'My dad's still the boss' - Twiston-Davies on 'special' family yard
Trainer Willy Twiston-Davies can remember taking the day off school to watch the 2010 Cheltenham Festival when Imperial Commander, trained by his father Nigel, won the Gold Cup. Along with older brother Sam, who is one of the top jockeys in the country, the Festival is a full-on family affair for the Twiston-Davies clan. "I remember it like it was yesterday," Willy told BBC Points West of the 2010 Gold Cup win. "I took the day off school, Sam won the Fox Hunters then Pigeon Island winning the Grand Annual - just a tremendously special day for the yard. Beating Kauto [Star] and Denman being an underdog. He [Imperial Commander] was a very special horse in his day, a bit underlooked, but we were very happy to have him."Former jockey Willy - who won more than 200 races during his career - has been working alongside his father at their yard in Gloucestershire. "Training's always been in the back of my mind since I was a kid, I've watched dad do it for so long," Willy said."Everyone says we're very similar so we don't seem to have many arguments because we usually agree on pretty much everything."My dad is more my best friend, so as we go on he let's me do more and more what I like and we do everything together. Obviously he's still the boss but it's been nothing but brilliant."
Willy's involvement has helped the yard grow - they have already broken last year's prize money pot with weeks of the season still to go. "We've had two very good seasons so far, we're lucky we haven't really had a slump," Willy said."I think there's probably been a little bit more pushing to trying to get some horses in. We've already run 60, 70 horses and now we're hoping to get up to the 100, 90 mark," Willy said. Sam added: "It's adding an extra element of hunger because Willie's young and really wanting to stamp his name on it."It helps with dad having Willy there to keep reminding him - 'right, we've got to grow and keep moving' - as so many of these big yards are doing now with social media and getting videos across to owners and that's what Willy's now really helping with."The Twiston-Davies yard will have 10 or 12 horses racing at Cheltenham, including Broadway Boy - ridden by Sam - on Tuesday's opening day of the Festival, Potters Charm and Push the Button. "Families that work together are very special. So hopefully the Twiston-Davies family will be in racing for a long time," Willy said.
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