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| Staff Writer |
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Tipped For The Top
For years, the British flat racing scene has been ruled by some of the very best trainers in the sport’s history. John Gosden, Sir Michael Stoute, William Haggas and Charlie Appleby have all enjoyed Hall of Fame careers. However, with the likes of Gosden and Stoute reaching the end of their training days, many in the British racing scene have wondered who might rise to take their place.
One trainer that has long been tipped for the top is George Scott.
Having worked with legendary figureheads such as Paul Nicholls, Mark Tomkins, Michael Bell and Lady Cecil, it isn’t surprising that slowly and surely, Scott’s stock has risen. After a brilliant 2024, where Scott experienced success in Bahrain and at Royal Ascot, he looks like a trainer to follow with real interest as we head into 2025.
Looking to build on one of the very best years of his career, we were able to sit down with Scott to get a sense of his hopes for next year at home and abroad.
Flying the flag for the George Scott yard in 2024 was the hugely exciting Isle of Jura. A greatly progressive horse, Isle of Jura enjoyed a fantastic 2024, winning all five of his starts, which included a trio of successes in Bahrain earlier this year.
Undoubtedly, his biggest accomplishment in Bahrain came in the 2024 Al Khalifa Cup, where he produced a brilliant performance to win and claim the biggest prize of his career.
Two victories on British soil would supplement three wins in Bahrain, the first a listed win in the 2024 William Hill Festival Stakes before he would take his career up to a completely different level when producing a superb performance to land the Gr.2 Hardwicke Stakes.
With plans quickly in place for Isle of Jura to head back to the Middle East, those plans were dashed when he was cruelly hit by an injury. Speaking of his stable star, George is still positive about his future.
“He's recovering. The plan was to get back to the hard work that made him ready for Royal Ascot and then go to the Middle East from there, but it’s a little bit of a bitter pill to swallow with him picking up that injury,” states George.
“He's had a magnificent 12 months, and the journey he has taken us on has been incredible. He just didn't put a foot wrong. He's such a special racehorse; horses like him are so rare. He tries very hard, and we are just all so grateful to have him.”
With Isle of Jura on the sidelines, Scott will travel with the talented Rocket Rodney, and there are certainly high hopes that he will be able to pick up where Isle of Jura has left off.
The winner of the 2023 Al Riffa Cup, Scott will be hoping that he can repeat his success from last year.
“He's a horse that seemed to really suit the conditions in Bahrain, and since he returned to the UK, he's run some credible races here at Royal Ascot and at Glorious Goodwood. So since then, we very much worked around sending him back to Bahrain for a similar programme to last year, and we hope he can run well.”
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Although the loss of Isle of Jura to injury may temper some optimism ahead of the Middle East’s new season, one horse that travels over with plenty of promise is Prydwen. At six years old, he is a horse that seems to be getting better with age and following two successive victories, including a win in the Gr.3 German St Leger last time out, he could look to make a splash when he makes his Middle Eastern debut in the next few months.
“He has been a remarkable horse, you know, in his own time. He won a handicap in Ireland off top weight, and then he went and won the German St Leger. He will probably start in the Middle East on 3 January, and then we might shoot for the Al Khalil trophy. If he continues to progress, he'd have the Nad Al Sheba trophy or the Red Sea handicap to aim for, but we think he’s a good stayer, and there’s a strong staying programme that we have in mind.”
At the other end of the age spectrum is the exciting Mission Command. Having won two of his first five career starts, he looks like an exciting sprinter who could revel in the conditions in the Middle East .
“Mission Command could be promising. He has two wins from four starts, and he's only rated 88, but he'll go for those good three-year-old conditions races, and there’s a couple he could run in. We did something similar with Seven Questions last year, who ran creditably, so he'll go for that.
“We've also got another horse called Force and Valour, who I could try out there. He could even maybe try out the dirt, but we'll have to see.
“Watch My Tracer will be aimed at Bahrain and to compete in the sequence of races that they put on, he could be joined by Phantom Flight who has been a real, real success story since we've had him. Isle of Jura was able to rattle those races off last year, and we hope that either one of these two may be able to do the same.”
Having won plenty of races in the Middle East, Scott certainly knows what it takes to arrive in peak shape and ensure that his horses are ready to take on some of the best horses in the world.
“Well, I would never lay any claim to getting it right most of the time, let alone all the time, but we have had success travelling horses,” Scott reveals.
“I think, to begin with, it's about making a long-term plan. It's not about getting to the end of the season, finding a horse, then thinking we might go to Bahrain or Dubai. It's not like that. I think about picking the right horses throughout the year. I'm always thinking about which horses I'm going to send, and if I am going to send them, about giving them an appropriate break and some time off before they go. So, they effectively start their season again when they get to their destination, rather than continuing their season.
“In most cases, these horses have had hard domestic seasons, and you then stick them on a flight, change the environment they’re in, and then expect them to be consistent; it just doesn’t work like that. So, to be as successful as we can, we must have very advanced planning.”
Now, with wins at Royal Ascot and over in the Middle East, how does Scott feel the two can compare, and is he confident that more success will come?
“Well, I think travelling horses has always given me huge satisfaction because, fundamentally, you’re often taking horses to where their owners are, so they get an opportunity to see them race, and it also gives you a great platform for promoting your stable.
“But comparing the two, Isle of Jura’s Triple Crown run was something I will never forget. It was just something I don't think we'll ever do again. We may never even have a horse that will be able to do that again.
Royal Ascot is the absolute pinnacle of our season. I've been waiting a little bit too long for a Royal Ascot winner, and we're just moving into that territory now where we need to be winning at Royal Ascot to maintain our growth. The Royal Ascot win—it was a real coming of age for the stable, and it came at the right time,” Scott continues.
“They're two very different achievements, but we enjoyed it on similar levels.”
Although losing Isle of Jura is a blow, Scott will head down to the Middle East confident that his other stars can take their turn in the spotlight. Certainly, Scott is trending in the right direction with his wins at home, in the Middle East and Europe. His meticulous approach seems to be paying off, and he will hope his strong European summer can carry over to the dirt and turf of the Middle East.
Strongly regarded as one of the best young trainers in the game, he will want to prove it again over the next few months.