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Marshall Watson is looking forward to showing off the latest improvements to the family yard as they prepare for their upcoming open morning in the only way they know how – by putting on a party, writes Tom Masters. 

Watson is part of a training dynasty, with father Keith now 49 years in the business and uncle Archie winning the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 1970. 

Now, the youngest of the Watson family is excited for both current and prospective owners to catch up and celebrate the yard. 

He said: “We are seasoned hands at this now, I think this is our eighth open morning. 

“We like to give something back to our existing owners, the local community, we always invite all of our neighbours because we always hold them up with horses going up and down the road every day. 

“It is a bit more of a thank you than an actual open morning in our eyes but everybody is also more than welcome to come along and see what is happening. 

“We always have a quote, this year it is beer, burgers and bad manners – that is what the three bs are this year. 

“Basically, we want everybody to come and have a good morning, horses schooling on the gallops, blacksmiths doing demonstrations and the physio is going to do a demonstration as well, so if anybody has questions, I want them to bring them along and go home knowing more than when they came to the yard.” 

The open morning officially begins at 10am and finishes at midday but Watson made it clear that the festivities will likely continue into the afternoon as they catch up with owners from across the country. 

“Basically, it never finishes for 12, it always rolls on into the afternoon, I know there are people coming from Cork, from Killarney and from Galway,” he added. 

“They are booked into the hotels, so we try and make it as an enjoyable a day for as long as people want it to be. 

“For us, racing is social and that is what we try and get across, we have had as quiet a season as we have had this last year with more horses and more owners than we have ever had, even off the back of the worst season we have ever had. 

“We try and put a bit more of a social aspect to it than just racing, which is maybe the wrong way of looking at it but it is the way we do it.” 

Watson expects more than 100 people to come and have a look around the yard on Saturday morning, something he is hugely looking forward to with so many changes to the yard. 

“We are saying to people to come again and see the improvements we have done in the last year," he added.

“Those changes we have made have been vast and we are trying to get the horses running more consistently with it. 

“You are always trying to sell and promote things and the day is open to syndicates. 

“There are low-cost ways of getting into racing and we try and promote that but people sometimes think these days are going to be pushed into them and you will be pushed into buying a horse but that is not the case, we are not focusing on that at all.”