Pat Millman ‘ready’ to take over licence - but only after father Rod ticks off major landmark

Rod Millman has revealed that son Pat is “ready now” to take over the licence at the family’s yard in Devon – although the handover won’t happen until the trainer reaches 1,000 career winners.

Millman was speaking to the Racing Post for a major interview in Sunday’s newspaper in which he looks back 20 years to the time his greatest horse, Sergeant Cecil, pulled off an astonishing hat-trick of major handicap victories and forward to his family’s ongoing survival in an increasingly harsh climate for trainers.

Not that such an outlook has deterred Millman’s 33-year-old son and assistant Pat from wanting to take over the licence – and Rod is happy to let him do so despite both feeling Pat didn’t necessarily make the most of time spent with the likes of Andrew Balding and Aidan O’Brien to learn the trade.

"He came back from Ballydoyle and I asked him what Aidan fed them – and he didn't have a clue," grumbled Rod. "James [Rod’s other son, now a Racing TV pundit] was 20 going on 40 and Pat was 20 going on 15, but I think he's ready now."

Pat acknowledges that he was "too wet behind the ears" to have made the most of the opportunities, but he is now in charge of the “nuts and bolts” of the yard and looking forward to stepping up to the challenge once Rod ticks off the 80 or so winners required to take him to four figures.

"It wasn't always my plan," he said, "but the older I've got the more I've realised what a nice situation it is to be in, to take on something like this, that has been crafted over a long period of time by one of the last of the old school, when other people are desperate to start from scratch. I'd be a fool not to take the chance.

"It's a fantastic lifestyle if you can make it work – and we have to make it work. We're not in a position to make a loss because we haven't got anything else."

Read more from Rod Millman in The Big Read, available in Sunday's newspaper or online for Racing Post+ Ultimate subscribers from 6pm on Saturday.

Read more:

Godolphin announce shock death of 2,000 Guineas winner Ruling Court 

Will Field Of Gold bounce back or have we seen him at his best? 

King George bid among options for Jonbon as Nicky Henderson parades his stars for National Racehorse Week 

Sign up to receive On The Nose, our essential daily newsletter, from the Racing Post. Your unmissable morning feed, direct to your email inbox every morning.