SYNDICATE OWNER STEVE’S IN ‘DREAMLAND’

Features | 19th August 2024

Imagine having an involvement in three runners at this week’s Ebor Festival at York. You may think it’s only the biggest owners who can afford that kind of experience, but retired quantity surveyor Steve Flint will be rubbing shoulders with them all.

Steve has shares in Middleham Park Racing’s Got To Love A Grey, Dear My Friend (above image) and Clarendon House, who are all set to appear at one of racing’s most prestigious meetings.

“I’m in dreamland,” exclaims Steve, 68, who has shouted home 75 winners since taking out his first share back in 2017 and has high hopes of adding to that tally on The Knavesmire.

“Got To Love A Grey will run in the fillies’ sprint handicap on the opening day and must have a great chance after running a big race at Glorious Goodwood.

“Dear My Friend is in the big mile handicap on day two and then Clarendon House will take his chance in the Group 1 Nunthorpe Stakes on Friday. How exciting is that!”

Steve post-race at Beverley

Steve, from Guisborough, is no stranger to success at the highest level as a Middleham Park shareholder. He was part of the syndicate behind Group 1 heroine The Platinum Queen, who won the Prix de l’Abbaye in France in 2022.

He’s also cheered home Group 3 winner Marie’s Diamond and Champions’ Day hero The Gatekeeper as well as three Listed scorers this year already. In all he has an interest in 14 different horses in the distinctive sky blue silks with top trainers including Charlie Johnston, Karl Burke, Richard Fahey and Hugo Palmer.

“My late wife encouraged me to get involved in a syndicate when I retired just over seven years ago when I needed a hobby and the first two horses I bought into cost me around £1,000 each,” he recalls.

“Unbelievably my first runner was a winner. Simmy’s Copshop beat top two-year-old Havana Grey on his debut at Nottingham and then ran in the Windsor Castle Stakes at Royal Ascot. Ventura Knight also turned out to be very good. He won seven times and was Listed placed, so you can see why I got the bug.”

Clarendon House winning at York in May 2024

Owning a share in a racehorse was a long-term ambition for Steve, a lifelong racing enthusiast. “I got into racing watching it on a black and white telly with my dad and grandad,” he recalls.

“Back then I could never have dreamed about having winners of my own. I’ve been to Royal Ascot, Epsom and all the big meetings. Even Dubai. I’ve had shares in around 30 horses now and have made so many precious memories and a lot of good friends along the way.

“I can‘t think of any other hobby that offers you the same level of excitement as racing and it’s all surprisingly affordable. The buzz of having a winner at a big meeting, travelling around the country and abroad to watch your horses run, and the social side of it is just amazing.

For me, racing mirrors life itself. You experience the highs and the lows but I’ve been very fortunate. Other shareholders come up and shake my hand now, hoping my luck will rub off on them. Hopefully it will continue at York.”

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