This ex-jockey enjoyed a double from his first two runners on Saturday and saddles a recruit from Willie Mullins at Cheltenham next

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It's a challenging time for punters, with the Flat season winding down and the jumps season yet to wind up. Horses who looked like rockets in summer are getting beaten by horses we'd forgotten about/never heard of/didn't realise were in the race.

What we need, as we get ready for the first Cheltenham of the winter, is a trainer to follow with a 100 per cent win-rate. If that sounds too much to ask, you clearly weren't following what happened on Saturday when Chester Williams sent out his first runners.

Some time after the Ascot card had finished, while Britain's bookies were still helpless with laughter, Williams sent out the very first runners of his career and watched as they won the final two races at Newton Abbot. The double paid 17-1, so it was hardly the sort of surprise outcome you would get in a Group-quality sprint race, but it was nevertheless bound to feel extremely satisfying for any rookie trainer.

"I didn't sleep that well the night before," Williams tells the Front Runner. "I was thinking, if Great Dance comes under pressure and there's nothing under the bonnet, that's not going to look very good." He was worried about whether she could live up to her flashy pedigree (she's out of Let's Dance, a Cheltenham Festival winner) and her purchase price of €110,000. Happily, the filly won going away.

Half an hour earlier, Haas Boy had prevailed in a driving finish with Authoceltic, trained by Williams's mother, Jane. Beating one's own mum at the races arguably smacks of ingratitude and Williams is especially vulnerable to the charge, as it was Jane who allowed him to start in this line of work by handing over a portion of her Devon stable. But all's fair in love and handicap chases.

"You really couldn't make it up," he says. "I only have ten horses in training, she has 25, and so for our horses to end up alongsides at the last . . . it was crazy.

"Mum was delighted, couldn't have been happier. Any success that I have as a trainer, at the moment, is based on what her and my dad have done. They've built a very good facility over 20 years and I'm now fortunate to reap the rewards.

"There was a family celebration that night. We cracked open a couple of bottles of champagne and had lots of family round.

"People who know me would know that training was always my long-term goal, from a very young age. To get a start like that was a massive surprise."

He stresses that the training operation is a joint one with his wife, Fliss, and it sounds as though they are putting hearts and souls into it, while also doting over their baby Ada, now nine months old. 

"I love all the aspects of training, the complications and all the different factors involved in the horse from the day you buy them till the day you get them on the racecourse. It's an endlessly fascinating subject and I feel lucky to have that as my job and to be trying to work out the puzzle.

"We're very fortunate to be working with good-quality horses. That makes life a lot easier. If we keep achieving the maximum with every horse we train, then hopefully the yard will grow."

Uncle Phil: new recruit for Chester Williams is entered at Cheltenham on FridayCredit: Patrick McCann

Williams could send Loki's Mischief to Ludlow for a handicap hurdle on Thursday but a lot of rain would be needed to convince him that was a good idea. The odds are that his next runner will be Uncle Phil at Cheltenham on Friday.

"It's well known, if you're looking to improve a horse, you buy them from Willie Mullins," he jokes. The eight-year-old Uncle Phil was bought from the champion trainer's yard in April for 14,000gns, having won a Grade 3 at Fairyhouse last year. His assignment on Friday is the feature 2m handicap chase.

"You can tell he's 145-rated. From the first moment I was riding him on the roads, you can tell the quality. It's like driving a fast car, when you sit on a nice horse. Everything comes easily.

"It's a learning curve on Friday. Because of his rating, there were very few options, so we're thrown in at the deep end. I would prefer not to be starting at Cheltenham in a £100,000 race but that's what's being given us.

"He's been off the track since November, so it'll just be nice to have a positive run to build on for the season. I think his rating needs to come down, he's probably 7lb high enough as it is. And that's before the change of trainer . . ."

Chester Williams (left): his first winner as a trainer beat a horse trained by his mother Jane (right)Credit: Ffos Las Racecourse

It's great to see Williams' name back on a racecard, after the tough times he's endured. His riding career was ended three years ago by a head injury sustained in a schooling fall, requiring lengthy rehabilitation work. Disaster was soon followed by tragedy.

"It shows how much life can change in a month," he reflects. "On 11th September 2022, life was good. I was about to get a joint-licence with my mum. Fliss was eight months pregnant.

"The next month, I had my injury and then our baby, Archie, was still-born whilst I was in hospital. 

"I probably still don't appreciate how hard it was, particularly for Fliss. It's hard to put into words.

"My injury suddenly became a bit less relevant. It finished my career as a jockey but nothing more than that. But we're on the right track now."

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Read more . . .

He was a revelation over fences last season - and 16-1 could look a big price for the Coral Gold Cup 

'He might have a Nick Rockett-like prep' - Tom Segal with his four best bets for the jumps season including a 40-1 Grand National pick 

Our bid for another jumps title is starting early - and I also think I was riding our next Cheltenham Gold Cup winner last season

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