HorseRacingQA.com

Depending on your knowledge, experience and, not least, your budget, there are various means by which you can buy a racehorse, or at least a stake in one. Many racehorses are sold at public auction, either one organised by a bloodstock auctioneer, such as Goffs or Tattersalls, or one organised by racecourse authorities immediately following a selling race. If you want to avoid bidding and buy at a fixed price, other options include claiming a horse from a claiming race or buying one directly from a licensed breeder or trainer. Of course, if you are buying a racehorse, outright, for the first time, you should seek advice from a bloodstock agent, or similar professional.

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If you have a limited budget, but still want to enjoy the thrill of racehorse ownership, without viewing it as a money-making exercise, you might like to consider joining a racing club or syndicate, which allows you to buy a stake in one or more racehorses. Reputable syndicates, of which there are many, offer the combination of knowledge, expertise and network of contacts required to be successful. Indeed, they may offer the best chance of winning at a higher level without breaking the bank.

In horse racing parlance, ‘schooling’ is term used to describe the physical and mental preparation

of a horse to jump obstacles – that is, hurdles or fences, depending upon its chosen discipline – on the racecourse. Indeed, regular schooling at home is an integral part of the training regime of any hurdler or steeplechaser, whether to teach jumping skills in the first place, provide periodic reminders of what’s involved and/or to keep the horse sharp, fit and ready to do itself justice.

By contrast, schooling in public refers to the practice of educating, teaching or training horses to race over obstacles not on the gallops at home, but on the racecourse in a real, ‘live’ race. As such, schooling in public is heavily frowned upon, and regulated against, by the British Horseracing Authority (BHA).

The Rules of Racing state that every horse must be ridden to achieve in such a way as the ‘best possible placing’ and asked for a ‘timely, real or substantial effort’. Racecourse stewards will hold an inquiry into the running and riding of any horse suspected of being tenderly handled; typical penalties for schooling in public are a £3,000 fine for the trainer, a 14-day suspension for the jockey and a 40-day ban for the horse concerned.

Although there is still no objective system for doing so, establishing which was the greatest National Hunt horse ever is, perhaps, a little easier than the greatest Flat horse ever. The likes of Golden Miller, Red Rum, Desert Orchid and Kauto Star all have claims but, in terms of superiority over his contemporaries, there can be only one, Arkle. Arkle was awarded the highest Timeform Annual Rating ever, 212, and was so far ahead of every other steeplechaser in training that the Irish Turf Club was forced into deploying two handicap systems, one when Arkle ran and one when he didn’t.

Trained in Co. Dublin by Tom Dreaper and ridden, throughout his career, by Pat Taaffe, Arkle won 22 of his 26 steeplechases between 1962 and 1966. In that four-year period, his winning tally famously including a hat-trick in the Cheltenham Gold Cup, in 1964, 1965 and 1966, but also the Irish Grand National, King George VI Chase, Hennessy Gold Cup (twice) and Whitbread Gold Cup. He never fell or unseated rider and, in all that time, was beaten by just half a dozen horses. Mill House, whom he beat by 5 lengths in the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 1964, and by 20 lengths the following year, was hitherto considered the greatest steeplechaser since Golden Miller.