More on the Prize-Money Challenge ….. and the Pleasure of Owning a Horse Such as Shantou Magic

Last Saturday, Anthony Honeyball was kind enough to host the sixth in our series of “Meet the Trainer” mornings at his yard on the Dorset / Somerset borders. Then over 20 owners met up at Wincanton Races to enjoy everything about Badger Ales day from the luxury of a private Owners for Owners box. A magnificent view, great food and an excellent opportunity for owners from various partnerships to meet up and enjoy each others’ company. Racing really is an excellent sport for bringing together people from all walks of life. The shared interest and love of the racehorse guarantees a common bond.

We had no sooner driven back from Wincanton than a number of us headed north for Market Rasen to see Shantou Magic on Sunday, 10th November, and then Houndscourt at Southwell the following day – a Lincolnshire trip that most definitely paid off. Some of us stayed up there and even managed a game of golf at Forest Pines in between the races.

The Timeform review of Shantou Magic’s race says everything: “Followed up his Fontwell success with consummate ease, value for considerably more than the margin of victory; mid-field, travelled smoothly, crept closer from 5th, chased leader approaching next, led 3 out, in command 2 out, forged clear; created a good impression, and is well worth his place in better company.” The dreams have always been alive, but have now rocketed to a different level. One of the owners sent me a smashing email describing himself as “Mr. Excited from Hampshire”. The Timeform rating is 133p – the same as Taquin Du Seuil at this stage last year, who went on to win the Challow by 9 lengths and started at 6/1 for the Neptune at the Cheltenham Festival. My response was, “I think I need to go and lie down!” Charlie Longsdon is going to let the horse have a short holiday now, having had two runs in close succession, and he will reappear after Christmas, possibly in the Challow at Newbury or the Leamington Spa at Warwick, or even a big handicap hurdle, depending on the mark.

In the glorious moments of the race and immediately afterwards, I don’t think any of us were thinking about prize-money. It was just the sheer joy of owning a potential star, and all the dreams and aspirations that flow from that. But clearly, prize-money does matter (and by the way, in the next blog I am going to compare and contrast the way in which Market Rasen treated the owners, as opposed to ARC’s Southwell).

On the bigger stage, the Australian turf authorities have acknowledged this with their recent announcement that they are going to create a £10.5m end-of-season championship meeting – appropriately enough, called “The Championships” – containing eight Group 1s and the world’s richest mile race. It will kick off on 12th and 19th April 2014 in Sydney, and follows on from the Dubai World Cup on 29th March. The goal is to make it “the greatest event for racing in the Southern Hemisphere”. Their 1m 2f race will be worth £2.3m; the 6f, £1.5m; and the Doncaster Mile, £3m. That definitely puts the poor old prize-money at Kempton and Doncaster UK, and our pathetic start to the Flat, in perspective.

While still in Australia, the Melbourne Cup on 5th November had total prize-money of almost £4m. Not bad for a 2m handicap. The winner picked up almost £2.5m, the 2nd, £0.5m, the 3rd, over £0.25m, and even the 6th, 7th and 8th each had over £80,000. These prizes really matter – I’ve already commented on the increasing disparities building up between Breeder’s Cup in the US, the Arc meeting at Longchamp and the Dubai World Cup, and Ascot’s Champions’ Day. Global owners and breeders will increasingly migrate away from the UK to these more lucrative locations – a huge concern for the UK racehorse industry.

Finally, back to the Jumps. On 6th November, there was an ARC meeting at Chepstow and a jumps meeting at Enghien, north of Paris. The total prize-money at Chepstow was £32,552. Three races had win prize-money of a mere £1,949, and a derisory £143 for 4th. By contrast, Enghien had total prize-money of £264,210. One of the more valuable races on the card – a 2m 1f chase for 4yos – had prize-money of £44,713, the winner picked up £21,463 and the 5th, £2,012. For each of six of their seven races, the single race prize-money was more than the total pot at Chepstow. I intend to discuss French jumps racing with all our trainers. Our next National Hunt purchase will be set up as a partnership aiming to go racing in France as well as the UK.

À bientôt, mes amis!

“Little e” Resolutions for the Racing Industry – but I can see the pigs flying over Woolley Down

Despite the shocking weather, lots happening on the horse front. Quick Decisson wasn’t able to go to Wincanton when the hurdles / bumpers were abandoned, but will hopefully go to Exeter on 10th February; Shantou Magic had a really good workout at Lambourn during the week, and is only a couple of weeks off coming out; and Houndscourt did us proud with a game 2nd at Lingfield in a jumpers’ bumper. Two runs so far for Owners for Owners – a 1st and a 2nd sets the standard for whichever horse comes out next. Great to see both Timeform and Racing Post very complimentary: “plenty to recommend him on pedigree and should progress over jumps, with his long-term future likely to be over fences” and “ran a fine race on his first start since arriving from Ireland. A point winner at Tinahely in October, he would probably have found the trip on the sharp side, and rates as a decent prospect”. All very encouraging.

In the last blog, I flagged up a number of big recommendations for the racing industry. I’ve been in touch with the BHA about them and had what you might call an “interesting” discussion. More on that in the next blog.

I’m sure everyone has their own list of more immediate changes that could be easily made. Here are my “starters for 10”. As I’m writing it, I can see a flock of large pigs flying over the Woolley gallops!

1.  Racecourses and bookmakers complain of races with seven or fewer runners, particularly novice chases. Why don’t they target the problem ones and have prize-money down to eighth?

2.  Racecourses have done a great job recently with special initiatives, setting up jumpers’ bumpers, switching abandoned races to other tracks etc. Hats off, but why isn’t it done more often?

3.  Racecourses such as Chester have a fabulous Owners and Trainers facility, superb lunch etc. Others are simply shocking. Surely any track should provide something more than a stale bun and a cup of coffee, when we’re often spending £200-£500 just to get a horse to the course?

4.  Integrity of racing is critical. No problems with a crackdown on corruption – there will always be serious breaches, such as the the case of Andrew Heffernan. But two trainers I know very well, Karl Burke and Jim Boyle, were both dealt with very badly indeed and their livelihoods threatened during needlessly protracted and poorly handled investigations. Why do they take so long? I’ll examine Jim Boyle’s case in more detail in a later blog. It’s a disgrace.

5.  Prize money, and the trickle down into the racing industry, has to be improved. All of us should rally behind initiatives from the ROA and the Horsemen’s Group. Why wouldn’t we support them?

6.  Joint ownership, partnerships, syndicates etc. now represent a huge part of the industry. Yet we’re often treated as second-class citizens. How about racecourses targeting us all with special deals, much better facilities and a series of “syndicate races” with big prize money, only open to us?

7.  Racing for Change often talks about “bookending” the season. So why doesn’t that happen properly? Why have the start of the season at Cheltenham clash with Ascot’s Champions’ Day? Why is the start of the Flat such a damp squib nowadays?

8.  The administration and form-filling in being involved as an owner is simply shocking. Every form also has to have a cheque attached to it. I fear that it is a revenue stream for Weatherbys. Why can’t we have one payment (say, £100) and one form that covers everything involved? And online?

9.  The bookmakers are now evading the taxman with offshore gambling to the tune of several billions of pounds a year. How can HM Treasury allow that to happen? Put the legislation together, crack down on evasion and introduce a transaction tax on every bet struck online.

10.  Find a way of putting the welfare of horses and stable staff more centre stage. How do we do that? Don’t have any answers, but would welcome views.

I think I’ve only scratched the surface with these ten! Still lots of pigs flying out there ....