William Knight

Since starting out on his own in 2006, William has built up a successful training operation.

There have been 450 winners - including successes at Group 2, Group 3 and Listed level. ILLUSTRIOUS BLUE put William on the map back in 2010 when he won the Group 2 Goodwood Cup and Group 3 Sagaro Stakes. Since relocating to Newmarket in 2020, SIR BUSKER took up the mantle of flag bearer with success at Group 2 level. CHECKANDCHALLENGE was close on his heels with Group 3 and Listed wins, with both horses being placed in Group 1s in 2022. 2024 saw FROST AT DAWN burst on to the scene with an impressive Group 3 win in Dubai on Super Saturday, beating the track record over 5f.

William, an honours graduate in Equine Business Management at the Royal Agricultural College , Cirencester, has certainly got ticks in all the right boxes as far as doing the job to a high standard is concerned. He honed his horsemanship skills either side of the Millennium, performing key roles as assistant trainer to leading handlers John Hills and Ed Dunlop. With the latter, he spent five informative years, playing an integral part in the international successes of such names as champion filly OUIJA BOARD, multiple Group 1 winner LAILANI, INDEPENDENCE and other top-class horses.

In May 2020 William started a new chapter in his training career as he moved his team from Sussex's historic Angmering Park to the state of the art Rathmoy Stables in Newmarket. Boasting some of the best facilities around, the yard has its own equine swimming pool, spa and treadmill. Since moving back to Newmarket William has posted two of his most successful seasons, with a prize money haul of £688,000 in 2022. 2024 was an even better year, with 40 winners and a strike rate of 18% (56% winners to individual runners). The overall prizemoney for 2024, including foreign raids was £740,000.

William heads into 2025 with a larger string of older horses and some exciting 2yos, confident that he can build on the success of 2024.