Chester Williams, the 28-year-old son of Cheltenham Festival-winning trainer Nick Williams and brother of Grade 1-winning jump jockey Lizzie Kelly, has made an extraordinary start to his training career. From just seven runners, he has recorded three winners, including his first two runners and his first runner in front of ITV cameras.
Williams' early success is remarkable given the challenges he has overcome. Two years ago, a schooling accident left him with a severe head injury that ended his riding career. He spent five weeks in hospital, initially in a coma, and had to learn to speak again during rehabilitation. He continues to receive speech therapy and must schedule daily sleep as part of his recovery.
“Anyone looking in can think it was miraculous, but I don’t see it like that,” Williams said. “When you’ve had a brain injury it’s very hard to judge your recovery or where you are. I was in intensive care for a couple of weeks and I was very lucky to have had brilliant support from the NHS over the first six months.”
Williams took out his training licence this year, opting to go solo rather than share a licence with his mother, trainer Jane Williams. “I decided I wanted to live or die by my own decisions,” he explained. “Although me and my mother train from the same facilities, we train very differently.”
His first winner came when Haas Boy defeated a horse trained by his mother at Newton Abbot. Great Dance added a bumper win, and Haas Boy won again at Exeter on Haldon Gold Cup day. With a string of ten horses, Williams is hands-on, riding most of the team in exercise but drawing the line at schooling.
“I think I would have taken one winner from my first seven runners, but three is unbelievable,” he said. “I’ve been obsessed with racing since I was a young boy. I grew up with Reve De Sivola, Diamond Harry among a whole host of 150-plus horses, in the yard. Now I would kill for one of those. I am working towards having that quality of animal.”
