Roger Varian Is Standing Firmly At Centre Stage

“The international experience gained from living in California and riding track work at Hollywood Park left a positive impression on me as I returned to the UK to pursue my own career.”

His ambition to be a jumps jockey came to fruition when he rode National Hunt for the Josh Gifford stable, another stop along his journey in horse racing. He rode 7 winners from approximately 80 mounts over a three-year period and whilst he learnt plenty during his time with Josh Gifford, he came to the realisation that he wasn’t about to carve out a career as a successful jump jockey. A short spell back in the States at the Pennsylvania stable of Jack Fisher saw him ride a few more winners, but ultimately that spell ended after Varian picked up a bad wrist injury following a race fall. It was on his return from the States that he moved to Newmarket to pursue a new direction. The dream of being a jockey was shelved as a fresh ambition to become a trainer started to emerge. 

“When I got back to the UK, I went to Newmarket fulltime and switched codes from steeplechase racing to flat racing.

“It was then I had a rethink of my longer-term ambitions. I was probably not good enough as a jockey and I was realistic about that, so I switched my attention to becoming a trainer at a young age.”

This decision led him to become assistant trainer with Michael Jarvis at 21 years of age, a period of his career he won’t soon forget. Varian would spend a decade with Michael Jarvis at the Kremlin House stable in Newmarket, handling horses such as Rakti and Eswarah before taking over the yard when Jarvis retired in February 2011.

“By the time I had taken over I was very aware of the opportunity that was in front of me. I think the 10 years spent with Michael was invaluable in terms of giving me a foundation and experience and to be associated with someone with such a big reputation in the industry globally as Michael Jarvis who was extremely well respected and who was extremely successful. 

“So, it's a process that you can't rush in becoming a trainer, I think that when you do start training you are thrown into so many challenges, not just from an equine perspective, but your people skills will be tested also.

“I don't think it's something that you can fast track in terms of that learning curve and learning experience. So, I think those ten years with Michael were absolutely vital to being where I am. I don't think if I could go back and cut that time in half, I definitely wouldn't do that, I think I probably needed those ten years to be in a position where I was ready from a personal point of view to start training but also from a professional point of view and a point of view of knowledge I'd gained under Michael so that was really invaluable.

“Michael Jarvis was a wonderful man to work for and he was a true gentleman. Very well respected from a global perspective within the industry and taking over from him really gave me a great springboard to launch my own career.”

Classy Horses And Top-Class Racing

Varian has had the opportunity to train quite a few racing stars so far in his career including Nahrain who won him the Prix De l’Opéra in his first-year training before going on to win the Flower Bowl Invitational Stakes. Both being Group One races.

“She was a very special filly and was very talented. Of course, she gave me a Group One winner in my first year of training. As we come to learn Group One winners are very hard to come by at any point in your career but to bag one in our first year helped elevate the status of the stable and my name, so she will always be dear to me.

“She was a very talented filly and unraced as a two-year-old. In my first season training she was a three-year-old and she won all five of her starts. To be able to win a race as prestigious as the Prix De l’Opéra in Longchamp on Arc de Triomphe day, it was a huge deal for me at the time and I’m sure it gave the stable a bit of elevation at a crucial time in my career.

“I think the first few years that any trainer starts to train it’s very important to hit the ground running not only with winners but with some quality in the stable and to have a great one in the first year I trained was invaluable.

“I've been lucky we've had good quality in the stable every year really, hard to mention them all but we're at the stage now where we've trained 21 Group One winners including two Classic winners. Kingston Hill was our first classic winner, winning the St. Leger in 2014 which was very special. And to train a horse like Postponed to win on the international stage, winning a Sheema Classic in Dubai and then cementing that by winning the Coronation Cup at Epsom and a Juddmonte International at York. These are some of the biggest races on the global circuit at the highest level so obviously they gave us great, great pleasure.

“But I think Group One winners with homebred fillies are very special as well; going back to the likes of Nahrain and of course, Nezwaah also owned by Sheikh Ahmed Al Maktoum. She won a Pretty Polly Stakes, and Ambivalent won the Pretty Polly Stakes, and her daughter Teona won the Prix Vermeille Stakes, so it’s nice to repeat feats with certain lines of a family.

“It makes you realize that you’ve been training for a little time when you start training the daughters and granddaughters of some of the early fillies that we trained.

“Horses like Belardo winning such a prestigious race as the Dewhurst Stakes is very special. So, we've been lucky to win some of the biggest races in Europe.

“Looking back to last year Eldar Eldarov won St. Ledger and gave us our second Classic and Bayside Boywon the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot on Champions Day. These are all races that are highlights of our European pattern and hopefully we can continue to make a mark in these kinds of races going forward.”

Dubai Is Home - Be It Nad Al Sheba Or Meydan

Varian has been taking horses to Dubai and the Middle East since the moment he began training as he said.

“Not every year, but fairly consistently I have taken horses to the Middle East and to Dubai to race. Since I first started and took over the stable of Michael Jarvis, my first public runner in my name was a horse called Laheeb. He was owned by Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum and he finished fourth in the Sheema Classic - he was the first runner I had ever had, even before I had a runner in Britain.

“So, you could say I've had runners in Dubai right back to day one! We’ve always liked to support the Dubai programme.

“But I suppose that’s a simple thing to say because it's such a great program at this time of the year. If you have a horse good enough and if you can get a horse to be competitive on Dubai World Cup evening in any of those races, then that's the stage we like to compete on. It's a great test of a thoroughbred and a great test against your international peers.

“We've tasted success on that stage with Postponed winning the Sheema Classic and running third in it the following year. I think we were also third in that race with Ambivalent and fourth in that race with Laheeb.

“So, as I say if you can be competitive on Dubai World Cup night, that's something we'll aim to be repeating if we possibly can this year and in years to come.”

Coming Back To Meydan

He now has four nominated for the World Cup Carnival although only one is a certainty to run. Tinker Toy will be staying at home this year.

“He'll be staying at home, and we will be trying to repeat his win in the Listed race in Wolverhampton early in March. He's in great shape and we're very happy with him.”

The second of the group is the Profitable colt Mitbaahy who won Group Three at Newbury as well as a Listed class race at Sandown Park. He had been nominated for the Al Quoz Sprint but will not be making the trip either.

“Nothing major but he had a little hiccup a few weeks ago, so he won't be prepared in time for this race. So, we'll take the more conventional route into our European season with him. Most likely he'll be having his first start of the season in May and hopefully he can be progressing to the calibre of sprinter who can be lining up in some of our Group One sprints throughout the course of our summer, but he's a very nice horse. Hopefully he can have a good four-year-old season in Europe and hopefully he can be a horse we can line up for Dubai as a five-year-old next year.”

El Drama is the five-year-old son of Lope De Vega and he will be seen in Dubai this carnival being targeted for the Dubai Turf event.

“He's progressed nicely with racing. We purchased him as a yearling for his owner Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum and he won as a two-year-old in his only start and he did well as a three-year-old winning with the Stakes at Chester, one of the Derby trials.

“Last year was a slow year for him, he had an injury in the spring, so he never raced into September. But he posted very good form without winning he was second in the Group Two Dubai Joel Stakes at Newmarket over one mile, a touch unlucky on that occasion. Then he ran fifth in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes behind our other horse Bayside Boy at Ascot on Champions Day, where he just found the heavy ground a little bit against him.

“Hopefully this year we can have a cleaner program with him and hopefully he’ll stay injury free, and he’ll be able to really show us what he can do.

“He is very much ready, and he is scheduled to line up on Super Saturday in the Group One Jebel Hatta Stakes over nine furlongs, which is a lovely preparation I think for the Dubai Turf which comes exactly three weeks later.

“Should he acquit himself well in the Jebel Hatta then there is every chance he will be staying to take his chance in the Dubai Turf on Dubai World Cup Night.” 

Since this story was written El Drama finished a very respectable second in the Jebel Hatta Stakes and will very likely stay in Dubai to contest the Dubai Turf on World Cup night. 

The final of the four is the St Leger winner from last season, Eldar Eldarov, who also has a Group Two Queen’s Vase victory to his name. The Dubawi colt did have a nomination in the Dubai Gold Cup, but he will not be travelling to Dubai this year. Instead, he will start his four-year-old season in Europe with the potential to come to Meydan in 2024.

“He's a very nice horse. He progressed beautifully throughout his three-year-old season winning the Queen's Vase at Royal Ascot and winning the St. Leger at Doncaster. He's a very talented performer and he looks like stamina is his biggest asset so it's likely we will campaign him as a cup horse in our two-mile races in Europe and he'd be very deserving of his place in the Gold Cup.”

Growing The Band

As the plans for the Dubai campaign continue to fall into place Varian looks across his yard at the potential begging to be unleashed as well as that which has been shown yet continues to grow.

“Here in Newmarket, we have approximately 180 horses at the moment. We have a few more than that on the books but some of the young horses and some of those coming back from injury are with us at the moment, but we have a large number under our roof.

“Currently around about 180 and a strong team of horses, a great supporting team of owners, and a great team of staff, putting in their shifts every day to hopefully put us in good shape for a great season ahead of us.

“We’ve spoken about some of those older horses in the stable but a filly who is very light on racing experience, but very talented, is Ameynah. She's a four-year-old now and she ran sixth in the 1000 Guineas in only her third start as a 3YO last year she had an injury setback there afterwards and wasn’t seen again. But we’d still have aspirations that the filly can develop into a Group One performer this year.

“On some of the younger horses we'd have to be excited about the prospects of Sakheer who is very highly rated. He was very impressive in winning the Mill Reef Stakes Group Two at Newbury last autumn, he likely would have gone off favourite for the Dewhurst Stakes, but he had a little setback prior to that race so he didn't line up, but he would very much have 2000 Guineas as his early season target. He looks full of talent and is obviously very exciting.

“Another two-year-old of last season to have taken out a group two in the autumn was a horse called Charyn and he looks very solid and progressive.

“So, I think you could say that Charyn and Sakheer look to be a pair from our current crop of three-year-olds who we would have early-season Classic aspirations with.”

Let’s Take Home The Arc

With these equine athletes progressing and gearing up to be unleashed on the track Varian admitted that when it came to races that he holds aspirations to win, it was far from a short list.

“Probably a very long list,” he grins and repeats.

“Group Ones are special anywhere at any time. Classic races have a little bit extra and are like the majors in golf and the grand slams in tennis. We have won two St Legers so we are on the Classic board.

“We'd love to develop our Classic CV and both the 2000 Guineas and the 1000 Guineas, the Oaks and the Derby are high up on my list of goals. If I could nominate one, one race only, I think the Epsom Derby is a race I would love to have on my CV.

“Internationally I think that ever increasing on a yearly basis with the industry becoming more global I think we have to look at our season not just as a European season but as a twelve month of the year international season.

“In Europe the Arc de Triomphe is a race that would be high up on anyone's wish list. Further abroad, I’m very fond of Japan and my wife Hanako is from Japan and we have a lot of clients and friends from Japan, so to win any of the big races there is very much high up on the wish list.

“The Japan Cup, Mile Championship of the QEII; one of their big autumn international races would be exciting.

“We also went very close in Australia a few years ago in the MacKinnon Stakes with a horse called Farraaj who was beaten a neck and a neck into third but had a wide passage coming from 15 of 15.

“We would love to get back to Australia and win one of their big races and you would have to nominate the Melbourne Cup as one of those iconic international races which you’d love on our CV. 

“We feel we've done quite well so far.

“We've certainly established ourselves and we've won some nice races, but there's still massive ambition and achievements that we’ve yet to fulfil.  

“That's what's so great about this game is that it keeps you looking forward, and keeps you working hard, and hopefully we have a good team of horses in the yard this year and can have another great season and win more of those big races.”