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John Gosden is one of the finest flat trainers Britain has ever produced. With more than 3,000 winners across his career, over 100 at Group 1 level, and six champion trainer titles to his name, his Clarehaven stables in Newmarket have been home to some of the most talented horses the sport has seen in the modern era.
With interest in the latest ante-post markets building ahead of the summer’s biggest races and bet on horse racing audiences growing across each season, Gosden’s influence on the sport remains as significant in 2026 as it has ever been. Here are five of the best horses he has trained.
Enable
The horse most synonymous with Gosden’s genius in the modern era. Enable won 11 Group 1 races across four seasons, including the Oaks, two Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe victories in 2017 and 2018, three King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes, and the Irish Oaks.
She was named Cartier Horse of the Year in both 2017 and 2019, and came agonisingly close to a historic third Arc in 2020 before finishing second to Sottsass. Trained with extraordinary patience and skill, she ran until she was five years old and never lost her enthusiasm or her ability. Gosden has described her as the best horse he has ever trained, and it is difficult to argue.
Golden Horn
Golden Horn’s 2015 season was one of the great individual campaigns in the history of British flat racing. He won the Epsom Derby, the Eclipse, the Irish Champion Stakes, and the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe before finishing second, beaten half a length, in the Breeders’ Cup Turf on his final start.
Ridden by Frankie Dettori throughout, he was named Cartier Horse of the Year for 2015, a year in which Gosden also claimed the champion trainer title. His Arc win in particular, quickening clear of a high-class field in the Longchamp straight, was a display of sustained brilliance that marked him out as one of the finest middle-distance horses of his generation.
Kingman
Kingman’s four-year-old career never materialised after he was retired to stud following a brilliant three-year-old season in 2014, and racing was the poorer for it. The son of Invincible Spirit won five consecutive races, including the 2000 Guineas, the Irish 2000 Guineas, the St James’s Palace Stakes, and the Juddmonte International, each one more impressive than the last.
He was named Cartier Horse of the Year for 2014, and his Timeform rating of 136 placed him among the finest milers the sport had seen in decades. At stud, he has become one of the most influential sires in Europe, with Palace Pier and Persian King among his best sons.
Stradivarius
The most beloved stayer of his generation, Stradivarius won three Ascot Gold Cups, two Yorkshire Cups, and a remarkable sequence of 10 consecutive victories that earned his owner Bjorn Nielsen two £1 million staying bonuses. He was trained with extraordinary care across five seasons of top-level competition, finishing in the first two in all but one of his starts between 2017 and 2022.
He was named Cartier Stayer of the Year three times and continued to perform at the highest level well into his seventh and eighth years. That Gosden kept him sound and competitive for so long is as impressive as any of his individual victories.
Roaring Lion
Roaring Lion’s 2018 season was one of the most thrilling individual campaigns British flat racing has produced in recent memory. After finishing third in the Epsom Derby, the son of Kitten’s Joy embarked on a relentless Group 1 campaign that saw him win the Eclipse at Sandown, the Juddmonte International at York, the Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown, and the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot, all in the space of 10 weeks.
Each victory came in a different style against different opponents, and his rivalry with Saxon Warrior across that summer was one of the sport’s great head-to-head narratives. He was named Cartier Horse of the Year for 2018, Gosden’s fourth in five years at that point, and retired to stud having firmly established himself as one of the finest horses his trainer had ever saddled. His death in 2020 at just five years old made his brief but brilliant career all the more poignant.
