Buckle Street and Belinda Keighley at York – My Most Enjoyable Day Ever on the Racecourse

I know we’ve just had a fantastic week’s racing at Royal Ascot, with the most magnificent performances from horses such as Lady Aurelia in the King’s Stand, Thomas Hobson in the Ascot Stakes, Highland Reel in the Prince of Wales, Big Orange in the Gold Cup, Caravaggio in the Commonwealth Cup, Winter in the Coronation Stakes …. but for me the absolute highlight of June was the superb win by Belinda Keighley in the Macmillan Charity Race at York the previous Saturday, 17th June, on Buckle Street (who is part-owned by my wife).

Regular readers of the blog will know that despite the many attractions and elegance of Ascot, for my money I’d always much prefer a day out on the Knavesmire. Not only is the racecourse top class, but the prize-money is always superb. Indeed this year’s Ebor Festival, which runs from 23rd to 26th August, has record prize-money totalling £4.4 million, a 48% increase over the last five years. That boost is not just in races such as the Juddmonte International, now worth £1 million, but every race at the Festival is worth at least £65,000 and the meeting has the richest maiden, nursery and apprentice races in the UK. Hats off to York.

Having said that, because Buckle Street ran in a charity race, the prize-money was absolutely zero, but it still definitely counts as a York win. Belinda comprehensively out-rode the field, not just on the track but in charity donations raised. As the chairman of Keighley Racing Ltd., I know I’m biased, but it was the most wonderful achievement, as described by Paul Davis, one of the co-owners who also organises The Condicote Clan partnership. I have never enjoyed a day’s racing so much, nor cheered on a winner with such pleasure. York looked after everyone magnificently, with the Champagne flowing long after racing. That continued right through the evening, with a large group of friends and owners going out for a celebratory dinner with Martin, Belinda and their boys Freddie and Harry.

Paul always does a post-race report for every run by the horses in partnerships that we organise at Martin’s. Here is the one he sent out after the race – it really does capture the excitement and emotion of this Knavesmire win.

Saturday June 17th 2017 - York - 1 mile 1 furlong, Good to Firm - Best Western Hotels & Macmillan Ride of their Lives

Just occasionally a day's racing will come along that is guaranteed to live long in the memory and yesterday at York was one such day. When Belinda and Buckle Street passed the line in front the tension, excitement and anticipation leading to this moment erupted into a euphoric outpouring of joy and emotion for all those connected with horse, rider and the yard. Indeed, Jon has stated it was definitely his best day's racing that he has ever had, and many of us feel the same.

Though Belinda had been aiming for this race for a very long time, the choice of her mount in the race wasn't confirmed until Buckle Street came back into the yard in early May. This allowed enough time for Martin to prepare Buckle for the race; for Belinda and Buckle to develop a solid partnership on the gallops; and for Jon, Jack and me to start assembling the new partnership.

But it wasn't just the owners of Buckle Street who were in attendance to support Belinda and Buckle Street, as there were also numerous other owners, Racing Club members and yard supporters in attendance to support them in their quest - and not one of them will have regretted their long journey to the newly crowned Racecourse of the Year on one of the hottest days of the year.

Belinda's day started with an appearance on The Opening Show two friends and owners in attendance who had won the privilege to see behind the scenes having been the highest bidders on the the extremely successful charity auction held last month at the renowned Cotswolds racing pub, The Hollow Bottom. There were also appearances on Racing UK and other media commitments for Belinda to fulfil, but soon enough the clock ticked round to the time for her to get changed into her racing colours and for Buckle Street to be saddled up. Even before the 10 noble horsewomen and horsemen had been legged up each could rightly by acclaimed winners having collectively raised enough money to employ a Macmillan nurse for over two years with Belinda raising a whopping £26,000 alone - a truly wonderful effort for a charity so close to her heart.

Great ride, great win, great cause.

In the parade ring, Buckle Street looked magnificent and took the preliminaries in his stride despite the searingly hot temperatures. After being legged up, Belinda and Buckle cantered steadily to the start of the appropriately named 'race of their lives'. The plan was simple, go to the front, try to dictate matters from there, and stick to the inside rail if possible kicking for home early to exploit Buckle's stamina since he was being opposed by some flat specialists some of whom were rated 10 pounds superior to him on the flat. And as the starter's flag went down, Belinda and Buckle did exactly what had been instructed by taking up the early pace. However, two or three others also wanted to dictate matters and so, after a couple of furlongs, these went past Buckle which, in a moment of cool tactical judgement, Belinda allowed them to do remembering her coach Warren Marston's wise instructions that some of the field may want to go too fast, so let them burn themselves out. So, for the next half a mile, Buckle was in 3rd or 4th place, about 5 lengths behind the clear leader. As the field swung into the straight, it looked for a moment that the other runners with their proven flat speed might sweep past Buckle and Belinda. But we needn't have worried. Belinda kept Buckle wonderfully balanced and as the others began to make ground on her, she let out an inch of rein and began to close in on the leader who was beginning to weaken. At the two furlong marker, Belinda and Buckle were disputing the lead with many of the field just one length behind her. Buckle's stamina now began to come into play and, bit by bit, he edged ahead. As they passed the furlong marker, the Condicote combination had nosed in front and quickly went a length clear. Pushing him out with hands and heels, Buckle responded admirably and galloped all the way to the line winning the race comfortably by 1 1/2 lengths.

A race full of winners.

And then, passing the line, a moment of pure theatrical magic. Belinda stood up in her irons and punched the air. It wasn't showboating. It was the realisation of a goal achieved; of many months dieting and hard work all being worthwhile; and the knowledge that the dream had come true. It was the release of the pressure and responsibility that she had felt knowing that she wanted to do the very best for the newly formed partnership that now owned Buckle Street. And perhaps, most of all, it was for her mum Kathy and her Dad John, both of whom she sadly lost in 2010 following Kathy's brave 18 year fight with cancer. It was magical, and the magic continued for the next hour in the winners' enclosure and parade ring as the presentations were made, all 10 jockeys rightly congratulated and then followed by all competitors and their supporters celebrating the fantastic occasion as one huge extended family with numerous glasses of champagne generously provided by the race sponsors. Each and every jockey was a winner yesterday and it was a privilege to be there.”

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On NH Racing, Couch Potatoes and Collaboration with Bookmakers

Normally I’m criss-crossing the country supporting our horses, but with the dreadful winter and apparently never-ceasing soft ground it has been one of the quietest few months for ages, notwithstanding attending all four days of the Cheltenham Festival and the three of Aintree. However, since then I have to say that I have been “enjoying” the delights of sitting at home, wood burner blazing and chilled white wine at my elbow while cheering on my (mainly losing) bets at Sandown and more recently, Punchestown. So, as I knock on the door of becoming a pensioner, I’m also becoming a couch potato. Bliss!

It was absolutely terrific to see Richard Johnson finally become Champion Jockey after all those years of being runner-up to AP. There isn’t a better rider over jumps at the moment, and there certainly isn’t a nicer guy. He’s marvellous with owners and it is always a pleasure when he is riding one of our horses for any of our trainers but, obviously, mostly Philip Hobbs. Indeed we gave him his 100th winner of the recent season when He’s A Bully won for him at Wincanton. With typical modesty, when I complemented him on the ride, he said, “They’re always easy when they win”, despite our horse hanging badly over most of his fences.

Reflecting on the NH season, who would now be your top three horses? For me the performance on Thursday of Douvan would make him my top jumper. This was his 11th consecutive win, and he has won the last three by a cumulative 32 lengths, bagging all three top novice chases at Cheltenham, Aintree and now Punchestown. We have a Getaway with Anthony Honeyball, and he keeps referring to him as “Douvan”. Dream on, dream on. My second top horse would be the wonderful Thistlecrack, who waltzed home in the World Hurdle and then the Liverpool Stayers’ Hurdle, on both occasions by 7 lengths. I’ll then have three joint thirds: Annie Power (could she become the first mare to win the Champion Hurdle twice?), Don Cossack (not just for the Gold Cup but because we have a Sholokhov 2yo who we have nicknamed “Don Caster”), and then Sprinter Sacre (as well as the superb training performance by Nicky Henderson in bringing him back, and similarly My Tent Or Yours, Simonsig and Bob’s Worth).

We couch potatoes also have lots of time to read the newspapers from cover to cover. Two articles about gambling and bookmakers caught my eye. The Sunday Times Rich List goes into the category of tittle-tattle with me, but I noticed that a number of Britain’s wealthiest tycoons in the betting industry saw their collective wealth jump by almost £3bn to £19bn in 2015/16. Amazing really when you think that their normal stance is that they aren’t making money, particularly through racing. And yet the Coates family, who founded Bet365, saw profits double to £410m and their fortune increase to £1.4bn; the co-founder of Betfair, Ed Wray’s wealth jumped by £68m after the Paddy Power merger; and that almost-destitute winner of Group 1s on the Flat, Michael Tabor, the majority stakeholder in Bet Victor, added another £25m to his net worth of £600m. Never believe a bookmaker when they tell you times are tough.

While the Sunday Times article produced steam out of my ears, another in The Times I found really encouraging. When I attended the BHA strategic forum at Newbury on 1st March, Nick Rust emphasised that three of their four strategic goals for British Racing are to grow betting participation by 5% by 2018, generate £120m of extra income for the sport and increase racecourse attendance to 7m by 2020. In the last couple of blogs I have been praising Jockey Club Racecourses for their investment in facilities and prize-money and now, according to The Times, their Racecourse Media Group (RMG) (which recently negotiated the £30m racing rights deal with ITV) are facilitating plans to bring the Tote under the control of British racing. RMG have an excellent track record and indeed in 2015 ploughed back over £80m to their 34 racecourse stakeholders via profits from Turf TV, pay-TV channel Racing UK, streaming pictures to online mobile betting sites and the current deal with Channel 4.

If you’re an avid reader of the blog you’ll know that I’m highly critical of the way the Tote, as a gaming asset, has been milked by Betfred and also the dismal lack of innovation on the part of many of the retail bookmakers, particularly the non-ABP partners Ladbrokes, Coral, William Hill and Betfred. Apparently RMG is likely to broker a collaborative business model between racecourses and a number of bookmakers so that they can take the contract back over when it comes up for renegotiation in 2018. There could be significant money for racing if this collaboration were successful: when Betfred took over the Tote, they paid £265m and committed to making annual payments back into racing of around £10m. RMG intend to involve all 58 racecourses to come up with an agreement with as many bookmaking firms as possible to develop a credible alternative to Betfred’s control of the Tote. If successful it would be a really significant step forward, not just in generating more revenue for British racing but also facilitating a far more creative use of the Tote’s assets and betting possibilities, both in the UK and worldwide.

On that note, I’ll put a few more logs on the burner and pour another glass of white wine. Cheers to RMG!

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Happy 10th Birthday to Racing UK ….. Hopefully they will give much greater recognition to owners over the next ten years

Do you remember Rishi Persad’s opening remarks on the launch of Racing UK, back on 29th May 2004? I thought not. It was an interesting time for televised racing, because the first version of At The Races (ATR) had collapsed with the termination of their £307m, ten-year media rights contract, launched in 2001 with BskyB, Channel 4, Arena Leisure and 49 of Britain’s racecourses. ATR adopted the thuggish negotiating tactics (subsequently adopted by Arena Racing Company (ARC) and which have always been the default behaviour of bookmakers) of then threatening the racecourses that if they didn’t pay back the media money they had already received, they would be sued.

With hindsight, these threatening tactics jolted the key racecourses into a collaborative venture which must be regarded as one of the most successful in the racing industry’s history. Strong leadership from people such as David James (then Chairman of RHT Racehorse Holdings Trust – forerunner of Jockey Club Racecourses) and Simon Bazalgette (who became Racing UK’s Executive Chairman) led to the launch of RUK as a dedicated racing channel headed by Andrew Franklin (founder of the channel’s production partner, Highflyer). Despite a lot of early concerns, most of the top racecourses signed up, with Goodwood, Newbury, York and Cheltenham leading the way. It really was an excellent move, particularly with all profits being ploughed back into the sport. Racing UK’s parent company – Racecourse Media Group – delivered over £65m to racecourses in 2013, and the channel has at least 50,000 current subscribers.

Since then, we have seen BBC pull out of racing altogether and Channel 4 adopt a rather sterile approach to broadcasting with an unfortunate abandonment of some key personalities such as John Francome and Alastair Down, while ATR quite frankly irritates with its endless adverts for bookmakers and payday lenders while chopping and changing between the low-grade fare of all-weather and the lesser tracks.

Hats off to Racing UK on its birthday. Now for a challenge! Why is it that owners receive so little recognition from broadcasters? How often have you watched a magnificent performance, only to hear and see the horse referred to as “XYZ trainer’s horse”? No mention whatsoever of the owner. Equally, how often are you irritated by a microphone being thrust into the face of a jockey who has only just pulled up his horse and not yet had time to provide any debrief to the owner who is paying the bills? Indeed, the normal broadcaster behaviour is either to ignore the owner completely, or just push them away in the scramble to interview the trainer and jockey. I believe there should be a step change in behaviour in this area, with owners receiving much higher profile and proper recognition of their contribution to the sport.

I’m not arguing for that from an egomaniacal perspective – although on the one or two occasions I have been interviewed, I have enjoyed it – but I think it would really help the racing industry’s cause for both the racing fan and the broader public to understand the centrality of the owner as the number one stakeholder in the sport. Every year, owners are spending £0.5bn on their horses and almost £0.75bn if breeding and bloodstock are taken into account. Very few people understand that. Equally, I’m confident that there are many human interest stories and personalities across the owner community that should be nurtured as a way of bringing more excitement and variety into the rather formulaic TV broadcasts.

So, Racing UK – with your excellent interviewing and commentary team, could you please build more owner coverage into your programmes? Mention them more frequently in connection with their horses; include more background interviews with owners when you visit yards; seek out the human interest stories that bring the highs, lows, excitements and disappointments of owning to life; build a recorded bank of case studies relevant to the key races and weave them into your programming. Hopefully this will also engender more enthusiasm for new owners to enter the sport, and you can also illustrate innovation in horse partnership …. maybe by covering how Owners for Owners operates?!?

I am always interested to hear your views so please do leave a comment. If you can't see the comment box at the bottom of this post then navigate to the post using the right hand navigation or click here > and scroll to the bottom of the page. Look forward to hearing your views. Thanks very much for sharing them.