Why A Major British Owner Is Resigned To Selling After Big-Race Win

Fresh from recording one of his biggest paydays as an owner when Amichi (Ire) (Gutaifan {Ire}) stormed to victory in the Tattersalls Somerville Auction S. at Newmarket on Saturday, Laurence Bellman has admitted that the Ed Walker-trained juvenile is likely to continue his career abroad.

But first, Bellman is excited to roll the dice at another valuable sales race, the £150,000 Tattersalls October Auction S. in October. After that, the property developer expects to field offers from abroad for the gelding and explained why it is becoming increasingly difficult as an owner in Britain to resist the temptation to sell.

“Amichi does not owe me anything but the rest of the horses I have in training have to be paid for by the one or two that I am able to sell,” Bellman said. “If I get that right offer, he may have to be sold but, before then, the plan is to run him in the big sales race at Newmarket in October.”

He added, “If I ran it [ownership] as a business I'd have gone bankrupt two or three times over. You do it for the passion and, when something like Amichi winning the Sommerville Auction S. happens, when you are lucky enough to win three or four times what the horse cost in one scoop, that is something else.”

Ed Sackville, who buys all of Bellman's horses, came up trumps with Amichi, recruited from Yeomanstown Stud in Ireland at last year's Tattersalls Somerville Sale for just 15,500gns.

Bellman has 21 horses in training and he expects that Amichi, named after the nickname he gave Sackville, to be worth a multitude of that initial price tag now.

That's not to say that Amichi has always looked well-bought. After running no sort of a race at Newbury on debut, connections decided to geld Amichi, and they have not looked back since.

Bellman explained, “Ed always liked him but he was a randy little bugger to begin with. He kept on getting himself into trouble by trying to mount everything at home in the yard–and it wasn't just the fillies, either. He tried to mount another colt one day and he got a kick in the stomach for his troubles.

“He was showing enough to suggest he might win a maiden or maybe even shape up into being a Royal Ascot contender. Apart from being a bit naughty, he was doing all of the right things at home.”

The owner added, “He was so off it that day at Newbury, not focussed at all, and Richard [Kingscote] came back in and told us to completely dismiss it as he wasn't concentrating and was more concerned about what was going on around him. We gelded him within 48 hours of that run and he came out of that well.

“Ed was quietly confident that he'd run well at Kempton and said he was a good each-way price at 10-1. Fortunately, he won well and, while Ed didn't think he was savvy enough with effectively just one run under his belt to land the big sales race at Newmarket, we were delighted to see him go and win.”

Amichi is now rated 87 with promise of more to come and, while Bellman is happy to roll the dice at Newmarket in October, he's not sure if he will be able to retain the gelding beyond that.

“He's been rated 87 this [Tuesday] morning and we hope he's better than that,” Bellman said. “The complete shame about the whole thing is, if someone from abroad makes an offer, I will just have to say yes as I will not win the prize-money over here to justify turning down what could be on the table.

“Obviously, if he did win the sales race at Newmarket in October, it would take his earnings past something in the region of £140,000. That is all 'if', and that would be fantastic if he did win the sales race, but if he was running abroad, that's what they'd get for winning one or two ordinary races out there.

“When you buy a horse for 15,500gns and then someone wants to pay you 20 times that amount, it's hard to say no to that, isn't it?”

If Amichi is sold to continue his career abroad, he won't be the first horse of Bellman's to have charted such a path. The owner accepted an offer from Hong Kong last year for three-time winner Alabama Boy (Ire), also trained by Walker, and concluded that such sales were necessary to keep the lights switched on.

He said, “I have 36 horses in training–15 of those are in the Horse Watchers Syndicate, which is brilliant, and I own 10% shares in each of those. So 21 are in my own name. I've sold good horses abroad in the past.

“Last year, we sold Alabama Boy [now Zoom Boom (Ire) (Awtaad {Ire})] to go to Hong Kong. He cost us €35,000 and, after winning three races for us, we got 10 times that amount to sell him abroad.

“I'm not saying I want to sell my best horses but, I actually think that, if you own a horse in this country and it manages to win two races for example, that will just about cover your training fees for the year and that's not even mentioning the cost of the horse.”

He added, “There was a time, I think it was five years ago, when I had eight winners between five different horses and the winnings didn't even pay for the upkeep of those horses over what was a four-month period.

“But, like I said, it's my passion. The whole industry is unbalanced and the wrong people are in power and have control of all the money. It's the owners and the trainers who are not benefiting and they are the ones who provide the horses for entertainment.”