Primitivo, Flying Angel and Baby Run head Twiston-Davies top five

Willy Twiston-Davies, who quit the saddle this week, lists his favourite horses

Willy Twiston-Davies: quit the saddle this week to concentrate on bloodstock interests with a view to training later on

Primitivo

Career highlight: Twiston-Davies celebrates as Primitivo wins the King George V Handicap at Royal Ascot in 2016; the horse is now racing as Gold Mount in Hong KongCredit: Harry Trump (Getty Images)

He won the King George V Handicap, and obviously winning at Royal Ascot was a career highlight, especially as it was also Alan King's first winner at the meeting and he'd be so loyal to me. It was huge for me because it showed I could do it on the big stage. I was quite relaxed; I knew what the horse could do, although he probably hit the front a bit soon and hung because of the big crowd. He's in Hong Kong now and he's named Gold Mount – he's well fancied for the Vase [tomorrow].

Baby Run

Redemption song: 16-year-old Twiston-Davies and Baby Run cross the Chair on their way to winning at Aintree just weeks after a humiliating experience at CheltenhamCredit: Edward Whitaker

He was a special horse for myself and Sam, and Dad, as he owned him. He won every Foxhunters' – Cheltenham, Aintree and Punchestown – and he was great for me because he proved, after I'd fallen off him at Cheltenham, that we could do it in what's probably a harder race at Aintree. I was a 16-year-old boy, one of the youngest to have won over the fences, so it was amazing. I'd got a lot of publicity and the spotlight was on us at Aintree, so to prove everyone wrong was a really good feeling. He was also my first-ever winner at Wetherby in February 2011.

Flying Angel

His owner Rob Rexton is a very good friend, and he also sponsors the yard, so it was wonderful to win the Kingmaker at Warwick for him. The horse bounced back after some disappointing runs; he was unfancied but he got the job done. I really enjoyed the race – everything went to plan and we managed to pick off the favourite. He showed he had the class.

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Published on 8 December 2017inFeatures

Last updated 22:58, 8 December 2017

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