Johnston’s blunderbuss approach adds hugely to the tapestry of the sport, even if some his results do make me laugh out loud.
But as for the aspersions, he would need ten brains to set up tuppeny-h’apenny coups in an operation of such complexity.
Well Hippo Joe, I couldn’t have written it better myself, you’ve hit the nail on the head.
Mark Johnston, for me, is misunderstood by punters especially those on Betfair who are bemused at the result of some of his horses but lets put things into perspective.
He’s a vet at heart so it’s understandable he likes to take a keen eye on the condition of his horses. What’s clear is his training regime, is the influenced by his veterinary background in what’s more militant philosophy by strength in numbers and lean logistics than analytic forecasting and long-term planning.
The simplistic approach to riding tactics epitomizes his subsidence from race-day analytic’s or other contentious involvements in favour of extreme attention to detail and hard work behind the scenes.
Often punters are mislead due to their analytical approach into studying the racecard but I couldn’t genuinely see Mark Johnston finding that knowledge or approach useful which means there’s a mismatch in view points, whereby a punter may see his "tailed" off horse as a non-trier he would probably see it as one that needs further medical testing.