That said, when they start to complain about what will be a general devaluing of prize money in parallel to their running costs, maybe those who haven't given their secretaries time to complete the forms or who have returned the form with half completed strings or even not competed it at all, will consider that it would have done no harm to have contributed to what is a historical work of reference.
It cannot be said enough that when someone becomes properly hooked on this game they will be punters for life. It's their ticket in. They do not own or train horses but their judgment of how they will run can at times affect their level of living and how much spare cash they have to splash out. And this is something that even applies to so called responsible punters.
The time of publication means that on going through the pages your attention is drawn to the prominent flat strings, particularly the strength of their juveniles and whether they have any new notable patrons, or if any of their most powerful supporters have chosen to cut off supply.
If the annual was published in October the jumping strings would be the focus of attention as you'd turn to the large yards and note the number and quality of new recruits sourced from France or the Irish pointing fields.
During the 1970's I'd turn first to the Seven Barrows team of P.T.Walwyn, followed by M. V. O'Brien, Major Hern and H.R.A. Cecil. In the later part of the decade you could hardly fail to notice how two great owner breeders in Lord Howard De Walden and Louis Freedman were beginning to favour Cecil over Walwyn for the cream of their products.
When comparing the strength of yards nowadays, you are left having to guess and fill in the gaps. The Gosden yard have yet again failed to supply details of their juveniles, and so too has Michael Stoute. While one must appreciate that the latter is slowly winding down with no apparent heir ready to take control, these annuals have been viewed by enthusiasts as works of history and if trainers are not willing to provide such details to save what they may feel is embarrassment of revealing how the strength of the yard has weakened, then they are giving scant regard to the greater picture and how the present will be viewed in future years.
Mind you, if truth be told, the whole game as we know it could be up soon and I doubt in fifty years time that Horses In Training annuals will collectables and eagerly sought. In fact, that sort of enthusiasm has long gone as can be seen by the pittance that most of the old Timeform Annuals go for on e bay.
On acquiring the annual this year it wasn't a showcase yard I turned to first, it was the Great Habton set up of Tim Easterby to see whether they had been given a reprieve by King Power Racing, who had not provided any juveniles to the stable last season, a clear decision that they were winding down their patronage to the yard but one which looked misjudged when Winter Power triumphed in the Nunthorpe, providing the owners with their most prestigious victory in their entire ownership.
Last year Easterby only listed twenty one juveniles, leaving out those who he'd not yet acquired an owner for, or syndicated, or had yet to purchase at the breeze up sales - he begins this season with sixty three year olds which is why the eleven juveniles listed for 2022 will be way off the true number. Nevertheless, there is no sign of any fresh support from King Power and this is backed up by looking at the entrants for the very valuable Doncaster sales race in which the owners are represented by four entrants, two with Roger Varian and one each with Richard Hannon and Andrew Balding.
The popularity of the breeze up sales makes you wonder why they don't delay publication of this annual until May. It would make it more accurate as a work of reference, and let's face it, the days when you'd get buzzed up for the start of the flat and look excitedly forward to the Lincoln have long gone, thanks or should I say no thanks, to the expansion of all weather racing along with the Meydan Festival.
Horses In Training certainly does catalogue changing fortunes in the game. Compared with times past Marcus Tregoning has been struggling in recent years. His now thirty four strength yard is made up of sixteen older horses, eight three year olds and eight juveniles. Amongst the juveniles are two from Shadwell, and one from Kirsten Rousing.
Jane Chapple-Hyam who trains Claymore, the horse they all want to buy, is listed with only a single two year old, while Peter Chapple-Hyam is listed with no juveniles. These things make compilation of the publication pretty meaningless. Mick Channon has forty five two year olds, a long way off the number when the likes of Sheikh Ahmed supported him to the hilt. The yard was then full of Green Deserts - now there are Sixties Icons in every other box!
Channon cut his teeth with the Hannons and over at Herridge Racing Stables there are two hundred and thirty five horses housed, over half of them juveniles. It's been the same successful modus operandi for decades with the Doyle family operating for them at the yearling sales. The types purchased generally being animals who will be active as juveniles but will also train on. Generally with sprinter/miler pedigrees from the middle range of the market - though he does have an unnamed Sea The Stars filly purchased for 400,000.
Elsewhere, Ian Williams who has reputation for making good from others cast offs or bargain basement purchases has two juveniles, purchased for over 40,000 each. Will be fascinating to observe what he makes out of these two colts, one by Expert Eye, the other a Ulysses. And what of who arguably is the best pound for pound trainer in operation, Clive Cox. Well, looking at the pedigrees of his two year olds there is no doubt he is still stereotyped as a trainer of speedster - this someone who trained an ex Donald McCain horse to beat an Arc winner in the Prince of Wales.
There has not been much co operation from the French trainers - something which rarely happened in the past. Looking at the mighty Argentine Angel Penna's string in the 1977 edition, his thirteen older horses included three English classic winners from the previous season in Flying Water, Pawneese and Crow - not to mention a certain Buckskin.
Joseph O'Brien is another handler who had not submitted the form but his father has returned details of the Ballydoyle string and what is fascinating is that only seven of the eighty two juveniles are Camelots, which could well be indication that they don't believe the son of Montjeu will prove himself as a sire of flat sires, despite him going into this season being represented by leading classic hopeful Luxembourg.
Another interesting aspect of the Ballydoyle juvenile string is that there are no American Pharoahs, a clear sign that the outstanding triple crown winner has not delivered as expected, certainly as a turf sire, and there must be some prayers offered in the hope that Justify makes a brighter beginning to his stallion career. They have ten two year olds from the first crop of the monster chestnut.
Charlie Appleby's string is as strong as ever before and closer in quality than ever before to the Ballydoyle one. In fact, going into this season his string of older horses which include Derby winner Adayar, and the best St Leger winner in recent times in Hurricane Lane, are stronger than those housed with his Irish rival. It's also a toss of the coin call as to who has the best team of three year olds - a situation that you could not have envisaged even just a couple of years back.
Anyway, always a handy dip in dip out publication to have on hand but unfortunately more incomplete than ever before and not one which can now be looked back upon as an accurate historical work of reference, a category which it fell comfortably into a few decades back.
Racing fans who purchased this album, released in December 1969, would likely have had copies of Horses In Training resting nearby. And they would have been true works of reference at a time when even the most brusque charactered licence holders would dutifully provide details of their strings
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