Trainer Open Morning

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Marshall Watson is a self-proclaimed ‘seasoned campaigner’ when it comes to running open days and is looking forward to showcasing his stable of promising young prospects to the Killylea public next weekend, writes Paul Martin.

Training is in the blood for the Watson family, with Marshall’s father Keith approaching 50 years in the industry and uncle Archie having trained 1970 Cheltenham Gold Cup runner-up French Tan in their small corner of Co Armagh.

Watson admits the yard is going through a ‘transitional period’, not helped by a bug which hampered their horses last season, but he is hopeful brighter times are ahead with an exciting batch of young colts and fillies eager to make their mark.

“Every yard goes through these stages every few years, where you have a bunch of nice horses that turn into nice handicappers and when they’re gone, you have to do something about it,” he said.

“We have a nice team of young horses, probably the nicest bunch I’ve ever had, but very few of them have graced the racecourse as yet.

“I’m really happy with a horse called Pass No Remarks. He was third last year, beaten by eight-ten lengths by American Mike in a bumper first time out.

“He was as green as grass that day, a big, empty horse, and he’s due to run in the next six weeks. He’s a lovely son of Fame And Glory.”

Watson’s stable star Amaulino will have longer to wait to return to the track, however, with the 2019 Ulster National winner again being targeted for a spring campaign as he eyes up a second success at the Downpatrick showpiece.

“We’ve given up training Amaulino for the autumn as he’s pathetic at that time of year, he just does not fire at all,” he said.

“We’ll bring him back for the spring. Age is creeping in and I don’t know how many runs will be left in him but we’ll base his campaign on going back to the Ulster National.”

With 35 horses currently in training, and another eight or nine set to arrive before the open morning, Watson hopes to have a healthy number on show come September 10.

The Killylea handler, who also has sights set on launching a racing club to offer an affordable way in to horse ownership, plans to make it an action-packed glimpse behind the scenes and said: “This will be our sixth year having an open day, so we are seasoned campaigners.

“You learn from them and hope to make them better every time.

“Our vet will do a talk, as will the dentist, people can see the horses on the all-weather and grass gallops, and we’ll be schooling horses over hurdles and fences. We’re planning to take them out in three groups of eight.

“It will basically be a snapshot of as much as we can squeeze in within the three-hour period (10-1am).

“Normally we get over 100 people visiting, a lot of the local community come along.

“It’s important for us to give something back to the community. We are on the side of the road, so people drive past and think ‘what’s going on in there?’.

“It’s nice to bring everyone together, even for people who aren’t necessarily interested in horse racing or ownership, and these events have brought us closer to the community.”

To book your spot at the R K Watson open morning on September 10, click here