Mark Johnston to Train Jointly With Son Charlie

Lingfield bore witness to a piece of racing history on Dec. 31 as Britain's most prolific trainer Mark Johnston sent out the last runner solely in his name before his license becomes jointly held with son Charlie from Jan. 1.

Almost 35 years on from sending out his first runner—Rosie Oh over hurdles at Wetherby in February 1987— the 2-year-old filly Allarmista became his last sole runner when finishing 11th of 13 in the seven-furlong novice, won by the John Quinn-trained odds-on favorite Imperial Mountain.

Johnston, though, was keen to downplay the significance of the occasion and insisted it was business as usual for the yard.

Speaking away from the racecourse, he said: "It's one for the record books I suppose, but it's not something I view as too significant. It wasn't something we had planned or laid out to have our last runner on the last day of the year; we just thought it was an opportunity to try and get another winner and a winner for the owner.

"I didn't even realize it was the last runner until you called! There won't be anything changing around here and it'll be business as usual."

In August 2018, Johnston became the most successful trainer in the history of British racing when Poet's Society clocked victory number 4,194 for the 62-year-old Scot at York under Frankie Dettori, surpassing the previous total set by Richard Hannon Sr.

Johnston had been closing in on the 5,000 winners mark after reaching a double century of winners this year for the 10th time, but officially his tally will stop at 4,874 (five of which have come over jumps) with future winners to be recorded separately under the new joint banner.

Ambitions are becoming no less grand, though, as Johnston immediately set his sights on recording another double century.

"That (200 winners) has been our target each year for a while now and hopefully we can go for that again, or maybe even improve on it if we can."

Johnston has become strongly associated with the Ascot Gold Cup (G1), which he has won four times with Double Trigger (1995), Royal Rebel (2001 and 2002), and Subjectivist  (2021), but he pinpointed the unconventional yet top-class filly Attraction—who won five group 1s for the stable, including the English and Irish One Thousand Guineas (both G1) during a scintillating 2004 season—as the highlight of his storied career.

He said: "The first group 1 and classic winner Mister Baileys (in 1994) was huge, but Attraction is the horse I've been most proud of. That year, in 2004, when we had both her and Shamardal in the yard at the same time, was special. Some trainers wouldn't have persevered with Attraction, but we did and that year was special."

Charlie Johnston was already assistant trainer to his father and has become an increasingly prominent figure at their Kingsley Park yard in Middleham, North Yorkshire.

The first runners in both of their names are set to appear on the all-weather at Newcastle on Sunday, when the pair saddle Toussarok and 2016 Juddmonte Middle Park Stakes (G1) winner The Last Lion , who will be making his third start since returning from a five-year absence after taking up stallion duties.