Record-breaking Scottish trainer set to 'quit the sport this year'

Record-breaking Scottish trainer Keith Dalgleish has signalled his intention to quit horse racing later this year.

Dalgleish, 39, who has been based at Belstane Racing Stables in Carluke since 2011, hasn't set a date, but hinted that he may quit the sport, at least temporarily, after landing his 1000th winner.

He has stated that he is stepping away from the sport to enjoy life, but says he might return at some point in the future.

Dalgleish has won 799 races in total on the Flat in Britain and 153 over jumps, and became the first Scottish trainer to sent out 100 winners in a calendar year in 2017.

He told Racing Post: "I'm going to stop training this year. I haven't set a date I've just told my owners and my staff it will be some time in 2023.

"We're not too far off 1000 winners, so that might be a good time to go out.

"Some have been surprised, but people change path all the time in every other walk of life. I don't see the big deal.

"I want more time to myself and my family. There is no other reason than that.

"I know others have been going out of the game because they haven't had enough business, but it's nothing like that."

Dalgleish, who started with Mark Johnston and won nearly 300 races as a Flat jockey before retiring at 21, added: "Training racehorses is very much a 24/7 job, and I just want to do other things for a while.

"I want to be able to do some travelling. I took up cycling during lockdown and fell in love with it, so I'll do plenty of that, and I have quite a few sheep who need looking after, so I'll do that too.

"But I may come back in a few years' time - I'll see how it goes."

Follow Lanarkshire Live Sport onTwitter via@LanLiveSport, like us onFacebookor find us onInstagramfor the latest sports news,