Thornton pays tribute to Alners
Andrew Thornton was quick to pay tribute to Robert and Sally Alner after news of their retirement from the training ranks emerged.
Thornton rode the 1998 Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Cool Dawn to success to give the Alners their biggest victory but life at Locketts Farm changed drastically after a serious car crash in 2007 which left Robert Alner in a wheelchair.
Since the accident the licence has been held jointly but they will send out their last runners in August.
For Thornton, the news came as a shock but he only has fond memories of working for the pair.
“I started riding for Robert in 1996 and had my first ride at Windsor for him,” said Thornton. “It fell at the first but I told him the horse gave me a great feel before then and would love to ride him again!
“Thankfully Robert put me on it the next time and it won and from then on we’ve been great friends. Number one, through everything, they’ve both been great friends to me.
“What has happened has happened with Robert’s accident and I’m sure he’d still be training now but you can’t turn the clock back.
“I had a great time with Robert and couldn’t speak highly enough of him, I had a great time with both of them. It was a team effort down there.
“At the time of the accident you never heard Sally complain but it must have been very difficult for her – you can’t imagine how hard it must have been but age catches up with everyone eventually.
“It’s not like the old days anymore when one owner might have half a dozen horses. There are a lot more syndicates involved these days and the levels of prize money make it very difficult.
“He did very well with horses from point-to-points like Cool Dawn and Kingscliff and Sir Rembrandt came from Tom Costello in Ireland, but none of them were expensive.
“Not many trainers can say they have finished first, second and third in a Gold Cup and I think Robert only had four runners in it.
“If Sir Rembrandt had jumped the second-last in 2004 the history books might have been different and Best Mate might not have won three Gold Cups.
“We’ve been there and done it though with Cool Dawn and one thing I can say is that we’ve enjoyed every single minute of it and we never had a cross word.
“They knew how to enjoy life and when you went down to Locketts Farm the door was always open.”
