‘I want to be seen as a bloody good trainer’: Gihan Arnolda’s journey from sleeping rough to beating Britain’s top stables

Former jockey reflects on remarkable story from overcoming hardship to breaking barriers as the first trainer of black or Asian heritage at Flat racing’s HQ

“It’s just unbelievable, isn’t it?” Gihan Arnolda says as he reflects on his first three months as a trainer: five winners from 33 runners, £50,000 prize money banked and a string that is, according to the much-respected Timeform operation’s “run to form” statistic, outperforming every other Flat yard in Britain.

But it could equally apply to the story of Arnolda’s journey from the east end of London to Cadland Cottage Stables at the bottom of Warren Hill in Newmarket. He was the first trainer of black or Asian heritage in Flat racing’s HQ when he received his licence earlier this year, and that is just one among a host of unlikely firsts and Sliding-Doors moments along the way.