Trainer Clive Brittain, who has won every British Classic bar the G1 Epsom Derby at least once, will retire at the end of the season.
“Old age would probably be a hint, but I want to spend a few years looking after my wife,” the 81-year-old Brittain explained. “She's spent 60-odd years looking after me, so I think it's only fair I spend some time looking after her.”
Some of Brittain's greatest successes include User Friendly (GB) (Slip Anchor {GB}), winner of the Group 1 Epsom, Irish and Yorkshire Oaks; five-time Group 1 winner and G1 1000 Guineas winner Sayyedati (GB) (Shadeed); triple Group 1 winner Crimplene (Ire) (Lion Cavern); G1 1000 Guineas, G1 Champion S. and GI Breeders' Cup Turf winner Pebbles (GB) (Sharpen Up {GB}); and more recently the G1 Moyglare Stud S. and G1 Coronation S. victress Rizeena (Ire) (Iffraaj {GB}).
“Where there's a beginning there's an end and I just felt the end was nigh,” Brittain said. “This is the right time to do it. I'm retiring with some regret, as I've had some fantastic owners over the years and still have, as well as great staff. I've lived a charmed life.”
Asked what his greatest achievement has been, Brittain said, “I think in all my years from being an apprentice jockey, to being a stable lad and then a trainer, I've never had a day unemployed, which I would say is probably quite a feat in itself and I don't think you can ask for more than that.”
“I've had a fantastic career with some fantastic horses,” he added. “The likes of Pebbles and Sayyedati and Rizeena most recently. We've done things we wouldn't even have dreamed about doing at the start, so I have been very lucky. Pebbles winning the Breeders' Cup was really out of this world, along with Jupiter Island winning the Japan Cup.”
Brittain announced that Rizeena, winless since last June, has also been retired.
“Rizeena won't run again,” he said. “The decision was left to me and we just felt she hadn't quite reached the heights of last year. She's done so much for us in the last couple of years and we decided we wanted her to go on at the top.”
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