Donald McCain's a chip off his dad Ginger as he brings up 100 winners
Donald McCain has high hopes for Bareback Jack
A humble Donald McCain paid tribute to his stable staff after becoming the first trainer to hit 100 winners this season. His legendary late father Ginger would be proud.
Donald McCain looks a chip off his late father Ginger's block by racking up 100 winners by January.
It will take some going to emulate Ginger McCain's three Grand National wins with Red Rum but Donald Jnr is doing his best.
The humble Northern trainer was keen to pay tribute to his staff after becoming the first this season to bring up the tonne mark with a win at Newcastle on Tuesday.
It is over a decade since the Cholmondeley trainer first reached the century, ending the 2010/11 campaign with 100 winners on the nose.
McCain junior went on to saddle 153, 141 and 142 winners respectively in the next three seasons, but recent years have been more of a struggle after more than 50 horses were moved following a split with prominent owners Paul and Clare Rooney in 2015.
Yet, after linking up with champion jockey Brian Hughes, the Grand National and Cheltenham Festival-winning trainer has enjoyed a real resurgence this term - and he even beat the Don Of Ditcheat Paul Nicholls to the century.
McCain said: "In my back of my mind at the start of the season I thought it would be lovely to get somewhere near to it, but there's been no great plan. It's just lovely to do it.
"It's a great fillip for the yard. I can't tell you how hard everyone's working and most of these people have been with me through everything else - owners and staff and jockeys etc.
"The horses have been in great form since we started back. As I've said, there was no great plan to try to train a lot of winners, but they've kept winning and all of sudden we've arrived where we are.
"Any season you can train 100 winners is a good season and it's credit to everyone that works here. You surround yourself with good people and hopefully good things will happen."
Despite being McCain's sole runner at Newcastle, Cenotice was a largely ignored in the betting and went off 12-1 shot for the DFE Electrical Handicap Chase.
The eight-year-old dug deep for conditional jockey Theo Gillard to win by a nose and the same from Treshnish and Gallic Geordie.
McCain added: "I think it's our fastest 100. I remember the year we had our most winners (153 in 2011/12) we did it with a four-timer at the Haydock meeting this coming Saturday.
"We'd had a good few seconds in the last few days and I was sort of resigned to the fact it wasn't going to happen, but we took this horse to Newcastle and knew he had a chance.
"I thought we might have been beaten on the line, to be honest. I was thinking 'we've come so close, but what a great finish to be involved in'.
"And then they showed the slow motion and I thought it was a possibility that we'd held on and thankfully we had, which is great."
