Enemy Number One: The Secrets of the UK's Most Feared Professional Punter by Patrick Veitch
Author:Patrick Veitch [Veitch, Patrick]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Biography & Autobiography, Sports, Sports & Recreation, Animal Sports, Horse Racing
ISBN: 9781905156702
Google: wnw4RAAACAAJ
Publisher: Raceform
Published: 2010-04-15T21:59:20+00:00
CHAPTER 15
PROFESSIONAL OWNER
FROM the age of 15, from the moment the betting shop door swung open, I had little doubt that I wanted to make a living from backing horses. At the time it seemed a fantastic way to earn serious money and I still wouldnât swap it for anything. However, as time went by, the intensive nature of some of the work became a little monotonous, and becoming a racehorse owner has definitely spiced up my workload.
Iâm proud that Iâve achieved something almost unique in long-term racehorse ownership â Iâve made a substantial profit. The average racehorse owner in the UK suffers a loss of more than 70p in the pound on his investment, so Iâve needed a combination of detailed research into potential purchases, careful choice of trainers and successful punting to achieve a return. The profit isnât nearly as high per hour worked as from my day-to-day gambling, but the thrill of owning winners, including successes at most of the top meetings, has more than made up for that. Iâve owned the winners of more than 130 races and enjoyed every minute of it.
For simplicity, Iâll refer to the horses as mine, although in most cases Iâve been the majority stakeholder alongside smaller shareholders, often agents or friends. Owners are allowed to register their horses as partnerships, and can choose a partnership name that allows the identity of the partners to be confidential, although the names are submitted to racingâs rulers, the BHA. It has been suggested that all ownersâ names should be fully declared to the public, but I donât agree. Providing they are correctly registered with the authorities, I donât feel it is in racingâs interests to discourage ownership by people who prefer their affairs to be confidential.
When I bought Pevensey in the autumn of 2006, I devoted a huge amount of time to picking him from the 2,000 or so horses for sale at that time. That time spent was rewarded when he won at Royal Ascot the following year. He opened at 16-1 that day, a price that would surely not have been available had the bookmakers been gifted the information that he was my choice from all those horses the previous year. I make no apology for the fact that I have, on most occasions, kept information about horses I own out of the public domain. That hasnât stopped the bookmakers endlessly speculating but, from what Iâve heard, they are wrong so often that I sometimes feel embarrassed for them. If they want to spend their time chasing such information Iâll be happy to organise some wild goose chases for them.
Buying horses is never easy, although Iâve been helped in my shopping by the flexibility of not needing to have a set number in training or a specific type, so I am able to focus on just finding the best value I can. Apart from the breeze-up sales, I rely on my own assessments of the form of a horse, or of its relatives if it has never raced.
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