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Horse racing is an exciting world of speed, high risk and reward. The names of the best trainers and jockeys enter into legend, and owners often include royalty. Therefore, it makes sense that celebrities are often attracted to the sport and horse ownership.
Some of these are well-known while others may keep a low profile at events or they may simply like to ride in privacy. We discuss some horse owners you may not know about.
Geri Horner
Once known as Geri Halliwell, this former Spice Girl is a force to be reckoned with. She was a part of the world-conquering and best-selling female pop group of all time, then forged her solo career. However, she has many other strings to her bow that people often forget about. These include being a children's author, actress and TV presenter, as well as once being a Goodwill Ambassador for the UN.
When unwinding from all this, she uses her downtime to tend to horses. Last year she posted a picture of her racing filly, named Hildie, on Instagram. She also had a horse called Hector, which ran in a race the year before at Newbury Racecourse. Each of the horses comes with a racing name, aptly chosen from the titles of her previous solo hits. These include “Lift Me Up” and “It’s Raining Men.”
Heston Blumenthal
Heston Blumenthal is a very well-known chef in the United Kingdom. He rose to prominence with his flagship restaurant “The Fat Duck” which provided such hearty fare as snail porridge. Situated in Berkshire, it has numerous accolades including three Michelin stars and has held the award for Best Restaurant in the World. As a result, Heston has been a staple of television cooking shows.
While he did not own a horse outright, it has been well-publicised that he was part of a syndicate with other celebrities, including Liz Hurley and Hugh Bonneville. Syndicacy is where people buy shares in a horse and then get a cut of the profit when it wins races and so forth.
Luckily, you don't need a global gastronomy empire to fund shares in racing. Shares in racehorses are now even available at entry-level prices and can be bought as gifts. This has opened ownership up to a whole new world beyond that of royalty and celebrity, meaning anyone could be in the next winning syndicate. You may even be in the same one as Heston.
Jeremy Kyle
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Jeremy Kyle had a long-running talk show in the United Kingdom, where he would interview members of the public on family issues and disputes, and then put them against lie detector tests to attempt to solve their problems. With many a bust-up on the programme, his record in horse racing seems to be faring better than his guests.
A long-time horse enthusiast, he has also been a member of various syndicates. Some of his horses were even trained by the renowned Paul Nicholls and included Black Corton and Old Guard.
There are plenty of others, including Dame Judi Dench and comedian Jack Whitehall. With horse racing and sports ownership exploding in popularity, it can only be a matter of time before we see even more celebs in the racing game.
