 1 when last seen, making him a pretty exciting horse to have in your yard over the winter. He also provided Johnston's father, Mark, with the 5,000th winner of his career when scoring at Kempton in August so the game chestnut with the big, white face became pretty popular in his first season at Kingsley House.

His Group 1 was the Criterium de Saint-Cloud at the end of October, in which he had the early lead, lost it twice and finally prevailed after a long battle with the Gosden-trained favourite, Arrest. He had shown similar battling qualities when second of four in the Royal Lodge.

All of this will not make him the sexiest horse in the line-up for the Qipco 2,000 Guineas on Saturday but he might be the toughest. At any rate, he belongs in the best company; that, the trainer tells me, was among the key reasons why Dubai Mile starts his season in the Guineas rather than the Dante.

"He galloped on the Wednesday of the Craven meeting before racing and I was very pleased with how that went. It was to give the horse a day out, given that he was going to go into a Group 1 first time out, and a chance for Danny [Muscutt] to sit on the horse again. And to spark a discussion amongst ourselves about what direction we were going with the horse in the early part of the season.

"He's a Group 1-winning two-year-old. Running into a place in the Guineas would make him a more valuable proposition as a stallion.

"Obviously, he's run very well in a Royal Lodge over the course and distance. He handles the track very well and we know you have to stay well to win a Guineas.

"Do we think he's a miler? No. We think he's going to come into his own when he steps up in trip but this is the best starting point for his year.

"We go there hopeful rather than confident, hoping to see him run a nice trial for Epsom and if he can stay on into the frame, that would be fantastic."

I've heard it said that the Guineas is the best trial for the Derby, though I'm not sure how many times that's worked out in practice. There was Camelot, of course, although that's 11 years ago now. Sea The Stars also won both.

Dubai Mile: 2,000 Guineas "the best starting point for his year"Credit: Racing Post / Scott Burton

New Approach failed by just a nose to do the double. Masar, Australia and Sir Percy were all placed in the Guineas before winning at Epsom. Generous was a staying-on fourth in his Guineas. I've definitely followed worse systems.

Anyway, you've got to be in it to win it – and it would be no bad thing for Dubai Mile if some rain clouds turned up over the Rowley Mile this week, as they are forecast to do at several stages.

How has his winter been? "Very quiet and smooth, no setbacks at all. He is slightly bigger, a stronger horse this year. He's probably going to go into the Guineas only about 10kg heavier than he was going to Saint-Cloud but that's quite appreciable to look at the horse. He looks a stronger model now."

Johnston's entrant in Sunday's 1,000 Guineas is Dance In The Grass. "She was very impressive in her first two starts. The wheels came off a little bit when she was a short price for the May Hill and was disappointing that day in very testing ground. In hindsight, we probably should have pulled up stumps at that point but we had one more go in the Rockfel.

"She's tall and was quite an immature two-year-old and that was a bit much for her. She'll be better equipped for that kind of level this year. Again, we would assume she would benefit from going further in due course but her owner is keen to roll the dice in the Guineas as the starting point for her season."

And Johnston has other Epsom possibles besides these two. "Hadrianus ran a great race in the Blue Riband. He's another good trial run away from being in the Epsom picture.

"Dear My Friend will go to the Dante with the Middleham Park team dreaming of the Derby as well. To have a number of horses for these kind of races in my first season is fantastic. Just need to try and win one of them now..."

Dear My Friend: Dante next stop for Newcastle winnerCredit: John Grossick

Both Charlie and Mark were keen to stress that it would be business as usual at their Middleham base this year, even though Mark was taking his name off the licence. How have things panned out in practice?

"I think we would both say that things have changed, probably a bit more than we maybe expected. The reality is now, with my name above the door, more people want to speak to me and I have to be the face of the business, going forward.

"Albeit the work behind the scenes is much the same as it was last year, there certainly feels a bit of added accountability for me in terms of the outcomes on the track and possibly there will naturally be a bit more scrutiny of our results this year. So it's important we have a good year.

"I joked last year that, when things went well, I got 50 per cent of the credit and when things went badly I got all of the blame. Maybe my increment of the credit has gone up a bit.

"I'm sure he won't be walking off into the sunset but him and Mum are taking a bit more time off, which is great for them. Over the last 30 years, when they took any time off the phone still rang every ten minutes, but now they actually get a chance to enjoy it."

Read these next:

Royal runner Slipofthepen to miss the 2,000 Guineas on Coronation Day with 15 left in contention 

What's on this week: all eyes on Newmarket for the 1,000 and 2,000 Guineas 

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The Front Runner is our latest email newsletter available exclusively to Members' Club Ultimate subscribers. Chris Cook, a four-time Racing Reporter of the Year award winner, provides his take on the day's biggest stories and tips for the upcoming racing every morning from Monday to Friday. Not a Members' Club Ultimate subscriber? Click here to join today and also receive our Ultimate Daily emails plus our full range of fantastic website and newspaper content.