The Thrill of Owning A Racehorse
Tuesday 29th April Punchestown Festival… Cleeve’s first ever Festival runner… Very Much So who we had a share in lined up for the 100K Goffs Landrover Bumper. Trained by Willie Mullins but rejected by Patrick Mullins, who decided to ride the red hot 15/8 Nicky Henderson trained favourite; Native Display. The sun was beating down as they went down to post and although I was there with other syndicate members I was so nervous I had to go and find a place in the stands to watch the race on my own.
Ridden by the then young conditional JJ Burke, he was settled at the back and Jerry Hanlon didn’t even give him a mention until they came into the last half-mile, then he came with a sweeping run down the outside and took it up as they entered the straight and had a protracted head-to-head battle with Snow Falcon and Nina Carberry over that last two furlongs, he ultimately prevailed by ¾ of a length.
I don’t think that I’ve ever been as excited in my life! I literally didn’t know what to do with myself and sort of ran on the spot for about 30 seconds, much to the amusement of those around me who had obviously realised that I was somehow connected to the horse. When I finally came to my senses I sprinted to the paddock and got to welcome him back into the winners enclosure… we raucously crowded the presentation stand and I have photos of me standing proud with the large cut glass trophy in my hands.
This is the thrill of racehorse ownership writ large!
At Cleeve Racing we definitely know how to develop and run a club but would not have the confidence to buy horses, so when we found ourselves in conversation with Andy Gibson who runs The Cheltenham Trail and we discovered that our individual skills made us a perfect blend, we decided to create and launch a new racing club, called surprisingly enough… The Cheltenham Trail & Cleeve Racing Club.
The Club’s horses are chosen by Andy Gibson and here’s a little bit to explain why… Andy is the force behind The Cheltenham Trail and a well-known racing pundit having appeared regularly on William Hill radio, RUK and At The Races. He has also owned multiple race winners and will be involved with Micky in selecting our horses and race planning. Andy has been a professional gambler for years so knows a thing or two about judging horse’s true ability1
Our club has, what we think is a pretty unique edge… our members do not have to pay any training fees for the full 2-year term of the club. Our trainer: Micky Hammond is waiving his monthly training fees in return for a share of any winnings and resale value should any of our horses be sold on. This scenario clearly aligns Micky’s motivation with those of our members… namely, to run our horses often and to win races regularly!
This strategy means that our members have a better than average chance of making a financial return, although we would never say that racing club membership is an investment in the full sense of the word, I think it is much more of an ‘investment in yourself’ that brings an enhanced level of pleasure and involvement from the great sport that we love.
Being part of a like-minded group of people and enjoying day out at the races and other social activities (when we are able to!) brings its own kind of pleasure. There are also other benefits… two of our members who only got to know each other last month are already collaborating on a new business venture together as they became aware of synergies between them.
We acquired our first horse at Doncaster’s Horses in Training sale last month. He is Kayf Adventure out of the Phillip Hobbs yard, and we will be aiming him at the lucrative Veterans Chase series for which he qualifies next year. Until then he will run in handicap chases; he is proven at Class 2 level and Timeform rate him 130. He has already proved that he is at his most effective when there is plenty of cut in the ground, we should have plenty of fun with him over the winter months.
We have just bought our second horse Royal Village out of the Ian Williams yard and again he has already proved himself to be a solid Class 2 performer with a highest official rating of 141 and his current Timeform rating is 137. We have hopes that he can run at the Cheltenham (he ran there last year) and Aintree festivals and provide members with some stellar days out.
He should prove the perfect foil for Kayf Adventure as he wants more decent ground. We intend to acquire a third quality horse before membership closes so we will have a strong team to star the Jumps Season proper.
The club has been designed to keep a personal feel rather than having hundreds of members and the principals are both shareholders, so are members too. The club is not a money-making exercise, there are no management fees levied we are doing this for the love of the game and to be part of an exciting new adventure!
We do have a few shares still available so if you are interested in what you have read so far why not get in touch with me at nick@cleeveracing.com , we’d be delighted to have a chat and answer any questions you might have, and to hopefully welcome you to join our adventure!
Best of luck and stay safe…
Nick Mckenna – The Team at Cleeve Racing
