On the gallops at Newmarket’s Warren Hill, a group of four riders dressed in beige jackets and caps approach at a brisk canter, their horses’ hooves drumming and manes flying.
Trainer Luca Cumani – who has produced two Derby winners among a host of other champions – looks on with an expert eye.
He’s not entirely happy. ‘Come on girls,’ he says, ‘I’m trying to make athletes here, not sleeping policemen.’
His audience, standing in an interested huddle on the hill’s higher slopes, is a group of owners from Highclere Thoroughbred Racing.
One of the syndicate’s horses, the two-year-old Royal Ballet, is rapidly approaching. Cumani turns his attention to it.
‘He’s grown in proportion. They can grow all over the place, but he looks terrific – very compact. He looks like a three-year-old already. He looks about ready.’
That is probably an exciting prospect for the owners. Highclere markets itself as the most successful horse racing syndicate in Europe and with good reason.
It was the first to produce a Classic winner and has enjoyed numerous on-course successes, even if two of its latest hopefuls, Vow (in the Oaks) and Bonfire (in the Derby) came up short.
Much of the company’s success is down to the experience, and contacts, of Highclere’s chairman and managing director, Harry Herbert, whose father, the 7th Earl of Carnavon, was racing manager to HM Queen Elizabeth II.
In addition, Herbert’s brother-in-law, John Warren, is not only Her Majesty’s current bloodstock and racing advisor, but also oversees the purchase of all Highclere’s horses.
Bought as yearlings, these are then placed with an impressive selection of trainers including Cumani, Sir Michael Stoute and Sir Henry Cecil.
It’s access to that kind of expertise that marks out Highclere, says Herbert.
‘All the top trainers know how we operate. John Warren buys nice horses as yearlings, we run the business professionally and it doesn’t interrupt [the trainers’] flow.’
It helps that Herbert has known the likes of Michael Stoute for a rather long time. ‘When I was starting out [in the early 1990s] he was very keen to train for us,’ he says. ‘We’ve won four races at Royal Ascot with Sir Michael – we’ve had amazing consistency with him.’
Today’s Highclere itinerary involves visits to the Newmarket Stables of Cumani, Stoute and Cecil, as well as a lengthy period out on the gallops seeing the horses going through their paces.
‘These are something that’s very much part of the experience of being an owner,’ says Herbert.
Highclere’s syndicates number between 10 and 20 owners and contain one or two horses, with shares costing from around £6,000 up to more than £40,000. Syndicates tend to take their name from a great figure of racing and the group watching Royal Ballet is from the Lord Mayor – named after Sir William McArthur, a devotee of the sport who was also Lord Mayor of London in the late 19th century.
The Highclere owners today begin with a visit to Stoute’s stables, where two of the company’s three-year-olds, Commend and Pistol, are among a troop of thoroughbreds walking around a parade ring prior to heading out to the gallops.
Typical of the company’s horses these two have impressive pedigrees and each has finished in the prize money on several occasions in 2012.
While this morning’s riders are in purely practical kit, complete with body protectors and helmets, Highclere’s horses are easily recognisable on race courses, their jockeys wearing distinctive blue silks.
‘Our colours are very well known,’ says Herbert. ‘They’re part of our brand. My father gave me his second set of silks which are Eton blue with a sapphire blue cap. I wanted something that was similar to that, and found out that light blue with dark blue cap and armlets was available. The cap is velvet, which offsets the silks really well and adds a touch of class.’
As they traverse the covered paddock, however, the horses are recognisable in a more prosaic way, with Commend’s and Pistol’s riders wearing bright orange cap-covers.
Next on the list is a visit to Cecil’s impressive stables, where the owners see Majesty – a handsome Highclere colt of whom great things are hoped – and catch a glimpse of a racing superstar, Frankel.
This horse, owned by Prince Khalid Abdulla, won both the 2,000 Guineas and Queen Elizabeth II Stakes in 2011.
In between an update on Majesty’s fitness, there’s an animated discussion on the subject of the breakfast at Newmarket’s Jockey Club Rooms – where the Highclere owners stay on their visits to the town. It’s an impressive spread, by all accounts.
Then it’s back off to the gallops, in the company of Cecil this time. Trainer Michael Bell – another who works with Highclere – also has horses at work and rides over for a chat. He’s eager to provide an insight into his animals.
‘There’s the winner of the [Cheltenham] Gold Cup in a few years’ time,’ he says, as one powerful-looking horse moves easily up the hill.
There’s a certain jovial banter among the trainers. The previous day Bell had five runners in action, but none of them was successful. That news has clearly done the rounds.
‘How did your five winners go yesterday?’ asks Cecil, with a grin, before suggesting Bell is making up the names of passing horses.
It is an entertaining conclusion to the owners’ excursion and hopefully one that provides another enjoyable aspect to their membership of Highclere Thoroughbred Racing.
The Facts
Highclere Thoroughbred Racing is based at the Highclere Stud, in the grounds of Highclere Castle near Newbury in Berkshire. The company’s horses are broken in here before being sent to their respective trainers.
Owners have the opportunity to see their horses for the first time at the Yearling Parades, held annually at the stud. They can they see them progressing with their trainers through regular visits organised by the company.
Highclere has had many winners in recent years with the most successful being Harbinger, who won 2010 George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes in a track record time.
The company sells its horses at the end of their four-year-old season. The duration of each syndicate differs, but generally lasts for a minimum of two seasons.
This guarantees a time-limit to owners’ commitments.
At the dissolution of the syndicate prize money is divided among the owners.
www.highclereracing.co.uk
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