Newmarket trainer Ross Burdon strikes out alone after learning from likes of Sir Henry Cecil, Andrew Balding, Jeremy Noseda and Chris Waller

Ross Burdon may well be a fresh face within Newmarket’s training ranks, but he is certainly no stranger to working with horses that have won some of the biggest races that the sport has to offer.

The 39-year-old, who was granted his licence earlier this year, has cut his teeth in numerous established yards in various capacities.

Aged just 12 he spent his school holidays getting the bug for racing at Richard Fahey’s previous premises in Butterwick. And from there, Burdon has worked alongside Classic-winning handlers such as Jeremy Noseda, Andrew Balding and the late Sir Henry Cecil. Indeed, Burdon was part of Cecil’s Warren Place yard when the all-conquering Frankel was housed there.

But now he has decided that the time is right to strike out on his own, having taken out eight boxes at Little White Yard on Newmarket’s Station Road.

“It’s been a headache at times starting up. I don’t come from a racing family and I don’t have the financial clout from a big backer,” said Burdon, who grew up watching racing with his granddad at Pontefract Racecourse in west Yorkshire.

“A lot of hard work has gone into it, but now just felt like the right time.

“I’d been head lad with Andrew Balding and the assistant to Kevin Philippart de Foy in recent years, so I’d just reached a point where I’d love to give it a go on my own.

“If I didn’t do it now, it might be something that never happened and then I’d be kicking myself.”

With such an array of successful former bosses, Burdon is spoilt for choice when it comes to who he could model his training methods on.

The likelihood is that he will cherry pick certain aspects from each trainer, but there is one that stands out from the pack.

“When you work with such impressive and successful people, you probably have to take bits from everyone and I’m lucky to have that,” added Burdon, who also worked in Australia for Chris Waller.

“But I just adored the way Sir Henry treated people and horses.

“I was with him for about six years. I started as a work rider and towards the end I was doing some head lad duties at weekends.

“Looking back, it was the best time of my working life and I probably didn’t appreciate it enough when I was there and involved.

“His level of patience was something else. I remember him telling me one day that the hardest part of training was needing to have so much patience.

“He is definitely someone that has had and will continue to have a big influence on me.”

And ‘patience’ will be particularly important for Burdon as he navigates his way through the first few months after going solo.

It is a tough and highly competitive industry – and one where you tend to lose more than you win.

“Numerically I’m not setting any targets,” said Burdon. “If you set targets and you don’t reach them then you’re only going to be disappointed.

“The aim is to get the very best out of the horses I’ve got and then look to grow as quickly as possible in terms of quantity and quality.

“I’m quite laid back. I wanted to be a jockey, that didn’t work out and I think that’s held me in good stead.

“When you go to the races, you know that sometimes you’re going to come back disappointed – and early on that will happen quite a bit.

“In some ways you’ve almost got to learn to live with the disappointment and look to improve wherever you can.”