John Gosden: how a man who could have done anything made racing his life's work

The Racing Post Tuesday Profile is one of the many highlights available to Members' Club Ultimate subscribers. Next week: master French trainer Andre Fabre

Amid the farcical shenanigans of Brexit it is sometimes tempting to ponder just which notable figure from the wider world might have the capacity to haul us from mortification. Professional MPs of all stripes have failed us miserably, after all, so why not sift the great and good of other walks of life to find our saviour.

It's been tried before, albeit with mixed results. The Italians have put their faith in porn stars and comedians; in the Philippines they've elected action movie heros, in Liberia footballers; in the US, they've lumbered themselves with a bright orange property developer. So why not a racehorse trainer, familiar with the peculiar difficulties of persuading dumb animals to do as they’re told?

Former trainer Jeremy Noseda is in no doubt that there's one man of the turf who possesses the wherewithal to get the job done, and that's his old boss John Gosden. Noseda spent two spells with Gosden and saw at first hand the gifts he has both as a conditioner of horses and a leader of men, and his assessment makes one wonder what the master of Clarehaven might have achieved if racing's gain had been sacrificed for the greater good.

"I worked for him in America and I was his assistant in England for five years and you could tell from an early stage he was a fabulous horseman," says the recently retired trainer. "But on top of that he has the capabilities of a very clever businessman and is quite probably the best politician and diplomat in horseracing. He's a master of what he does, but what he does combines so many talents that he could have succeeded in many other fields as well, as the CEO of a large company or quite possibly in politics."

Leading owner Anthony Oppenheimer, however, isn't so sure. The man who teamed up with Gosden for the memorable successes of Golden Horn and Cracksman suspects the lunacy of the Houses of Parliament would test his trainer's seemingly boundless patience to the limit.

"I think he could have been the head of a big company, certainly, because he's very wise," says Oppenheimer, "but whether he could stand politics is a different matter. His wife [Rachel Hood, Conservative county councillor for Exning and Newmarket] is the politician and I think he might get fed up with it very quickly."

The best fit for Gosden's eminently transferable skills may be a matter for conjecture, but what is not in doubt is the racing landscape without the reigning champion would be a sorely denuded sight, given his success across the board in recent years, culminating in last season's third trainers' title and the astonishing exploits of the awesome but challenging wondermare Enable.

Enable (Frankie Dettori) John Gosden and Rachel Hood after the 2018 ArcCredit: Edward Whitaker

His tally of winners now extends beyond 3,500 and if anything his rate of attainment is accelerating as he approaches his 69th birthday. Still cutting an imposing figure on the racecourse, this former discus and javelin blue from his days as an economics student at Emmanuel College, Cambridge appears to be peaking late in his career, which is no mean feat given the level of achievement he showed in his initial spell as a licence holder in California, where he saddled his first winner, Smooth Journey, at Santa Anita in February 1980.

Not that any of the success has come as a great surprise to those looking on. Although he fits uniquely into a subset of trainers who cut their teeth as land agents in Venezuela – for a short while after university – he had been among racehorses since birth. As the son of renowned Lewes trainer 'Towser' Gosden he had already spent summer holidays at the New York tracks and, as assistant to Sir Noel Murless, he had been involved in 1977 in the shipping of the champion J O Tobin to California.

A spell as assistant to Vincent O'Brien provided him with a crucial insight into great horses, and he was ready for the return trip to America's west coast, first as assistant to Tommy Doyle and then, in 1979, as a trainer in his own right. The project began with three crocked horses in three rented barns on the backstretch at Santa Anita, as Gosden's reaction to being too skint to set up on his own at home.

"Back in England I found that it wasn't what you knew, it was who you knew," he explained to the LA Times. "To train there, you needed capital to buy your own yard and stables, and money was something I had precious little of."

But he bagged his first winner in 1980 and by the time he left ten years later he had won more than 500 races, a Breeders' Cup Mile with Royal Heroine, two trainers' titles, some $21 million in prize-money – and the admiration and respect of all the right people.

Jockey Terry Lipham recalled Gosden's work with the fragile Eclipse Award-winning Bates Motel, hero of the prestigious 'Big Cap' in 1983, saying: "John brought that horse back from the dead. The horse couldn't walk for three weeks because of a foot injury and I never thought he would be as good as he was when he won the Santa Anita Handicap."

Fellow trainer Dick Mandella gave him this send-off: "It's California's loss and England's gain. He's been one of our best trainers and one of our best people. I wish I had the polish he has, and the ability to present myself as well as he does.

"The thing that surprises me, with all of his intelligence, is that he bothered being a horse trainer. Why didn't he be something really important?"

Crucially for Gosden's career prospects, his diverse talents had also been noticed by Sheikh Mohammed, who clearly believed that here was a man who might be a useful ally in any future attempt to take American bloodstock back to the US and conquer a continent. He offered Gosden a job as his private trainer at Stanley House Stables in Newmarket and a monumental era was begun.

John Gosden with Golden Horn at Clarehaven StablesCredit: Edward Whitaker

Noseda is in full agreement with the sheikh, saying: "It's always been in him, that gift, and there was never any question that wherever he trained horses he was going to be at the very top."

Back at Headquarters, Gosden began to milk the best talent Sheikh Mohammed could send him, also landing a first Derby with Benny The Dip in 1997. Keen Hunter's 1991 Prix de l'Abbaye success under Steve Cauthen was an early Group 1 highlight, but by this stage, almost unnoticed, a key link in the Gosden story had been forged, when Heisman I landed an unexceptional Redcar maiden on October 18, 1989.

The colt never ran again, but his rider, a cocky little Italian named Frankie Dettori, would go on to ride more than 500 winners for his soon-to-be boss, and still counting, making his own the hot seat once occupied by the legendary likes of Pat Eddery, Willie Carson, Cauthen and Michael Roberts.

"I was only a young man when he offered me the job, and it was pretty big for me," says the man who went on to become the sheikh's retained jockey in the Godolphin blue before returning to the Gosden camp for an Indian summer to his career.

"John was very much a mentor to me but I imagine I was a little bit of a nuisance because I'd go and pester him every day over breakfast. I was probably like one of those wasps you keep flicking with your hand but it won't go away, but he wasn't the kind to shout at you.

"He knew I didn't mean any harm and I was lucky to find myself working for such an amazing trainer who's also very good with people. He gives them confidence, treats everybody equally. To him there's no difference between first jockey and yard man, we're all in the same job and he's a very fair man."

Best buddies: John Gosden and Frankie Dettori in emotional mood after the Irish Champion Stakes win of Golden Horn, owned by Anthony Oppenheimer (left)Credit: Caroline Norris (racingpost.com/photos)

Even as early as his Californian stint, Gosden was viewed by colleagues as a man with the natural tendency to do the right thing. The LA Times recalled one such incident on the track, reporting: "More than any winner's-circle pose, a lasting memory of Gosden here is his rushing pell-mell to the clubhouse turn at Santa Anita in 1984, after Royal Heroine went down in a frightful three-horse spill. [His] concern was for both the horse and his jockey Fernando Toro, who escaped with only scratches."

Oppenheimer, meanwhile, reminds us of a much later occasion, when Godolphin’s Rewilding broke his leg in full view of the Ascot grandstand in the 2011 King George, recalling: "He immediately took control of the situation and explained to the public that at that moment the horse was not in pain because it was still in shock. It was brilliantly done, soothed everybody, and that's a vital gift when dealing with owners and horses."

It may be this natural gift for tact and diplomacy that has helped Gosden manage the most important feat of all for an ambitious trainer: attracting owners with both money and the inclination to spend it. At a time when the 'old-fashioned' owner-breeder is said to be in terminal decline, he still trains with huge success for some of the biggest: Khalid Abdullah, Cheveley Park Stud and Oppenheimer to name but three.

"He attracts the kind of owners who are prepared to give their horses time," says Oppenheimer, who enjoyed a long alliance with another Newmarket trainer, Geoff Wragg, before linking up with Gosden when he replaced Peter Chapple-Hyam at Manton in 2000.

"The kind who don't mind when he says don't run this as a two-year-old, or maybe run it just once. It's very difficult for owners to do that because the money's running out all the time, but the more you go with him the more you understand why he does what he does.

"He's also got other good horses with him, which gives him a very good insight into what your horse can do and what it can't do, which helps tremendously when you're making entries, but above all he's a horseman. I have a great deal of time for people who understand the horse psyche and he's one of those that understands it best.

"He's one of the few people I know who could look at two horses who might look the same to me and might both be by very good stallions, and he could tell you which of them could run and which of them couldn't, and when he's got control of the horse he's got the ability to know it, to give it time when many people wouldn't. It's a special knack that you learn when you live with horses all your life."

Those who work most closely with Gosden point to a similar knack when dealing with humans. Noseda, who left another master trainer in John Dunlop to join the team, explains the delicate balance between discipline and humanity.

"You can't run a yard of that size without having good staff, being able to control them and get the right feedback from them," he says. "He wouldn't have been a shouter when I was there and he was a very fair man to work for, but he was also very demanding.

"As a trainer and an employer, that's what makes him so good. He has a plan in his mind, a lot of common sense, pays great attention to detail and he misses nothing. In my experience he'd be as good an operator as you'd ever see."

Always a word for the media: a demonstrative John Gosden with Nick LuckCredit: Edward Whitaker

Dettori concurs, saying: "He runs a very tight ship, he's very thorough and he expects 100 per cent from everyone in the mornings because that's what he gives. I always found him more hard work in the mornings than he was in the afternoons, but that's probably why he's so successful.

"He's very serious but he can crack the odd joke as well, to ease the mood, and perhaps his biggest asset is he listens to other people's opinions and takes everything on board."

Since 2006, Gosden has repeated the dose over and over from his current base on Newmarket’s Bury Road. Having once, reportedly, unfathomably, harboured ambitions to ride on the Flat, the 6ft 4in former blond-haired Adonis has established himself as the finest British trainer of his generation. More than that, however, he has made his mark with a certain style, ever ready with an erudite word for the press corps, never less than a consummate ambassador for the sport and with a cultural hinterland to match his professional rigour.

John Gosden and Anthony Oppenheimer after the 2015 Irish Champion StakesCredit: Patrick McCann

"He’s charming and has a charming wife, so socially they're tremendous fun to be with," says Oppenheimer, summing up the wide-ranging appeal of one of racing’s great originals, a man who can even make his owners feel good while he's contradicting them.

"He likes good wine, loves travelling and seeing the world, and he has lovely children, so it's a good set-up to be part of. Of course, having a good horse with him is the icing on the cake and I'll never forget that when I was convinced as a breeder that Golden Horn would not stay the Derby trip, he had complete faith.

"It was quite a shock to me to be proved that I was wrong on the breeding side, but you don't mind so much in those circumstances."

Trainer and jockey, chalk and cheese

It's hard now to imagine John Gosden, Enable, Golden Horn and Cracksman without Frankie Dettori in the foreground, adding an ebullient counterpoint to the trainer's more measured and statesmanlike approach. Back in the early 1990s, however, it might have been hard to imagine how two such different men could strike up such a natural partnership.

"We had tremendous success in those early days," says Dettori, "but I don't think we've ever had a lot in common. John is a Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen man, which wouldn't be for me, and he loves a night at the theatre, which isn't my thing, but he's become a good mate as much as a father figure and in our working relationship we've always had great chemistry.

"It's got to the point where he has two jobs, to keep his horses happy and to keep me happy, but I work from the top and he works from the bottom and we work it out, and I'd say he's more patient than he was as a younger man. With another 20 years under his belt he's an even better trainer and last year showed us what he's all about.

"He had the champion two-year-old in Too Darn Hot, the champion miler in Roaring Lion, then Enable and Cracksman and the champion stayer in Stradivarius, the whole spectrum of the thoroughbred at their peaks all in the same year, which shows you the genius of the man."

JOHN GOSDEN FACTFILE

Full name John Harry Martin Gosden

Born Hove, East Sussex, March 30, 1951

Father Jack 'Towser' Gosden (trainer of Aggressor & Charlottown)

First winner Smooth Journey, Santa Anita, February 6, 1980

First Graded stakes winner Star Pastures (1982 Palomar Handicap Div. 2, Del Mar)

First Grade 1 winner Bates Motel (1983 San Antonio Handicap, Santa Anita)

First winner in Europe Intimidate, Kempton, March 27, 1989

Highest-rated horses (Racing Post Ratings) 132 Golden Horn (2015 Eclipse Stakes), 131 Raven's Pass (2008 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes), 131 Cracksman (2017 & 2018 Champion Stakes)

Overall world champion (official ratings) Cracksman (2018 joint)

Overall European champions (official ratings) Golden Horn (2015), Cracksman (2017, 2018)

Cartier Horses of the Year Kingman (2014), Golden Horn (2015), Enable (2017), Roaring Lion (2018)

US champions (Eclipse Awards) Bates Motel (1983 older male), Royal Heroine (1984 turf female), Ryafan (1997 turf female)

Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winners Golden Horn (2015), Enable (2017, 2018)

King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes winners Nathaniel (2011), Taghrooda (2014), Enable (2017, 2019)

Derby winners Benny The Dip (1997), Golden Horn (2015)

Breeders' Cup Classic winner Raven's Pass (2008)

Breeders' Cup Turf winner Enable (2018)

Other British Classic winners Shantou (1996 St Leger), Lahan (2000 1,000 Guineas), Lucarno (2007 St Leger), Arctic Cosmos (2010 St Leger), Masked Marvel (2011 St Leger), Taghrooda (2014 Oaks), Enable (2017 Oaks), Anapurna (2019 Oaks), Logician (2019 St Leger)

Irish Derby winner Jack Hobbs (2015)

Champion Stakes winner Cracksman (2017, 2018)

Champion sprinter Oasis Dream (2003 July Cup, Nunthorpe Stakes)

Stayers' triple crown winner Stradivarius (2019)

Most notable 1-2 Golden Horn, Jack Hobbs (2015 Derby)

Champion trainer 2012, 2015, 2018

Most wins in a year in Britain 178 in 2018

Total wins in Britain 2,978

Compiled by John Randall

Have you read our other Tuesday Profiles, exclusive to Members' Club subscribers?

Sheikh Hamdan: shy, loyal, knowledgeable and a man fond of having a good laugh

Mark Johnston: from 'a pain in the butt' to most successful trainer of all time

Jim Bolger: how his all-pervasive influence tilted the racing world's axis

Sir Michael Stoute: what makes racing's most enigmatic trainer tick?

Frankie Dettori: he cheated death and hit rock bottom but is now born again

Kieren Fallon: wild and troubled but a genius in the saddle

Ryan Moore: examining the two faces of the world's number-one jockey

Lester Piggott: we all know about the maestro but how many really know him?

Barney Curley: the trainee priest who became a fearless punter and folk hero

Sheikh Mohammed: the desert ruler who built a racing empire like no other

John Magnier: how one man changed the course of racing history