Racing: Johnson Houghton attempts to win Guineas for the old guard

When you think of Fulke Johnson Houghton you think of far-off times, of ladies in whalebone corsets and punters arriving at racecourses on the steam train. There is something resoundingly old-fashioned about the Blewbury trainer.

Unfortunately for Johnson Houghton the antiquity also stretches to his grand successes on the track, the days when Hot Grove ran The Minstrel so close in the 1977 Derby, Ile de Bourbon won a King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes and, even earlier, both Ribocco and Ribero won the Irish Derby and St Leger, in 1967 and 1968 respectively. It seems, and is, an awfully long time ago.

Johnson Houghton became the victim of a syndrome which has latterly affected Luca Cumani. When one major owner left, in both cases the Aga Khan, it seemed to signal the gateway for the others. "I have," the trainer admits, "been rather careless with my owners."

However, while Johnson Houghton's Oxfordshire yard may have ceased to be a citadel the man himself soldiered on in the belief another equine celebrity would pass his way. Last year it did.

Tout Seul may not have been campaigned like a Classic horse, taking in seven races in his first season, but he ended as a genuine contender when he beat all the toffs in the Dewhurst Stakes at Newmarket.

It was a victory so unexpected that the cognoscenti consigned the form to the dustbin. This was evidence of another turf syndrome: if you do not like the result then you do not like the race.

Johnson Houghton, though, insists the Dewhurst was pukka and goes into today's 2,000 Guineas, Tout Seul's seasonal debut, with a song in his heart. "The horse is well, he's got the form and I'm very happy with him," the trainer says. "I don't know why people keep ignoring him. Perhaps it's me. I suppose I'm a bit unfashionable these days."

"It would mean a hell of a lot to me if he could win and I'm really looking forward to it. We didn't need a prep race because this is a horse with bags of races under his belt. It's not as if he's an inexperienced horse." Experience, for this partnership, is not a problem.

Johnson Houghton will be 63 next Friday and it seems an age since he was sending out horses for the Aga, Charles Engelhard and Baroness Thyssen. Tout Seul is owned by the more modest figures of Eden Racing but they are having the time of their lives with a horse who cost less than £10,000.

At one stage Johnson Houghton was down to 12 horses, a dirty dozen, as his star slipped into the sea. Now he can contemplate handing over a far plumper operation to his daughter Eve, who will take over the licence in a year or two.

By then, there might be another champion embossed on the Blewbury scroll of honour, a horse whose accomplishments are much more formidable than his physique. When Tout Seul emerges with the others in first lot he looks like the mascot.

"He's grown a little bit," the trainer says. "Not a lot, but enough. He was never a giant, but then there have been some very good little horses over the years. Both Ribocco and Romulus weren't very big. He's definitely big enough if he's good enough. As far as I can tell he's trained on but the acid test will be on Saturday."

Johnson Houghton relishes the role of outsider, the man coming through the open front door as the party has been blazing for some time. He had enough of being the centre of attention in the days when Lester Piggott was among his confederates and would come to ride work on the Classic horses.

The horses went but Johnson Houghton never lost his pride. There might have been those who enjoyed his descent, yet 23 years after his last Classic success, he has a little comrade to help reignite the fortunes. "Time is running out, which is why I'm so looking forward to Saturday," he admits. "It's been quite long enough hasn't it?"