Meet the Group 1 winning trainer who is breaking tradition – with his ferrets, punk concerts and a superstar sprinter

THERE is an eye-catching poster behind Adam West as he sits at his desk at Loretta Lodge stables.

It is a picture of Secretariat’s jockey, Ron Turcotte, having a long, lingering look at the horses behind him, little specks on the horizon in the 1973 Belmont Stakes.

Adam West – holding his pet ferret, Wayne – with Nunthorpe star Live In The DreamJamie McPhilimey

PALive In The Dream was a shock 28-1 winner at York last week[/caption]

The caption reads: “The only time you should ever look back is to see how far you’ve come.”

Fair to say, West has come a long way in a hurry – 56.87 seconds to be precise.

Because that is all it took for Live In The Dream to win the Nunthorpe Stakes at York and – potentially – change the course of his trainer’s career.

No doubt, it was the feel-good result of the season, and the image of a shocked West standing with his head in his hands in disbelief will live long in the memory.

Many of us hope the 28-1 upset wasn’t a flash in the pan and that the horse is just getting started.

Because this wasn’t just a victory for the underdog, it was a win for all of us who weren’t born with a silver spoon in our mouths.

This horse is a working-class hero, rolling his sleeves up and giving the great and good a bloody nose.

You can say the same of West, his assistant and best pal Tom Cusden, owners Steve and Jolene de’Lemos and just about everyone else involved with the horse.

Having a runner with West in Epsom might be no frills – but he promises plenty of thrills.

“If you want the champagne experience this probably isn’t the place – I can’t drink the stuff anyway – but we will train your horse how it should be trained.”

No wonder his breakthrough Group 1 win was so well-received.

West said: “When I got him back and tucked him up in bed that night a wave of euphoria hit me. 

“When we’ve had a bit of success in the past, after the initial high, I’ve crashed down a bit over the next few days. 

“But this time it hasn’t worn off. We had a good party on Bank Holiday Monday and Steve and Jolene are up this weekend, so we will keep the fun going.

“The horse has been lapping up the attention. Me? I’m quite ready to crawl back under my rock. 

“Maybe I’ve seemed a bit unapproachable at times, with my silly hair and my ferrets, but I’ve been amazed at how much it has touched people. 

“I spent most of the journey back down the M1 replying to people’s messages.

“The first time I actually watched the race back all the way through was on Tuesday, and I felt a bit embarrassed, to be honest.”

It might have made West, 34, cringe but it had the rest of us grinning from ear-to-ear.

The result and reaction afterwards was as refreshing as one of the crisp lagers in the crate in the corner of West’s office.

But don’t expect him to turn up at the races in a flashy new motor and a tailored Savile Row suit.

His cut of the Nunthorpe cash will be pumped straight back into the business and, if anything, help keep his head above water. 

West said: “There’s been a rapid increase in costs which has really hit the smaller yards. 

“Grain is much more expensive because of the war in Ukraine so a bag of feed, which used to be about £8, is now £28. 

“A horse will get through one bag of feed a day and we have nearly 50 horses, so you can work it out. 

“We are in Surrey so the rent is very high, we charge our owners a competitive going rate for this area but we can’t charge the same as the big Newmarket yards with their international owners.

“Our owners are mostly local people, and it can cost them between £10,000 and £20,000 per year, yet their horse might be racing for £3,000. It is hard to make it work.

“People say, ‘oh you’ve won a Group 1, you’re rich now’, but no way. 

“We’ll use the money to make life a bit nicer for the lads, we can get some new equipment and patch up the yard.

“The money goes down in a pyramid, the horses, feed, and staff come first – I’m at the very bottom! This just gives us the air to go again.”

Such were the sacrifices nice guy West made when he started out, he even slept on the floor of the stable office for a few months.

He opted to let his guests use the flat at the yard and made do with a blow-up bed – anything to further the business.

He joked: “If I was from a traditional racing family, I’m sure I would have gone and stayed with mother, or maybe in a different wing of the house!”

One thing is for sure, there is nothing traditional about West.

If he’s not unwinding with his beloved ferrets, he’ll be blowing off steam at a punk concert in London.

He’s definitely got the perfect head of hair for an evening’s head-banging, though the can of hairspray by his computer suggests he is trying to keep it under control during work hours.

And he’s a vegetarian – words that might shock some of Flat racing’s old school: “If someone put a plate of sausages in front of me it would make me sick.

“I love animals, I want nothing more than for them to live long, healthy, happy lives.

“Our ferrets aren’t working animals, but it is their instinct to go exploring down rabbit holes and it’s an old countryside pursuit, which I want to keep alive.

“They are great pets, I think people misunderstand them. We have four, they are litter-trained and can be very affectionate.

“I like going to punk concerts, too, I’m probably as far away from a stereotypical trainer as you can be. 

“Living your own life and being yourself is important, you need to have an escape from racing.”

And where better to let down your impressive head of hair after a long season than in California.

Admittedly, his focus while he is there will be on Live In The Dream ahead of the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint at Santa Anita on November 4.

But the delights of Los Angeles – and its miles of beautiful beaches – are on your doorstep. 

As work trips go, it’s not a bad one. Now it’s a case of getting the horse there.

He said: “There is a race at Keeneland in October that is on my radar as a prep.

“I was at the Arc in Paris on a jolly last year and it didn’t stop raining, so if the ground was like that I couldn’t run him in the Abbaye.

“He has an entry in that but it was a begrudging entry, if I can make America work I will but it’s up to his owners. 

“Let’s just hope we can get him there because it really would be a dream come true. 

“The Americans have been great, they were straight on the phone to congratulate us, they send a huge bouquet of flowers, I think they are as excited as we are.

“But I don’t just want to win it – the five furlong track record there is around 54 seconds and I would love to shatter that.”

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