Our Most Dear Patron

Written By George Allen

Newsletter #55

George talks…

Racing has lost their most dear patron.

While many industry figures, rightly, grieved the loss of Sheikh Hamdan and Prince Khalid Abdullah, it was primarily due to their tangible investment in the sport. While many will not admit it, money talks! Sheikh Hamden propped up Book 2 almost single-handedly for years, Prince Khalid kept many trainers afloat during hard times.

The Queen hasn’t purchased yearlings in Book 1 for decades, although she does provide a good spread of trainers with horses. But her influence was much more profound than the monetary investment she made to the industry. The Queen has provided a PR boost for this sport, PR that will never be replicated. The loss of the Queen as our sport’s figurehead will have far more serious consequences than our beloved owners of the last few decades.

The allure of British horse racing is intertwined with the Queen, even more so than I imagined.

I knew the Queen was a racing fanatic, but it wasn’t until this week when I read page after page of anecdotes, did I realise how deep that love permeated. We all knew about her knowledge of pedigrees, her adoration of Royal Ascot and commitment to winning the Classics. But what summed it up for me was when I heard she read the Racing Post, daily each morning as part of her routine. That’s a true racing fan in my eyes.

Our sport has been under threat from nearly every angle, generally by people who don’t understand it. But they couldn’t argue with the fact that the Queen bred, raced and loved horse racing. Not football, cricket, or Formula 1, no, the Queen loved horse racing. We haven’t got that margin of safety anymore.

As an active syndicate based in Ireland with horses in the UK, we have noticed ourselves, a greater appetite for horse racing ownership among the British than the Irish. Before we embarked on setting up this syndicate we completed swathes of research to validate our idea. The main question we asked ourselves was “why would anybody new to the sport be interested in owning a racehorse?” During the research I came across a report on the racing and bloodstock industry from Deloitte, see an extract from the report below.

‘The report picked up on a main point for many racehorse enthusiasts: ‘Owning a racehorse in Britain has an element of “aspiration” to it,’ it reports. ‘The continued association of the monarchy with racing is indicative of the relatively high social standing that the sport commands.’

In all sports, there is a leading light, a beacon that epitmises the sport. UFC had the infamous Conor McGregor, F1 had Schumacher and Senna, football is littered with names, Ferguson, Charlton, Zidane. The Queen was our beacon. Steady and collected, a classy style, she both won and lost races with grace and was devoted to the sport’s deep traditions, the Queen epitomised all the values of our sport that we hold dear. It’s these intagibles that we cannot replace. It’s these values that potential new entrants coveted when pondering on the idea of owning a racehorse. I’d imagine the thought was “I could own a horse, just like the queen!”. It’s figureheads like the Queen that push people to aspire to own racehorses.

Who will now fill the void?

I’ve read that the Queen Consort will step in, but I doubt the Racing Post is tucked under her arm in the morning. I could be wrong, and if it isn’t now, maybe that will change in time. The repercussions of this loss won’t be felt this year or the next, not even in 5 years. But in the next decade the positioning of the sport of horse racing in the minds of the British public will shift, now our dearest patron isn’t there to reinforce it.

The Queen welcomes Estimate after winning the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot. Credit: Racing Post

Some may argue, I’m incorrect. George, let the horses do the talking. We don’t need figureheads or beacons of the sport. This assertion couldn’t be more wrong.

One can see the stark difference between Royal Ascot and Ireland’s big race meeting of the year, Irish Champions Weekend. Between the Curragh and Leopardstown we had some absolute superstars battle it out over a fantastic couple of days racing. Tahiyra, Pearls Galore, Luxembourg, Al Riffa and Highfield Princess all starred in some of the best racing you would find anywhere in the world. Yet the crowds were abysmal. I visited Leopardstown on the Saturday which was moderately attended, at best. I drove past the Curragh on Sunday and you would hardly know there was a race meeting being held. There was no buzz, no hype.

It’s unfair to compare Royal Ascot and ICW, one is traditional, the other is a still a new concept. I love ICW, but it just hasn’t captured the attention of the general public. The Thursday before ICW, I attended Laytown on the beach which wasn’t in the same parish quality wise, yet I stood for 35 minutes to get a coffee, it was packed!

Back to the same question.

Why would anybody new to the sport be interested in owning a racehorse? (In Ireland).

We are world leaders in the sport. We breed the best horses worldwide, we have arguably the worlds best trainers (Willie Mullins and Aidan O’Brien), consistently we have the worlds best jockeys. Yet the public don’t turn up to see all these characters in action. Granted, I do concede that National Hunt garners far more public affection than the flat in Ireland, that’s just a given.

For the last newsletter, we ran a survey to gauge your reaction to what our next yearling should be and where it should be trained. We had an excellent response from hundreds of you. Interestingly, the only responses came from people based in the UK, nobody from Ireland.

I then asked myself a question, name a figurehead of Irish flat racing? Michael O’Leary, J.P, Willie, Gordon, they are all jumps. Apart from Aidan O’Brien and at a stretch John Magnier, there is nobody who epitomises and stands for Irish flat racing, in the eyes of the public.

If I asked my friends, who have attended a few race meetings, mostly NH, to name someone that represents Irish flat racing, they couldn’t name one. After I have explained Ruby Walsh was now a retired jumps jockey, they wouldn’t have a clue. This aversion to publicity we have in Irish racing circles is a real problem and one that must be addressed to bolster newcomers through the turnstiles for next summers flat season. We need a figurehead to step up, to make going racing cool again, we need it badly, and we need it fast!

Horsepower…

But between Ireland and the UK, the industry is trying to move with the times. This week I watched the advert for horse racing’s version of Drive to Survive.

See it here.

It looks fantastic and I can't wait to watch it. I have read many articles about the increased viewership the F1 has received after the Drive to Survive series, so let’s hope Horsepower catches fire when it’s released on Amazon Prime later this month.

Our Horses…

This week we had two runners. CANADIAN FIRE graced the racetrack for the first time at Yarmouth on Thursday in a hot looking maiden over 6 furlongs. We felt she wasn’t fully wound up but we thought she had enough done to get her on the track. She behaved impeccably throughout the build up to the race and broke well. Her chance fizzled out with about 2 furlongs to go and she plugged on to the finish. Initially, we were a little bit disappointed post race until we heard words of encouragement from Neil Callan, he said the filly was crazy green and just needed the run. She ate up and trotted up perfect after the race and we will have her back out again for more experience quite shortly.

ATTRAZIONE took to Chelmsford later in the evening. This was her third start and her most encouraging run. We have kept her to the minimum trip to teach her to grab the bit and travel. While the trip is inadequate to see her at her best, she was bang in contention rounding the bend but lacked a gear from the two pole. She finished about 6 lengths off the winner and her jockey was confident she can win races when stepped up in trip on turf.

BBT’s Counterattack with Thomas aboard lead out the GB Racing Team at Newmarket

COUNTERATTACK is training away diligently and will be gracing the track very soon. As you can see above he loves leading the pack at George’s.

We will have news of a new yearling purchase to announce next week. Thanks to all of you who replied to the survey last time. We managed to pick up a nice filly at the Somerville sale which will suit the requirements of a lot (not all) suggestions. We will say no more about the filly and will have pictures and videos to present her to you next week.


All the best,

George

P.S.

If any of the Irish contingent would like to attend the sales at Tattersalls Ireland with myself and Thomas, hit us up with an email. We will be scouting the sale next Tuesday and Wednesday in search for next years crop of 2 year olds.

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George Allen https://www.Brownsbarnthoroughbreds.com
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