'To win would be special' - rising Lincolnshire trainer chasing biggest victory of his career in £80,000 Windsor sprint

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Don’t tell the people of Lincolnshire that this is a quiet, post-Goodwood, pre-York week. 

It starts with a potentially big day for a county that does not get many of them any more. 

Lincoln was once such an important venue that James I, no less, apparently acted as clerk of the course. 

Racing then moved to a site to the west of the city but that staged its last meeting in 1964. Its grandstand is now a community centre and the Lincoln Handicap has been run at Doncaster for 60-odd years. 

That just leaves Market Rasen, which is a cheery, well-run jumps track but one whose Summer Plate meeting in July and Lincolnshire National on Boxing Day rarely grab the headlines, with so much going on elsewhere.

Duran Fentiman is a proud Yellowbelly – yes, that is the nickname for the natives – and has been a solidly effective jockey for two decades, not to mention father of rising (Yorkshire-born) star Warren.

However, Mark Johnston had long left his original base next to an RAF target practice range near Louth by the time he became the most successful trainer in British history. 

And Ebor and Chester Cup winner James Given wound up his operation in Gainsborough and is now the public face of the BHA on veterinary matters. 

But that allowed Michael Herrington to move in and he is the very definition of a progressive trainer. Having had a licence since 2009, he has set a new personal best total of winners in each of the last five years, doing it with five months to spare when moving on to 34 for the season on the last day of July.

Now the man who played cricket for Yorkshire up to the age of 15 aims to put his adopted county back on the map by landing the biggest win of his career in today's £80,000 Fitzdares Sprint Series Final at Windsor (7.15) with the red-hot Badri, who has won four of his last five.

Badri (near) has won four of his last five startsCredit: Getty Images

"We're having a good run at it and the horses seem healthy and happy," the one-time conditional jockey with Mary Reveley tells the Front Runner. "I can't complain.

"This is a great place to train. We've got everything we need in a small area, a covered ride, a lovely gallop, brick-built stables that have been here a long time – Jim Leigh trained here before and he won at Royal Ascot with On Tiptoes.  

"We're ten minutes off the M180 and you can be at Newark in 45 minutes. Windsor is a bit of a hike but I'd say we can do it in less than four hours." 

This evening's race means a 350-mile round trip but the diesel required looks well worth the investment, given Badri's recent form. The six-furlong specialist even scored his first win over five since 2023 at Pontefract last time.

"We thought we'd give it a go over a stiff five," Herrington says. "He obviously got massively outpaced early on but they went quick and he hit the line strong. The fact he's in such good form got him through.

Badri: bids to land a big pot at Windsor on MondayCredit: Grossick Photography (racingpost.com/photos)

"Sprinters can be a little bit in and out and the better ground has helped him a bit. When we first got him, I ran him quite a lot on soft or even heavy and it probably weighed him down a little bit. He has busy winter campaigns and they probably took their toll a bit. 

"This year he'd got himself a decent mark coming into the grass season to start up with, down to 87 – in years gone by he's been up around 104. He's a sound, healthy and happy little horse and the weather's been good for him as he likes going out in the field."

So has Herrington's steep rise – a personal-best 18 winners in 2022, 34 and counting this year – had owners beating at the door, demanding their horses be let in?

"We've got a few more owners but we've only ever had 30 boxes and we've probably only got one or two more to train," he says. 

"But we've got a slightly better class of horse, they're up a few grades so they can compete on a weekend a bit more and they're horses who're capable of winning two or three races rather than being patched up to scrape one win."

Michael Herrington: "They're horses who're capable of winning two or three races"Credit: Grossick Photography (racingpost.com/photos)

The nine-year-old Badri has won six times since joining the yard two years ago and will have the assistance of the champion jockey when he attempts to improve on last year's third place tonight, when he is drawn wide, just as he was 12 months ago. 

"We're hopeful more than confident with a heavy weight to carry," his trainer says. 

"He finished third off 96 last year so we're asking a lot off 99 but we've got Oisin Murphy booked. I rang his agent and he said he was just about to ring me for the ride.

"It's a great pot to have a go at. To win would be special, it would be good for the owners and keep the yard going strong."

Read these next:

Aidan O'Brien on course to break his own Group 1 record - the races that could help him move past 28 winners 

'Being a pop star isn't too dissimilar to being a jockey' - meet the X Factor star who’s gone back to his racing roots in Newmarket 

Fallen star Il Est Francais moves to Dan Skelton in bid to recapture his spark 

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