I dreamt of owning a racehorse ever since those first vists to Taunton Races at the age of 11. Those dreams came true when my friends and I bought our first horse, a 4 year old mare called Tashlee Grove in training with our friend Brian Forsey when I was 18. She never got to the racecourse but a few horses later I had my first ever winner in my own colours on 14th May 1991, when Lady Primrose won a selling handicap hurdle at Newton Abbot under young jump jockey Carl Llewellyn (who went on to win the Grand National on Party Politics the following spring).

There followed one more winner in my colours (Aldahe at Lingfield Park over hurdles) before grown up things like work, mortgage, marriage and children took up more of my finances. I became a serial Syndicate member with Elite, Full Circle, Henry Ponsonby to name but a few before I took a share in Outset with Mark Kilner Racing. Outset was very successful on both the flat and over jumps and took me to some big racedays which gave me a taste of the life of the owner.

In Autumn 2005, I took the plunge and took a share in a 2 horse syndicate with Highclere Thoroughbred Racing. The 2 horses were Squadron trained by Amanda Perrett and Treat trained by Mick Channon. Treat surpassed all my wildest dreams by finishing 2nd in the Fillies Mile at Ascot as a 2 year old and then 4th in the 1000 Guineas before eventually being sold to Sheik Mohammed to stand at Darley Stud in Japan.

In Jan 2008, I bought into my first horse managed by Middleham Park Racing, Bonnie Prince Blue, quickly followed by my first 2 year old Victoire de Lyphar. I have become very impressed by the syndicate and Nick, Tim and Mike who run it and have got carried away to the extent of now owning shares (generally 5 percent) of 18 different horses in separate syndicates with MPR.

I thought I would share my thoughts and experiences with anyone who might be interested. If you have any interest in racing, I hope that my experiences may tempt you into the wonderful world of racehorse ownership.

I hope you enjoy reading my blog.

Wednesday, 2 January 2013

2012 A YEAR TO REMEMBER

2012 A Year to Remember
 
 
Well, 2012 has come to an end and it's been a tremendously successful year for my horses with a wonderful total of 9 Winners all in the Middleham Park Racing colours.
 
In total I've had 70 runners, 9 Winners, 9 Second and 8 Third, which is a 12.9% Winners to runners rate and an amazing 37.2% in the first 3.
 
My Best three horses earnt in excess of £17,000 in Prize Money each, but sadly, even that wouldn't cover a years training fees, which tells you a lot about the state of Prize Money in the UK.
 
That been said, the good days have been spectacular and Ihave been to watch my horses run from Haydock to Thirsk to Newmarket and Paris!!
 
2012 started with my highlight of the Season, leading Nigel Twiston-Davies' Mad Moose into the Cheltenham Winners enclosure in April after an astonishing victory. Moose has become a bit of a legend with a fine army of fans on Twitter and he will give us a lot of fun in 2013.
 
 

May brought the debut of Richard Fahey's very fast 2 Year old Tatlisu. Very well fancied, he got home well to land a £10k Racing Post Yearling Bonus for his owners.
 
 
 
Our Boy Jack started his 3 year old career in fine style with a fine victory on his second start at Mussleburgh over 7f. Jack had a stunning season, winning again at Chester in July and being very unlucky in losing on two further occasions. Overall he was only unplaced in 1 race out of 10 fine runs going up 18 pounds in the handicap from 67 to 85 and winning over £17,000 in prize money. He will be back next year for the big 7f/1m Handicaps, hopefully a big prize awaits.
 
 
 
 


True Blue finally got his head in front at Towcester in June on unsuitably soft ground. The incredibly wet year has not been in his favour and hopefully he can get some nice fast summer ground in 2013.
 
 
 
Private Story moved to the magician David O'Meara in June and David got a great selling win out of him at Catterick showing the first decent piece of form of his season.
 
 
 
July saw the Catterick debut of the Richard Fahey trained 2 year old filly Strange Magic. As you know she was my biggest investment of the season and named by me, so obviously very close to my heart. She scooted clear to win comfortably and talk of Listed and Group races was very exciting. A disappointing run on firm ground in a Group 3 at Ascot was followed by very respectable runs in 2 Big sales races and a hot nursery. Richard and the MPR team decided to drop her back to 5f and she won a heavy ground Novice again at Catterick, to get her back on track. A study of the European Pattern book identified a Listed race at Longchamp over 5f in November and Strange Magic ran a blinder to finish 2nd and gain that valuable Black Type. I followed her to Fontainbleu at the end of Nov where she again placed in a 6f Listed race picking up very decent French Prize Money on both occasions. Now rated 95, she will be aimed at Fillies Listed Sprints, early in the 2013 season. A very exciting time awaits us.
 
 
 
 
Finally my shortest ownership of the season, 2 days and a winner!!!!. I was at Newmarket with David O'Meara and the MPR buying team when they picked up Equitania from Richard Hannon's for the bargain price of £10,000. I bought my share on Tuesday 13th November and she won her Southwell claimer very easily on Thursday 15th November, after which she was claimed by an owner from Alan Bailey's yard for £16,000. Good piece of business!!
 
Mad Moose and Minella Theatre have already done us proud this jumps season finishing 4th and 5th in the very valuable International Hurdle at Cheltenham in December, picking up over £10,000 between them and they will be 2013s first runners together with John Quinn's exciting novice chaser Distime.
 
Hoping we can beat 2012s successes, but you can be sure there will be lots of Dreams and Disasters along the way.
 
 

 
 
 
 
 

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