THE INCOMPARABLE PLEASURE OF SOLE & JOINT OWNERSHIP
We’ve had great success over the years working closely with sole and joint owners at every stage of the process from acquiring the horses in the first place, bringing them along steadily, finding the most suitable races and then, hopefully, enjoying the fantastic excitement of winning on the track. There’s an extra intensity that comes from this type of ownership, whether it’s watching the horses in training on the superb Condicote gallops, discussing the plan of campaign, turning up on raceday to participate in the detailed discussion with jockeys of the calibre of James Best, Sean Bowen, Aidan Coleman or Sam Twiston-Davies, and then the excitement and celebration when the horse wins. That’s always extremely pleasurable and sometimes can be of heroic proportions. We’ve made friends with many of these owners and their families and it’s a real pleasure going racing with only a small and close group. Do contact us to discuss your participation in this unique ownership experience.
“With the successes of Brillare Momento, I’ve become a good friend of the Keighleys and feel very close to the yard. Martin, his agent Gerry Hogan and I bought the mare privately in Ireland from Jim Cullotty. Martin loved her from day one, and we were unlucky when she went down by a neck on her debut run for us at Cheltenham, and then should have won next time out at Ludlow, but for unseating the jockey at the last. We knew we had an exciting time in prospect, so were thrilled when she won on her first outing of the next season at the Cheltenham October meeting. For her then to record another Cheltenham victory, winning a Ballymore novices’ hurdle, was a day that Irene and I will never forget. There’s a real intensity owning horses on your own. The highs are higher, and we’ve had quite a number of those now with the Keighleys.”
Oliver Ryan
A number of our sole owners have been with us since we started training. Some of them are actively involved in breeding horses and it is an additional pleasure watching them develop from foals into racehorses. Other sole and joint owners have moved on from syndicates or partnerships because they want to have more control over every aspect of the horse’s development, race selection and the season’s campaign. And then some owners join us from out of the blue, having either seen us on the racecourse, watched our horses do well, particularly at Cheltenham, or become aware of us through our web site or social media. Helping a new owner into the sport gives us great pleasure, particularly as they learn all about their horse and experience the huge satisfaction of watching its progress and development. We’re here to help all sole and joint owners meet their needs and requirements. Please feel free to contact us, with no obligation, to discuss these. Ideally, come and visit us at Condicote so that we can really tune in to what you want from this great sport.
“I still have very fond memories from my younger days of following the great hurdlers such as Night Nurse, Monksfield and Sea Pigeon, and I’d always dreamt of being involved as an owner. But business life and bringing up a family left little time or money to do this. I pursued a successful career in the City before branching out into the leisure industry. I’m now at a stage in my life when there’s more time to enjoy the great sport of NH racing. I decided to assess a number of trainers, looking at their web sites and visiting their yards. Their values and ethos of training were particularly important for me. With Martin and Belinda, what I read and what I saw in the yard were closely aligned. It didn’t take long for me to buy a gorgeous unraced 3yo Mahler gelding, now named Robsam, and also became involved in an imposing offspring of Yeats, Dreamsundermyfeet. Martin and Belinda are always there to answer my questions and I love visiting the yard. I’ve loved every moment of it so far, and in many ways the horse and I are learning about the game together.”
Matt Capp
Joint Ownership
Joint owners are often motivated to own horses together to share the costs, spread the risks and enjoy the whole experience of racing together with their friends and families. Some of them are already good friends or close work colleagues, and decide to join forces. Others may have had little involvement in racing but find through social encounters in pubs, clubs, restaurants or chance meetings that they share common interests. Many owners find that linking up with other people is a source of real pleasure and great friendships can develop through ownership. We try very hard to make the experience a really excellent one, and certainly feel that sole and joint owners deserve special attention. It’s not an inexpensive sport and it’s vital that they enjoy every moment before, during and after racing.
“We’ve both been involved in owning horses for many years, and really enjoy working closely with Martin and Belinda on the Condicote gallops, going racing with the Keighleys and then socialising around the various hostelries and restaurants in that part of the Cotswolds. It’s really important to enjoy every aspect of owning, as it’s not just success on the track that matters. We like buying good-value horses and Mr Mafia certainly fitted that category. He’d raced 33 times when we bought him as a nine-year-old, and I don’t think we expected him to be such an improver! He won his first four races for us, and was then placed in the next four. When he came to Martin he had a number of physical issues which were soon sorted out, and from then on he’s had a new lease of life. It’s probably not an overstatement to say, “So have we”.”
Peter Boggis & John Abernethy.
