Charlie Johnston

The headline figures are impressive, but what really tells the story is the direction of travel. Last year his win rate sat at around 10% — respectable, nothing more. This season it has jumped to 14%, a shift that suggests the yard is not just ticking along but genuinely improving. Seven top-level races won in three years of training, at prestigious venues including Newcastle, Lingfield Park and Goodwood, confirms this is not a yard that simply makes up the numbers at the top end of the sport. Those are some of the most competitive races run in Britain, and Johnston has won them at Goodwood in May 2024, Newmarket in September 2025, and Haydock in August 2025.

One small but telling detail: when the rain comes down and the ground turns wet and muddy, Johnston's horses win 25% of their races — 2 from just 8, which is a small sample but a striking one. Winning 1 in every 4 races on difficult ground suggests horses leaving his yard are well-prepared for conditions that catch plenty of rivals out.

His most productive working relationship is with jockey Joe Fanning, who has partnered Johnston's horses to 22 wins from 158 rides together — a win rate of 14%, exactly in line with the yard's overall figures. That consistency is the mark of a genuine partnership rather than a convenient arrangement, and when Fanning is in the saddle for Johnston, you know the combination has been thought about.

The name Johnston will be familiar to racing fans — Charlie's father Mark Johnston is one of the most successful trainers Britain has ever produced. Charlie has clearly absorbed something from that environment, but three years in, 457 winners and seven top-level victories, he is building something that looks very much like his own.