Balding says victory is ‘very unlikely’ but there is a good chance he will improve on second-place finishes achieved in 2021 and 2024The British Flat trainers’ championship winners’ club is among the most exclusive in the sport, with just a dozen new members through its doors in the past 50 years. Aidan O’Brien, John Gosden, Richard Hannon Jr and Charlie Appleby, meanwhile, are the only trainers to win a first title outright this century.Becoming the fifth seems to be the last thing on Andrew Balding’s mind, however, despite an exceptional week at York’s Ebor festival that took his prize-money total for the season past £7m, his domestic Group One tally since 10 July to four and left him just under £700,000 behind O’Brien in the title race. Continue reading...