Dylan Cunha celebrated the fourth anniversary of his first winner in the United Kingdom on Sunday, 9 August, a milestone that puts into perspective how far the South African has come while earning his stripes in the world’s most competitive racing hub.
Mighty Mind’s victory in a £5,000 handicap on the all-weather at Chelmsford on the same day in 2022 was a modest beginning. Cunha had started with just five cast-offs from other yards, housed in a small barn rented from the Jarvis family in a back section of their Phantom House Stables at Newmarket.
From those first handful of runners came Silver Sword, a dual winner in Dubai in 2025, and Expressionist, who joined Cunha as a maiden and went on to win six races. Cunha kept plugging away, with dreams and ambitions far bigger than his budget, and his progress was soon evident when he took over Phantom House, one of Newmarket’s oldest training establishments, following William Jarvis’s retirement in 2023.
In his first four seasons, Cunha has saddled 124 winners on the flat and five over the jumps in the UK and Ireland, and a further three during the Dubai carnivals in 2025 and 2026. He has won races at famous tracks like Ascot, Epsom and York, and has a Group 2 success to his name with the bargain buy Prague (Galileo), who won the 2025 Joel Stakes.
Last Saturday, Cunha and jockey Ryan Moore won the Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup Challenge at Ascot with Asgard’s Captain (Make Believe). The now six-year-old’s victory was his ninth for the stable, while his rating has risen from the 60s to 95 since he joined Cunha as a two-time winner in December 2023.
“I’ve entered Asgard’s Captain for a Group 1 race in Budapest, Hungary, on 5 September,” said Cunha, whose competitive spirit and willingness to travel keep him on the lookout for suitable races anywhere in Europe.
Cunha said the stable celebrated Asgard’s Captain’s victory with the same exuberant after-party they enjoyed when he won the Grade 1 Summer Cup at Turffontein with Strategic News (Strategic) in 2007.
“I was still hung over on Monday,” he joked. “It was a joy to win a race on such a prominent race day, and to have Ryan riding our horse. He’d only had two previous mounts for us – both on Strategic News in Dubai in 2009, winning once and finishing second.”
Cunha said he felt a strong sense of South African pride when Luke Ferraris won the Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup Stayers for trainer Ian Williams aboard Dancing In Paris. “Luke and Lyle Hewitson are world-class jockeys. South Africa keeps producing riders who can hold their own anywhere.”
The stable sent out 53 winners last season and will be looking to get close to that figure again at the end of the 2026 flat season. “We’re trying to focus more on quality than quantity,” said Cunha, who has filled 50 of the 68 boxes at Phantom House with a number of good handicappers, as well as 25 unraced young horses. “Having plenty of low-rated runners keeps the numbers ticking over, but we don’t waste owners’ time and money, so we move those on who are not good enough to earn.”
He regards training from a famous and beautiful establishment like Phantom House as a joy and a privilege. “Phantom House is an identity, like Somerville Lodge is an identity for William Haggas’ stable. In the UK, that is important because it is associated with heritage, tradition and good horsemanship. Those are factors for owners when placing their runners.”
Cunha hopes that continued success will attract more high-profile owners, including South Africa’s major players. “We’ve had valued support from individuals like Kirsten Rausing, Lady Tavistock and Emma Banks, but to go to the next level we need the buying power of more big players. We’d like to get into a bracket where we can compete for the major prizes.”
The stable is sponsored by crane company Advanced Access Platforms and G4 Contracts, and enjoys staunch support from syndicates including Quest Thoroughbreds (owners of Asgard’s Captain), the Hold My Beer Syndicate, the Racing To Profit Syndicate Gee Gee’s Racing Syndicate, whose members have been particularly supportive. “We entertain a lot, and our patrons are actively involved.”
Cunha has also been accepted as a colleague within Newmarket’s tightly knit racing community.
“I get on well with everyone here and it’s a really good place to be, because they value sportsmanship. There are a number of true gentlemen trainers, who have been accommodating and helpful.”
Cunha has become something of a regular at Cortado, a coffee shop in the heart of the village and a popular caffeine stop for racing folk. “I frequent this place, so much so that the owners named one of their coffees after me. One morning I was sitting there when Charlie Appleby walked in, saw me from the corner of his eye and then loudly ordered a ‘Double Cunha’!”
Following the recent decision permitting the direct import of live horses from South Africa to Great Britain, Cunha believes trainers such as William Haggas could eventually have runners suitable for raids on South Africa’s major feature races. He would also love to send runners in the opposite direction for races such as the Hollywoodbets Durban July and WSB Cape Met.
“I attended this year’s Durban July and it was great to be back in Durban for a few days. I also had a chance to have breakfast with Jeff and Zac Lloyd, and the irrepressible Paul Lafferty. I can’t recall when last I laughed so much.”
He also attended the Bloodstock SA KZN Yearling Sale and said: “South African breeders turn out thoroughbreds that are good enough to compete on the world stage, but those are just about impossible to buy. Runners like Eight In Eighteen, Note To Self and Wish List will race with the best, but South Africa’s super-wealthy owners have no need to negotiate financial windfalls and prefer to be close to their runners.
“Other owners of top runners price themselves out of the market in the R5-million to R10-million range, which rules out most potential deals. For between £80,000 and £150,000, you can buy proven Group performers in Europe.”
This is the time of year when European buyers prepare for the major sales on the continent, and Cunha said that he and his father Luiz, the pedigree expert, get down to business, spending long days working through catalogues and stables.
“We have the Deauville Yearling Sale coming up next week, followed by the Goffs Sale and the Tattersalls Sale at Newmarket. They’re all chock-a-block with superbly bred horses and we always prepare a wish list of what we’d like to buy. But for us there are always two aspects – horses we really want and horses we can afford – and they are often poles apart.
“To get something worthwhile in affordable ranges, you have to be always present at the auction rings and wait for the bargains to fall through the net. And, of course, even in the cheaper sales brackets there is fierce competition from French, Asian and American buyers. So it’s never easy, but we’ve done well. We normally come away with horses we can work with.”
At 46, Cunha’s career trajectory suggests a bright future, but like many trainers in the UK and abroad, he is concerned about the state of British racing.
He noted: “I caught an interview with Justin Snaith recently in which he warned that British racing will be at risk of going bankrupt if it does not bring about structural change, and he was absolutely right.
“We have a great product, respected worldwide, but we need strong leadership and financial support like you’ve had in South Africa, and big race sponsors to come into the sport.
“I’ve seen eight or nine established trainers call it a day in my four years at Newmarket and many others have checked out. There were 560 registered trainers in the UK and Ireland in 2022; there are just over 460 now.”