Moments of 2023
Letter #69
We are slap bang in the middle of January.
By now we have made New Years resolutions and broken most of them. Officially past world quitters day, recognised as the second Friday of January.
I wanted to wait until after world quitters day to write about the year that has gone and the year that is in store for us here at Brownsbarn.
This is a simple business.
Buy the best horses you possibly can for the best value, and within budget.
Send them to the most suitable trainer.
Give each horse the best possible chance of winning at their level.
Sell them when most appropriate.
Keep everybody involved with plans for the future and up to speed on their racehorse’s progress every week.
Make sure everybody enjoys the experience along the way.
We tend to forget how simple this business is.
Find winners, give people an enjoyable experience and repeat.
Looking forward into 2024, that’s what we aim to continue doing.
Last year when I wrote a recap on the year 2022, I spoke about building on the momentum of our first winner.
We did just that in 2023.
We welcomed new owners, new horses, new trainers and served up plenty of winners for everybody involved.
Let’s dive into the high level statistics to get an idea of how the year was for us in blue, red and white.
Statistics
Attrazione - 1 Run - 1 Place
Covertly - 6 Runs
Vision Of Hope -8 Runs - 2 Wins & 1 Place
Bigger Than Giga - 5 Runs - 2 Wins & 1 Place
Coolnaugh Haze - 6 Runs - 1 Win
ROYAL ATHENA - 5 Runs - 1 Win & 1 Place
Lovely Masar - 1 Run
2023
Campaigned
7 Horses
Total 32 Runs
4 Winners
6 Wins
4 Places
Total bloodstock purchases: £97,500
Between all their exploits on the track they have earned: £37,887.51.
I don’t want to get into another rant about prizemoney, but considering the state of the prizemoney system in the UK, we felt this wasn’t a bad haul.
Especially when you consider that our average spend for our bloodstock is less than £15,000, we have been satisfied with the success we have had, at times we arrive at gunfights with hurley sticks and still get results.
Vision of Hope was sold for double her purchase price, Attrazione was moved onto a trainer to be used as a young jockey’s hack. Covertly was sold to be re-trained as a cross country horse.
It’s great to see horses that have ran for us and been apart of the team go to new homes and get the looking after they deserve.
Moments of the Year
While I could write all day here on this newsletter about the highlights of my year, I wanted to make reference to just 5.
Cheltenham Preview Night
Our events since we started this syndicate have all been pretty well attended, raucous & fun affairs. But this night in the Claddagh Ring was another level. We welcomed over 100 people to the venue, who enjoyed great tips from the panel and came away with multiple winners on Cheltenham week, the name of the game with these nights.
We have a select list of events roughly pencilled in for this year. You can see the list at the bottom of this email. This was one aspect of last year that we all felt we needed to improve upon, we will be placing greater emphasis on syndicate events this year.
Vision of Hope winning, our first NH winner
This was a big one for me. We picked up this filly very cheaply, on the back of an assertion from Thomas that she was a summer ground filly who had plenty of winning left in her. She failed to fire in unsuitable tacky ground twice for us.
Even I was starting to lose faith.
Then out of the blue she pulls it out of the bag at Huntingdon. Our first NH purchase, our first winner. I was especially thrilled for one of her owners Pat of the Sheephaven Bay, his first time as an owner with us.
What a way to get started.
That filly like Attrazione, our first winner, will be etched in my memory for the rest of my life.
Bigger than Giga doubling up with a photo finish and stewards room decision.
This filly was a real superstar for us last year. We always felt she was a cut above anything we had ever purchased before. She just did everything that bit easier all the way through since we purchased her. Charlie even napped her as his one to follow before the start of the flat season in the Racing Post.
The pressure was then off us after her excellent win at Kempton, breaking her maiden in fine style under Daniel Musscutt.
She was turned out then next in a novice giving away a penalty to some smart rivals, including her own stable mate.
To see how she bossed that race and beat them all with a penalty gave us great hope that we had something a little above average on our hands. While the rest of the season didn’t pan out for her, we still feel we have not seen the best from this filly just yet.
I’ve a sneaky feeling in the back of mind that BTG will be on my 2024 moments list this time next year.
Coolnaugh Haze coming down the hill at Cheltenham.
This was just such a buzz.
A bonny little horse we purchased with James Owen for £22,000. He bolted up on his first start for us at Worcester. He ran with credit then in several competitive handicap hurdles over the autumn and summer months.
But the buzz we all had when he cruised around in front, jumping like a buck at Cheltenham on their opening day of the season was something else. For a slight moment I thought he may actually cause an upset but he ran gallantly and finished tired up the hill in mid division.
The experience from start to finish was amazing by all accounts from the guys who made the trip for the day.
This excursion has only wet the appetite to get back there and go a few steps further.
Royal Athena winning for the Tipsy Tipsters.
How could we forget the Tipsy Tipsters. An eclectic bunch of friends who run a tipping group and are all based in London. I had the pleasure to meet several of the gang before RA ran a slightly disappointing second at Lingfield.
This is their first horse and my god do the guys turn up when she is running.
Step up Royal Athena.
A £12,000 filly bought off the flat.
Fakenham 13th November - Boom.
The filly turned the table with Grain of Hope and duly did the business for the guys.
First horse, first winner.
These little social groups are racing’s bread and butter, we were all absolutely delighted for the lads, and again I’ve a feeling Royal Athena will be in my 2024 highlight reel once again.
That’s a quick look back at the moments that stood out for me in 2023. I will detail our plans for Brownsbarn in the next letter.
Be Apart Of The Action
With this in mind, if you are a follower of ours and potentially would like to nab a share, we invite you to submit your thoughts below. This helps us with weighing up demand when we hit the sales over the next couple of months.
Any submissions will be collated and added to a list upon which you will receive first refusal on shares right after the gavel falls in the sales ring.
This week coming…
Ascot - Clarence House Chase - Saturday 20th January
2024 Brownsbarn Events
Cheltenham Preview Night - March - Date / Time / Venue - TBC
July Cup Picnic - Newmarket (July Course)- Saturday 13th July - Time - TBC
Breeders Cup Party - November 2nd - Time / Venue - TBC
Tattersalls December Sale, End of Year Gathering - November 30th- Tattersalls, Newmarket - Time - TBC
