Money doesn’t guarantee success
Before becoming the Member of Parliament for Newmarket, I part owned two racehorses. It gives you a flavour of their success that on its first outing on the July Course at Newmarket, one of the horses parted company with the jockey……..before the race!
The Dubai ruling family, the Maktoums, own substantial chunks of land in and around my constituency. They have massively contributed to the revived success of British horseracing. Over the decades, it has been South African mining magnates to Greek shipowners who have been attracted to owning racehorses trained in Newmarket, which is the world headquarters of racing.
On Friday, the most expensive horse ever run in England, owned by the Maktoums, ran in the first race. Despite being the favourite, it came fourth. Oh dear…and the colt cost over £5 million!
Owning a racehorse can be the most frustrating and most exhilarating experience.
On Friday it was the bookies who were the winners, But that’s racing for you!