ROA Board

What is the day job?  

I am a Business Angel, funding start-ups in the medical and medical device fields. I built up several companies in this area after I started working for myself in 2007, and when I sold them, I decided to invest again, becoming a Business Angel. It allows me to give something back to the industry, whilst also understanding the problems and pressures associated with start-ups. I am able to mentor those involved as well as contribute financially. 

Why did you get involved in racing politics? 

I have essentially retired, as I am no longer looking for new businesses to invest in. However, I missed being busy and wanted to get involved in something whereby my opinion would be sought and valued. I saw the article in Owner Breeder looking for perspective Board members and I saw it as my chance to give back to racing, which has been good to me. As an owner, I know what a huge investment we make in racing and that it is often not commensurate with the rewards on offer. Members pay their subscriptions in order for us to fight their corner – I hope to encourage us to stand up for ourselves and have a firmer voice. 

How has your background/upbringing influenced your views? 

I was brought up in Walthamstow, as the youngest of four children. My mother worked at Hackney and Walthamstow dog tracks – settling dividends for the Tote with mental arithmetic - long before computers did the job, so betting and gambling were around me as a child! I was brought up to respect others, treat everyone the same, and believe that I am no better or worse than anyone else – a perspective that has set me in good stead in the business world. I would like to think I am also carrying this into the racing sphere as well. 

How long have you owned horses and how much success have you had?  

After I relocated back to the UK from Dubai, I went racing for the first time with a work outing. It was that introduction at Newmarket’s July Course that made me fall in love with racing. Within a year I had joined a syndicate, and more rapidly followed! I first became a sole owner in 2000 with The Cottonwool Kid, who won his first race in my colours.

Probably my favourite horse has been Broke Road. He was only small, but he tried so hard and won nine out of his 46 races for me over jumps. On the Flat I have been lucky enough to have shares in the winners of Listed races with Russian Punch and Vintage Brut. But as with all owners, I have also experienced the loss of a horse, and the frustrations of needing to be patient with one. 

What do you love/hate about racing? 

I like the buzz of being at the races, whether it's Fakenham or Royal Ascot. I've had runners at both and they can equally give a great thrill. Not only is racing a great leveller, it also confirms my outlook that we are all equal on or under the Turf. I don’t necessarily hate anything about racing but do have the usual infuriation about prize-money – which I believe needs to be distributed more evenly – and on the various fees which always seem to hit owners. There is a balance to be struck, which means the owner does not always foot the bill. 

What are the immediate priorities for the sport?  

The sport must be properly financed. The recent levy problems have highlighted that there is only a finite income and prize-money will not be growing any time soon – yet costs keep going up. Unless you are at the top of the pyramid, owners get a poor return on their investment and it's our job to change that. Racing, and racecourses in particular, need to embrace and welcome syndicates – they are the future of ownership because of the rising costs of owning, and are where most sole owners start their journey. 

 Which horse would you most like to have owned?

Probably Antonin or Docklands Express; it was another one of those good days on track which lives long in the memory. It was the 1994 Racing Post Chase at Kempton and I got the forecast up! 

What is your favourite day's racing?

My wife and I were invited to a corporate outing to Ascot. No one really had any idea about racing, so I showed them around and gave them pointers. I managed to tip the winners of the first five races and a horse that placed in the sixth and never had to buy a drink all day!  

What is your racing ambition?

Simply to leave racing in a position better than I found it. 

What is the day job? 

I am the Chief Economist at Aletheia Capital Ltd, an independent research provider for institutional investors based in Hong Kong.  

Why did you get involved in racing politics?  

I don’t really consider my Board position as getting involved in ‘racing politics’. All I am concerned about is getting a better deal for British owners. So many other jurisdictions seem to be able to balance the racing programme with a decent return to owners, why can’t we? Anything I can help with to reduce the costs to owners and increasing prize-money to them will have my fullest attention. 

How has your background/upbringing influenced your views?  

Having spent most of the last 30 years in Hong Kong, I have seen it go from a racing backwater (in 1990 the quality of HK racing was no better than Class 5 or 6 here today) to one of the premier racing jurisdictions in the world. It did so by concentrating on quality (and reducing corruption) and, principally, by rewarding the people that supply the product – owners.  

Having a third-placed horse in a Hong Kong Class 5 (the lowest class) would pay training fees for at least three months. That is something that UK owners won’t even be able to comprehend. As an economist, we can’t just keep hoping that people will pile money into the sport without any hope of a positive return. That is the way to kill off the business.  

The current situation leads to the inevitable sale of many of our top horses to other jurisdictions. That is what the treatment of owners leads to, and yet still some in the industry don’t understand why it is happening.  

How long have you owned horses and how much success have you had?  

I returned to live in the UK for a few years in 1998 and bought my first horse – with Linda Perratt – in 1999. I have had horses in the UK ever since, mostly with William Jarvis and Charlie and Mark Johnston. I had horses in Hong Kong with Caspar Fownes, John Moore and David Hall. As for success, not enough! But every owner is greedy for more. By far the best horse I have owned was Subjectivist, winner of the Gold Cup in 2021.  

What do you love/hate about racing? 

It might be an odd answer but what I really love is the puzzle of figuring out how best to a) buy a horse with potential and b) place one that has shown their form to win a race – that’s the hard part for some of them! I really like taking some money off the bookies as well – not that I have ever triggered any affordability checks!  

I hate paying entry fees (not a feature of Hong Kong racing) and not knowing how much racecourses are being paid by the media to sell the rights to my horse to the betting public. How come the middleman in the generation of the product gets to keep all the money from selling someone else’s goods? 

What are the immediate priorities for the sport? 

Restructuring. Since joining the Board of the ROA I have become painfully aware of just how many fingers are in the racing pie and how many vested interests there are. It all leads to frustrating inertia. The whole racing management structure is broken and needs to be streamlined and re-engineered. If I have to hear “that’s the way it has always been” one more time as an explanation for why we can’t change the rules or change the system for the better, I think I’ll go mad.  

What is your favourite day's racing?

Thursday, June 17, 2021, when Subjectivist won the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot. 

Which horse would you most like to have owned?

Easy – Desert Orchid, although it would have been Roman Warrior on the Flat. 

What is your racing ambition?

To breed a Group winner from Subjectivist.