Newmarket trainer Roger Varian celebrates bringing up 1,000 winners

A decade on from his first winner, Newmarket-based trainer Roger Varian celebrated hitting the target for the 1,000th time on Saturday.

It was back in 2011 that Eton Forever stormed to success in the Spring Mile at Doncaster for a then just starting out Varian, who had taken over the running of his then base at Kremlin House from the late Michael Jarvis.

And the victories have not let up from that point forward, with Raadobarg’s triumph in the Casumo Today Silver Bowl Handicap at Haydock making it a four-figure haul for the master of Bury Road’s Carlburg Stables.

“If you train for long enough I suppose you always have a chance of getting there, but it’s not something I ever thought about until it was about 10 winners away,” said Varian, who has since seen his winning tally move on to 1,003.

“You don’t let things like that get in the way of the day job. You’re so occupied with the day-to-day running of the operation that you cannot afford to get bogged down.

“But when you say it out loud – 1,000 winners – it does sound like a lot. It averages out at roughly 100 winners a year since I started.

“It’s a real game of ups and downs, so this is an achievement we are all hugely satisfied with.

“Horses are never straightforward, and I should say I would not have got here without the invaluable support of the owners past and present, my family and the great staff I have at Carlburg.

“Michael (Jarvis) has also been pivotal in my career. I spent 10 years as his assistant and I am indebted to him. He provided me with the springboard.”

Among Varian’s impressive collection are 17 Groups 1, a Classic in the form of the St Leger and nine at the prestigious Royal Ascot.

But while the big wins are the ones that grab the headlines, Varian has found that he sometimes draws just as much satisfaction from those smaller successes.

“You never forget your first winner or your first Group 1 – that was Nahrain for us,” he added.

“I’ve been lucky to have a Classic winner and train stars like Postponed. These are big wins and they are always with you.

“Yet those small wins that often go by without any real notice can give you a great deal of satisfaction.

“A lot of horses cannot reach Group-level races, so to train them where they can maximise their level and win the best race they can, that gives you a little buzz. They might not get much attention but it still means a lot.”

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