Which trainer saddled most winners for King Power Racing in 2021?
King Power Racing was founded in 2017 by late Thai billionaire Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, who died in a helicopter crash in October, 2018 and was succeeded as chairman by his son, Aiyawatt. In the interim, King Power Racing has grown rapidly, sending out 413 runners in 2021 so far, compared with just 48 in 2017. At the time of writing, the 2021 Flat season is not quite at an end, but in the Flat Owners’ Championship, which ended on October 16, King Power Racing finished third, with 40 winners and £1.69 million in prize money.
The seasonal highlight was, undoubtedly, a second ever Group 1 win, courtesy of Winter Power, trained by Tim Easterby and ridden by retained jockey Silvestre de Sousa, in the Nunthorpe Stakes at York in August. All told, Easterby has saddled nine winners from 61 runners for King Power Racing, at a strike rate of 15%, while Sir Michael Stoute has also saddled nine winners, but from just 39 runners, at an improved strike rate of 23%.
The most prolific trainer for King Power Racing, though, has been Andrew Balding, who has saddled 19 winners from 152 runners, at a strike rate of 13%, and earned just shy of £940,000 in total prize money. The other trainers to saddle winners for King Power Racing in 2021, so far, have been Richard Hannon and Roger Varian, with seven winners apiece, and Kevin Ryan and Ed Walker, with a single winner apiece.