Newbury spotlight shines on joys of syndicate ownership

Things went very much to script as the Irish Oaks card at the Curragh on Saturday was dominated by Aidan O’Brien with yet more major successes from his superb Coolmore-bred blue bloods, but across the water there was something really refreshing about the ecstatic receptions that greeted the two big winners who took centre stage at Newbury, writes Paul Alster.

Over in Ireland, O’Brien’s Minnie Hauk, a 1.85 million euro daughter of Frankel, followed up her Epsom Oaks success with victory in the Irish equivalent without even having to hit top gear, just an hour after the yard’s Queen Mary Stakes heroine True Love, a daughter of No Nay Never, had demolished the opposition in the Group 2 GAIN Railway Stakes to stamp herself as potentially the leading juvenile filly around at present. Business as usual for the remarkable Ballydoyle.

At Newbury, the Group 3 Hallgarten and Novum Wines Hackwood Stakes took place soon after a massive cloudburst had sent racegoers running for cover but there was no noticeable deterioration in the ground. The downpour might have taken the sting out of the ground though, something that probably proved the undoing of the smart Regional, the Edward Bethell-trained sprinter who had been a fine third in Group 1 company on fast ground at Royal Ascot a month earlier. The admirable seven-year-old looked poised to score when taking up the running a furlong out, but his supporters had reckoned without the unconsidered rank outsider Rage Of Bamby (33/1), who belied her previous poor form this season to come storming home up the stands side under Charles Bishop to win going away from King’s Gamble, who ran on late to deprive Regional of second place.

Rage Of Bamby, a five-year-old daughter of Japanese-based sire Saxon Warrior, had ended last season landing an excellent victory at Newmarket at listed level but had finished last in each of her first two runs this season, then showed only a little more spark when leading until fading out of contention in a Group 3 at York, eventually finishing sixth. The shock on the face of trainer Eve Johnson Houghton was nothing compared to the delirious celebrations of the mare’s owners, Hot To Trot Racing 2 & Mrs A G Kavanagh, who greeted their unexpected hero back into the winners’ enclosure with true glee. Their 35,000 guineas yearling purchase of four years ago had taken her total career winnings to over £181,000 and was landing her fifth, and by far her biggest success.

Sam Hoskins, racing manager for the winning syndicate, confirmed that Rage Of Bamby will be retired to stud at the end of this season and suggested there was nothing to lose if they have a crack at something like the Group 1 Sprint Cup at Haydock in September. Maybe the dream has another big chapter to be written?

Eve Johnson Houghton had hoped to be celebrating again half an hour later as her Royal Ascot hero Havana Hurricane, a comfortable winner of the listed Windsor Castle Stakes a month earlier, was the hot favourite for the £250,000 Weatherbys Super Sprint, a contest for juveniles who had been bought at public auction for modest amounts. Havana Hurricane had already proved a massive money spinner for connections having been purchased for just 9,000 guineas as a yearling at Tattersalls in September of last year.

The old adage of ‘the bigger the field, the bigger the certainty’ looked set to ring true once again as Havana Hurricane (6/4f) managed to thread a path through the field to hit the front a hundred yards out, but then Anthelia, trained by Rod Millman and ridden by Lewis Edmunds, who had been prominent before getting a little outpaced two furlongs out, came storming home on the stands to force the tightest of photo finishes. After an agonising wait the short-head verdict eventually went the way of the daughter of Supremacy, a £6,000 bargain basement buy at Goffs UK the year before.

Running in the pale blue colours of Middleham Park Racing Lxiv & Mrs L Millman, Anthelia had already outrun expectations having won her first three starts, including the listed National Stakes at Sandown in May. She lost her unbeaten record but was far from disgraced when a two-length fifth in a six furlong listed event at Newmarket last month, but the return to the minimum trip of the Super Sales event clearly brought out the best in her again as she landed the monster £134,000 first prize.

Receiving a reception no less joyous than that of Rage Of Bamby a short time before, the victory of Anthelia is another feather in the cap of Middleham Park Racing who along with a number of other successful racing syndicates have given thousands of people the opportunity of experiencing the joy of owning a winner for very modest amounts of money, sometimes less than one hundred pounds a share. The success of such public syndicates is a big shot in the arm and great publicity on social and traditional media for a racing industry that at the upper levels is so often dominated by multi-millionaires and billionaires, but that at grass roots level is struggling to make ends meet and faces massive uncertainty as the shadow of a potentially disastrous racing tax looms on the horizon.

Every now again the dream of owning a rags-to-riches racing hero is kept alive by the likes of Rage Of Bamby and Anthelia. The celebrations at Newbury of their many owners serves as a timely reminder of the undiluted joy and camaraderie that taking part in racehorse ownership can bring.

Paul Alster has broadcast and reported on the British racing industry for four decades as a commentator, journalist, presenter, betting correspondent, SP Returner, tipster and form analyst, among other things.