It is fair to say that the name of Nigel Twiston-Davies will be known to most people who have even just a passing interest in the world of jump racing. What many people might not know is that his association with the sport actually began when he was an amateur rider, working as both an amateur jockey and an assistant trainer for Richard Head in the summer of 1977.
He had only just left school, but the experience that he gained was invaluable and set him on the path to become one of the best-known jump trainers in the industry. He also worked with Fred Rimmel, David Nicholson and Kim Bailey.
About
Having worked with four excellent trainers, all of whom were different from one another in their approach, Nigel Twiston-Davies was perhaps always likely to have his own approach to working as a trainer. Born on the 16th of May 1957, his name first appeared on a race card on the 29th of December 1975. As a jockey, he rode 17 winners in point-to-point races and the same number over jumps, becoming close friends with Peter Scudamore. He was initially interested in farming, but decided to turn to training on a full-time basis when the recession forced his hand and his farming interests had to be ditched.
Farming’s loss was very much the racehorse industry’s gain, turning to the discipline in 1981 and enjoying his first win a year later when Last of the Foxes won at Hereford Racecourse. He would go on to train more than 1,000 winners under National Hunt rules, which might not have been the case if he had gone ahead with his plans to wind down his training in 2002. It was only when Bindaree won the Grand National that year that those plans suddenly came under question, seeing Twiston-Davies stick to the training and going on to win countless huge events across his career.
Major Successes
We have already told you about one major success that Nigel Twiston-Davies enjoyed during his career, winning the Grand National in 2002. That, though, wasn’t the only time that Twiston-Davies trained the winner of the ‘World’s Greatest Steeplechase’, having already won it four years earlier with Earth Summit. Anyone who follows jump racing will know that there are two big events that trainers, owners and jockeys all want to win, with the Aintree Racecourse race being one of them and the Cheltenham Gold Cup being the other. Twiston-Davies finally won that in 2010.
Of course, being one of the top trainers isn’t just about seeing success in the biggest events of the year. Winning on a regular basis is what impresses owners enough to convince them to send their horses to you for training, so the fact that Twiston-Davies has consistently won events during the Cheltenham Festival. Even away from the Gloucestershire course, the trainer has been successful in well-known events. From the Betfair Chase to the Long Walk Hurdle via the Ascot Chase and the Champion Stayers Hurdle, there aren’t many jump races that Twiston-Davies hasn’t trained the winner of.
Here is a list of just some of the bigger events that Twiston-Davies is responsible for training the winner in at least once:
- Grand National
- Cheltenham Gold Cup
- Supreme Novices’ Hurdle
- Triumph Hurdle
- Ryanair Chase
- National Hunt Chase Challenge Cup
- Kauto Star Novices’ Chase
- Ascot Chase
- Aintree Hurdle
- Scilly Isles Novices’ Chase
Horses Trained
Broadway Boy on way home and “looking much better”.
The @NigelTwistonDav @willy_twiston @samtwiston team prepared for a bigger welcome home than either Earth Summit or Bindaree got after they won the Grand National @AintreeRaces! This is a horse adored by his racing family. 🏇💜 pic.twitter.com/5SHbziXEPc
— Matt Chapman (@MCYeeehaaa) April 6, 2025
Given the sheer number of well-known events that Nigel Twiston-Davies has trained the winner of, it is hardly a surprise to learn that he has worked with some top-level horses during his time. Names such as Bristol De Mai and Riders On the Storm will be known to modern fans of the sport, whilst older ones might well remember the likes of Sweet Duke, Ocean Hawk and Young Hustler. He has also trained some horses that may well be known for the fact that they’ve got fun names as much as the events that they won, such as Mister Morose, Mrs Muck and Potter’s Charm.
Here is a closer look at some of the horses that made their way through Nigel Twiston-Davies’ yard at one point or another:
Earth Summit
If a horse is going to win you one of the biggest races in the National Hunt calendar, it is fair to say that you might well remember them for a long time. That is where Earth Summit fits in Nigel Twiston-Davies’ life, being the first horse to win one of the ‘big two’ in jump racing when he won the Grand National back in 1998. Four years earlier and he had served notice by winning the Scottish Grand National, then in 1997 he won the Welsh Grand National to mean that he became the only horse in the history of the sport to win all three of the Nationals, with not even Red Rum managing that.
Bindaree
Yes, Earth Summit is the horse that won the Grand National for Twiston-Davies for the first time, but some might argue that it was Bindaree that saved his career. The Irish-bred horse was ridden by Jim Culloty in the Aintree event at a time when Twiston-Davies was reportedly considering walking away from horse racing. The eight-year-old was a 20/1 shot when he became one of 11 horses to complete the course and won it by nearly two lengths, carrying ten stone four pounds. He also won the Welsh Grand National when ridden by Carl Llewellyn a year later.
Imperial Commander
If we’re going to talk about the two horses that won Twiston-Davies the Grand National, then it’s only right to also mention the one that won him one of the most prestigious events in National Hunt racing, the Cheltenham Gold Cup. Much like with Twiston-Davies himself, Imperial Commander’s first run out was in a point-to-point event, but it was as a steeplechaser that his career really took off. His first win at Cheltenham Racecourse came in the Paddy Power Gold Cup in 2008, winning the Ryanair Chase the following year before winning the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 2010.
