Underappreciated trainers

[jayalexander]

We're always hearing of the trainers with big media presences, such as Nicholls, Henderson and Fahey, but do you feel there are any smaller trainers out there that turn a decent profit but go under the radar? I'll throw one into the ring with S Flook (can't find his first name, despite my best googling attempts!). This year in particular he's had 8 winners from 21 - all hunter chases!

[Edberg]

Re: Underappreciated trainers This season in the Jumps in UK among the big names surely Charlie Longsdon has been one of the most profitable (no doubt more profitable than Nicholls, Henderson, Pipe, Hobbs, King and so on) and he is one I've been keeping an eye on since last season while Malcolm Jefferson is probably the trainer of the year for his huge achievements in all the big meetings with his best horses (all handicappers) and produced a big return for the punters who have been following him. He surely deserves a nomination among the old foxes still very capable and probably a bit underrated. Among the youngsters I'd say Anthony Honeyball who has been amazing especially in bumpers and can only improve (has got a lot of interesting young horses) with his girl friend Rachael Green riding pretty well too. Of course John Ferguson has had a fantastic season too (in the first few months especially) and could be another one to follow (has got a lot of good horses) in the future. Sarah Humphrey has surely been another trainer who has been improving a lot this season and has been a punters' friend with a lot of good results and winners out of a pretty little yard (not that small but still). John Quinn is another one I like to follow in this sphere as he's a bit underrated maybe but operates almost every year with high percentage (23% strike rate this season) which is by far better than on the flat (almost the double recently). A trainer who's getting every year less horses but has been pretty consistent throughout the last few seasons with a good number of winners at decent prices is JJ Lambe. Among the hunter chases' specialists surely Flook has to be the man to follow as he has been just amazing this year but I've seen a lot of "youngsters" with good potential in that sphere. In Ireland a man to follow, out of the big names, is surely John Kiely. He's a very experienced and shrewd trainer who has almost every year a good number of winners, operating at a good strike rate and when his horses are backed is one to keep an eye on. One who's been improving a lot during the last few years and seems very good is Kieran Purcell (very good results with a little string in the last couple of seasons). While Thomas Gibney and his Lion Na Bearnai have been by far the biggest surprise of the season since the trainer isn't that famous and neither so often among the winners (to say the least) and to get such a splendid horse out of that small stable it has to be a lifetime-achievement something similar to Hunt Ball but in that case Kieran Burke could prove himself to be a very good one (long way to go but couldn't have had a better start). For the Flat in UK the trainer of the season so far (out of the big names of course) has to be Sylvester Kirk but it could be just a fantastic start of the year. Another very good trainer who's been a big friend of the punters and has showed a lot of training skills again this season is James Fanshawe who has had a fantastic 2011 and seems to be back in that sort of form this year (impressive stats), while another experienced trainer who has been a joy to follow in the last few years is surely Roy Bowring. Surely there are plenty more to name but these are the ones who I noticed during the last few seasons and like to keep an eye on.