Henrietta Knight is looking forward to the future after announcing her retirement from the training ranks.
The three-time Gold Cup-winning trainer, 65, will give up her National Hunt licence to spend more time with her husband, Terry Biddlecombe who suffered a stroke last October.
Knight will forever be remembered for deeds of Best Mate, the winner of three consecutive Gold Cups at the Cheltenham Festival between 2002-04.
The majority of her string will join the West Ilsley stables of her close friend and neighbour Mick Channon.
Knight will still have a hand in the early preparation of the horses with Channon to take over when they are ready to race.
“After much deliberation, and largely due to my husband Terry Biddlecombe’s continued ill health, I have decided to hand in my trainer’s licence,” Knight announced on her website.
Based in Oxfordshire, Knight saddled over 700 winners, beginning training in July 1989 and securing her first winner, The Grey Gunner, at Bangor a month later.
As well as her defining association with Best Mate, Knight was also responsible for Edredon Bleu who won the Queen Mother Champion Chase at Cheltenham in 2000 and the King George VI Chase at Kempton in 2003.
Other significant horses in Knight’s care include Impek, Racing Demon and, most recently, Somersby, who provided the trainer with her last Grade One winner in the Victor Chandler Chase in January.
“I hope that this change will mark the beginning of a new era and I am looking forward to continuing to handle the horses until they move to West Ilsley for their races.
“My gallop, schooling fences and loose jumping school will have plenty of use and other new projects are already in the pipeline.”
Best Mate’s breathless rise took Knight to a new level and put her on a pedestal with the racing public.
In addition to his three Gold Cup wins, the Jim Lewis-owned chaser was also victorious in seven other Graded races including the King George VI Chase at Kempton in 2002.
Knight said the time was right to announce her retirement.
Knight pinpointed Best Mate’s Gold Cup hat-trick as an obvious pinnacle of her career, but also underlined the achievements of Edredon Bleu.
