Aprahamian ‘ready to go again’ following enforced quiet spell

As a former army platoon commander in all corners of the globe, a winning rider in the Grand Military Gold Cup and now a successful trainer of a string of jumpers at his home at Adstone, in the heart of rural Northamptonshire, you could say that Billy Aprahamian is the proverbial ‘man for all seasons’.

The former assistant to Nicky Henderson is in his third term with a training licence at his purpose-built yard The Gallops, that houses 24 horses, and buoyed by an improved overall record which has seen his runners regularly trouble the judge.

His overriding desire is to be around his string and he never misses a day riding out, whether on his Wexford deep sand circular gallop or the five-furlong hill carpet gallop.

He also makes regular visits to Lambourn for additional work on grass, though he has a turf facility of his own – and for extra schooling, Kevin Brogan, James Bowen and Gavin Sheehan are his go-to jockeys.

At the start of the current campaign, he had his string boosted by an injection of eight horses that were previously trained over the county line in Oxfordshire by Paul Webber, who is now his right-hand man.

Aprahamian explains: “After a satisfactory start over two seasons, there’s been a shift in momentum with Paul coming on board last autumn.

“We enjoyed a good run with winners, while those that were getting beaten were running well and largely making the frame.

“Then, over Christmas a few ran below expectations and at Taunton on January 14 our suspicions were confirmed when our three fancied runners underperformed.

“We turned a few stones and found that they had been under the weather. Even when Getaway With You finished second at Ffos Las, I didn’t think he ran as well as he could have.

“The solution was to give them an easy time for three weeks, to back off and give them a period to come to themselves. Happily, we will return to the hill gallop this week, we will take a big team to Lambourn on Tuesday and work them on the hill on Friday. I’ve made entries and we should be ready to go again.”

Commenting on the valuable part Webber plays in his operation, Aprahamian describes the benefits as “multiple”.

He added: “My first job was riding out for Paul, we’ve always known each other and one day in chatting, he suggested we could do more going forward and join forces. In my head, that was a good idea.

“Now he’s brought eight horses here under the same ownerships and I’ve effectively doubled my string. Finding horses is hard and it’s given me a huge boost, remembering how Paul has trained and bought a lot of good horses in his time.

“He’s here most mornings, helps orchestrate the work and the schooling and is often our voice at the races. We’ve always got on well.”

Aprahamian served in Thailand, Belize, France, Germany, Kenya and the United States to name but a few locations in his time in the Army as Adjutant of 2nd Battalion, Infantry Training Centre Catterick.

He was part of an assistant roll of honour at Seven Barrows that included Charlie Longsdon, Tom Symonds, Ben Pauling, Patrick Harty and Toby Lawes, and rode Henderson’s Baden to victory in the 2018 Grand Military Gold Cup, donning the colours of the late Christopher Hanbury.

In three years with Henderson, Aprahamian feels he learned his trade from the best in the business.

He recalls: “I looked after the giant Santini, who was my day-to-day ride and he finished second in the Gold Cup. Buveur D’Air and Altior were other stars then, while Constitution Hill’s Supreme was my last year.”

One of the owners Aprahamian inherited is Sheena Pilkington, whose Pep Talking and Stone’s Throw he marks down as horses to follow.

He continued: “Pep Talking was disappointing at Warwick but had won two previously. When he comes back to full strength, we will run him over two and a half miles with the thought that we can try him over three in due course.

“Stone’s Throw made an encouraging debut when finishing strongly at Ludlow, and I think we should have possibly made more use of him on his next start at Uttoxeter. I imagine we will run him next over two and a half miles on a fair track, and probably in a handicap.”