Well the middle of this month has been very enjoyable, particularly with a fantastic retirement bash at Windsor Racecourse on Monday. I’ve stepped down from the chairmanship role in my consultancy, Future Purchasing, and was delighted when colleagues organised a celebration (I think for my achievements, rather than pleasure that I was leaving!!) with much merriment, drinks and dinner in a large box in the Royal Grandstand. Even the speeches weren’t too boring. There were a couple of jokes about Champion spark-plugs and melons that certainly wouldn’t pass the spam filters. Even managed to back a few winners. Jack and I staggered off the course loaded down with presents so there was some tremendous generosity. We both resolved to retire every year from now on!
This sort of party definitely illustrates how racecourses can make money and provide lots of entertainment for non-racegoers. The vast majority of our guests had never stepped on to a racecourse before, and wanted to know whether our sport was always like this – fine food, decent wine, private bars, panoramic view of the racecourse and river, etc. It was hard not to smile wryly, thinking about what it will be like as we go through the winter enjoying the facilities at some of the minor jumps tracks, or even more wryly when considering the very dubious delights of the all-weather.
My last blog on owners being treated as “cash cows” triggered much discussion about the crazy economics of racing. Indeed, over a few pints of Donningtons down here in the Cotswolds the Curmudgeon and I developed a whole economic model around ROO (Return on Ownership). Those of you in the business world know that ROCE (Return on Capital Employed) is a very important financial metric, and we believe ROO is the same for racing. At the moment the ROO is about 20%, if you’re lucky. In other words, for every pound that an owner puts into racing, they get about 20p back. This puts us right at the bottom of the league table. In many countries, such as Dubai, Hong Kong, Japan and Australia, the return is massively better. The key question is what to do about it. Now that I’m officially retired and have a bit more time, I’m intending to try to get my mind around that, and also do some digging and delving into the facts and data of actual returns. I’d like to see the BHA and the ROA set a formal target of, say, 50% ROO to be achieved within five years.
When a friend of ours, Ruud van Ruitenbeek, and his wife Di were staying with us a week or two ago, we went to visit the historic church of St. Peter’s in Winchcombe, built in 1468. Right around the sides of the church are gruesome depictions of people, animals and mythical beasts. I’d always thought these were called gargoyles, but Ruud discovered that “gargoyle” comes from the French, gargouiller, which means “to gurgle”, and therefore refers to a water spout. Since the ones at Winchcombe don’t have any water coming out of their mouths, they are apparently called grotesques. The one that I have put into this blog definitely illustrates the likely reaction of anyone who tries to understand the crazy economics of our sport. It equally depicts my reaction to the disgraceful way in which bookmakers are milking our industry and failing to reinvest their profits so as to make an adequate contribution. This is another area that I intend to investigate. I’m going to start by seeking clarity on the BHA’s strategy – is the plan to keep on appeasing the bookies by allowing more and more low-grade racing, or will they be facilitating fundamental levy reform, and if so, how?
Off to Yorkshire now to see the horses at Karl and Elaine Burke’s. Bound to meet a few curmudgeons up at Middleham. I’ll keep you posted.
P.S. If you’d like to see any of Ruud’s photos, do have a look at his web site, www.ruudseye.com - they are excellent. You can even buy his book of photos online.
Right from the off, this year’s Royal Ascot was a highly charged and emotional event. No sooner had there been a poignant minute’s silence in memory of Sir Henry Cecil than the meeting kicked off with the appropriately named Declaration Of War scooting home in the Queen Anne for the Magnier clan and their Florida-based new partner Joseph Allen, who owns the sire, War Front. (By the way, that splendid mare Zenyatta is now in foal to him.) This collaboration is all part of the battle for supremacy in the global bloodstock market, and was richly rewarded again when War Command slammed his field in the Coventry to become 5/1 favourite for next year’s 2000 Guineas. There must have been added pleasure for Sheikh Mohammed therefore when his Dawn Approach bounced back from the disaster of the Derby to win the St. James’s Palace Stakes. I doubt if Jim Bolger is flavour of the month at the moment with the Coolmore mafia, since he has allowed the Sheikh access by the back door to their magnificent Galileo bloodline. The mix of owners in the St. James’s Palace though hammers home why Flat racing is such a challenge for the average owner who can rarely aspire to the top rank: nine runners, with the owners being Godolphin, Khalid Abdullah, Mrs. John Magnier (with Michael Tabor and Derrick Smith) (x 3 horses), Ahmad Abdullah Al Shaikh, Mrs. Bolger and Sheikh Joaan Bin Hamad Al Thani (x 2). Having said that, later in the meeting it was a delight to listen to the co-owners of Clive Cox’s Lethal Force after they had won the Diamond Jubilee Stakes with a horse that only cost them €8,500 (which is about the same amount that we paid for our Aran Sky at the same sale in Ireland a couple of years later. No pressure on Karl & Elaine Burke, then!)
But without any doubt this year’s Ascot was a bad time to be a republican. Estimate’s hugely popular win for the Queen in the Gold Cup on Ladies’ Day will long be remembered as the highlight of the meeting. Obviously royal involvement has been a striking feature since the whole spectacle started in 1711, but the Queen’s enthusiasm for racing has rarely been so well rewarded, as she became the first monarch ever to have a Gold Cup winner, and it was her first Group 1 win in Britain since Dunfermline won the St. Leger in 1977. I well remember that race since it was the first Classic that I ever went to, and unfortunately for me lost a packet on Alleged, the horse Dunfermline beat. Alas he didn’t stay, although he was a terrific horse who won the Arc twice for Vincent O’Brien (and as an aside produced Shantou, the sire of our Shantou Magic).
It probably shouldn’t have come as a surprise that Estimate possesses the stamina needed to win this marathon Flat race. Her half-brother Enzeli also won it, and her sire Monsun throws many staying types. I’d love to have one of them in the Owners for Owners National Hunt portfolio, and will definitely be keeping an eye out for Shirocco stores. Wasn’t it great though for racing to be on the front pages for all the right reasons. I suspect it is only a matter of time now before John Warren, the Queen’s racing adviser and buyer of the Highclere horses, is elevated to the peerage. It was unbelievable to see the Queen so excited throughout the final couple of furlongs of the race – just like any other owner, in fact. Mind you, John looked as though he was about to get really carried away and embrace her at one point. It could have been a fine line between a peerage or the Tower.
I know we have the self-styled Champions’ Day at Ascot in the Autumn, but surely the only genuine Flat champions’ meeting in the UK is this one. Increasingly, international racing at the highest level is a real asset of the sport, with huge potential to raise racing’s profile and bring in much-needed revenue. Wouldn’t it be better if the racing authorities worldwide agreed on a proper World Series that tied together, in a sensible and coherent way, the top races in the UK, Ireland, France, Dubai, Hong Kong, Japan, Australia and the USA? At the moment, for example, if you run a horse at Champions’ Day you are really ruling out your chances of competing at the Breeders’ Cup. That can’t make much sense.
Finally though it is only appropriate to say a few words about the other immensely popular winner of the week. Anyone who watched the post-race interview with Lady Cecil after Riposte’s victory in the Ribblesdale couldn’t help but be struck by her grace and poise as she struggled to describe what the win meant. It definitely felt as though it was the 76th Royal Ascot win for Sir Henry. How sad then that the Cecils’ horse Thomas Chippendale, having won the Hardwick, collapsed and died.
Highs and lows of racing often follow in rapid succession. Yes, our sport is certainly a helter-skelter of emotions.
By the time you read this, the result of the Derby may already be known. It is always one of my favourite races of the year, and it is great to have something to cheer about, after all the doping and corruption revelations of the last couple of weeks. It has had a special place in my heart ever since, as a student, I backed Morston at 25/1 just after completing Finals. I think I probably have fonder memories of that betting slip than I do of my degree certificate. It certainly guaranteed an enjoyable summer, with student days behind me. 33 years later, I ended up living alongside the Woolley Down gallops where Morston and Blakeney were trained – so, happy memories.
This year, I suppose everything depends on whether you believe Dawn Approach will stay, or not. With a few exceptions such as Sea The Stars, not many Guineas winners have done so; I think he may be a doubtful stayer, and definitely far too short a price. The Aidan O’Brien runners are bound to test him. Battle Of Marengo may be his best, but he seems quite exposed. Are Ocavango and Chopin any good? I liked the way Ruler Of The World won at Chester, and he is on my shortlist, but without any doubt the Owners for Owners community is bound to be behind Libertarian.
We had our final “Meet the Trainer” morning at Elaine and Karl Burke’s stables the day after the Dante. Most of us had backed Libertarian at 33/1, so it was a real privilege to be able to stand alongside the horse at Spigot Lodge. There may only have been a few of us there, but we had a terrific morning. I hope everyone else was forming an orderly queue outside various bookies, lumping on at 20/1+ for the Derby. We saw our horses Paradise Spectre and Aran Sky up on the High Moor gallops, did the posing with Libertarian and then took Karl and Elaine off to the Wensleydale Heifer for a good lunch. Amazingly, it was Karl’s 50th birthday as well, so there was a lot to celebrate. When we expressed amazement, he came out with the great line: “You don’t think I’m 60, do you?”
Anoraks like me love stats and history. Libertarian is the first Yorkshire-trained horse to have won the Dante since Dante, so it was a fabulous achievement by the Burkes. They bought him out of a breeze-up for 40,000gns. Despite having done the slowest time at the sales, he is a lovely, strapping son of New Approach and no matter what happens today he can only improve this season, and into next. Elsewhere on the web site I have sung the praises of Karl Burke and Lars Kelp in spotting high-potential horses. Look no further for proof. By the way, Spigot Lodge is named after Jack Spigot, the 1821 St. Leger winner, and The Flying Dutchman won the 1849 Derby from these stables, before his famous match against Voltigeur on the Knavesmire at York in front of a crowd of 100,000. But I bet you knew that anyway. The BHA’s Great British Racing campaigns have got a bit of catching up to do!
However, the main reason I’ll be cheering Libertarian home today is that it signals the return to the top flight of training for the whole Burke yard. Back in the dark days of 2009, when Karl was warned off for a year for passing information to a very dodgy character, Miles Rogers, there was a possibility that all their hard work and endeavour would have been in vain, with their whole livelihood falling apart. Karl had just won his first Group 1 with Lord Shanakill at Chantilly, and was on the point of breaking through to the top ranks of training. Within weeks the number of horses in the yard had dropped from 90 to 25, and most of the staff were laid off. It was an agonisingly sad time for everyone. We kept our faith in and support for the yard, and nothing will give me greater pleasure than seeing a good run today from Libertarian. Everything crossed. As a horse who will only mature with time, there is always a risk that he may not have the necessary luck in running at Epsom. Let’s hope that he breaks well and William Buick is able to have him in a forward position at the top of the hill. If not, never mind - his day is bound to come. I’m already on for the Leger!
Hats off to Karl, Elaine, Kelly and Lucy Burke and all the crew up at Spigot Lodge. As Derek Thompson would doubtless say: “Enjoy the moment.”
