The numbers tell a clear story of improvement. Last year Johnston was winning roughly 1 in every 10 races he entered. This season that has climbed to 128 wins from 968 runners — around 1 in every 8, a 13% win rate — which is a meaningful jump in a sport where margins are everything. Volume matters here too: nearly a thousand runners in a single season means this is not a small boutique operation sending out the occasional horse. This is a yard running at scale and doing it well.
At the highest level, Johnston has shown he belongs. Seven Class 1 victories — the cream of British racing — across prestigious venues including Ayr, Goodwood, and Haydock Park speak to a trainer who knows how to prepare a horse for a big occasion. The wins at Goodwood in May 2024 and Newmarket in September 2025 are particularly notable; these are two of the most celebrated tracks in the country, and winning top-level races at both confirms Johnston is not just filling out a schedule but competing seriously at the sharp end.
One quietly interesting detail is his record on very wet, muddy ground: 2 wins from just 8 races in those conditions gives him a 25% win rate, meaning he wins 1 in every 4 times out on the heaviest surfaces. That kind of specialised edge — knowing which horses handle the mud and placing them accordingly — is a sign of tactical intelligence.
His most consistent partnership is with jockey Joe Fanning, who has ridden for Johnston 225 times and turned that into 29 wins together, a 13% win rate. That level of repetition between a trainer and jockey usually means trust, communication, and a shared understanding of how to get the best out of a horse on race day. For a yard only three years old, that kind of settled working relationship is another marker of how quickly Johnston has found his footing.
| Course | Races | Wins | Win rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wolverhampton | 86 | 9 | 10.5% |
| Newcastle | 74 | 16 | 21.6% |
| Kempton Park | 70 | 5 | 7.1% |
| chelmsford | 68 | 12 | 17.6% |
| Newmarket | 65 | 8 | 12.3% |
| Southwell | 64 | 5 | 7.8% |
| Lingfield Park | 59 | 6 | 10.2% |
| Musselburgh | 37 | 9 | 24.3% |
| Goodwood | 36 | 3 | 8.3% |
| Beverley | 33 | 8 | 24.2% |
| Hamilton Park | 33 | 6 | 18.2% |
| Haydock Park | 28 | 7 | 25% |
| Chester | 28 | 3 | 10.7% |
| Doncaster | 27 | 4 | 14.8% |
| Ripon | 26 | 3 | 11.5% |
| York | 25 | 0 | 0% |
| Ascot | 21 | 0 | 0% |
| Redcar | 20 | 5 | 25% |
| Nottingham | 18 | 1 | 5.6% |
| Pontefract | 17 | 3 | 17.6% |
| Thirsk | 16 | 2 | 12.5% |
| Catterick Bridge | 15 | 1 | 6.7% |
| Ayr | 15 | 1 | 6.7% |
| Leicester | 13 | 1 | 7.7% |
| Carlisle | 11 | 2 | 18.2% |
| Sandown Park | 9 | 0 | 0% |
| Wetherby | 8 | 2 | 25% |
| Great Yarmouth | 8 | 1 | 12.5% |
| Windsor | 8 | 1 | 12.5% |
| Bath | 6 | 2 | 33.3% |
| Epsom Downs | 6 | 0 | 0% |
| Newbury | 4 | 1 | 25% |
| Salisbury | 4 | 1 | 25% |
| Brighton | 4 | 0 | 0% |
| The Curragh | 3 | 0 | 0% |
| Chepstow | 3 | 0 | 0% |