It was announced during June that Carl Llewellyn, who was rewarded for training Hennessy to success in the bet365 Gold Cup - the Whitbread/Betfred as was - at Sandown on the final day of the 2008/09 season with being sacked as salaried trainer at Weathercock House stables, was linking up once again with Nigel Twiston-Davies, for so long Llewellyn's boss in his heyday as a jockey.

With Llewellyn having already proved his worth as a jumps trainer, and Twiston-Davies still at the top of his game, this is a pooling of resources that is likely to result in an improvement in results at Grange Hill Farm, where Twiston-Davies will still be the licence-holder.

The Twiston-Davies yard enjoyed another successful season in 2008/09. Imperial Commander led the way, his wins in the Paddy Power Gold Cup and the Ryanair Chase providing a major contribution to the £1,356,513 in winning prize money. Irish Raptor in the Topham Chase at Aintree, and Pettifour in the John Smith's Hurdle at Wetherby, were other big-race successes, and Ballyfitz weighed in with two Cheltenham novice chase victories - those just a few of the stable's 83 winners in all last term.

Adding to the stable's already-considerable strength, some of Llewellyn's horses made the move with him. Arguably the best of those is Frascati Park, the Barry Connell-owned gelding who's won three of his four National Hunt Flat races. Llewellyn had an exceptional strike rate in bumpers and he's sure to be bringing that expertise into the Twiston-Davies yard.

So expect an increase in bumper winners sent out by Nigel Twiston-Davies in the 2009/10 campaign, and indeed a higher strike rate generally, as he and Carl Llewellyn join forces once more.

 

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