With flat racing currently taking its winter break, I've had a little time to catch up on a few admin tasks and have also had a chance to finally put together the next issue of our Newsletter.
Below I've provided an update on all of the PCRC horse and given a brief overview of their future plans as they currently stand. For a whole host of reasons, now is a great time to get involved with some of our horses.
DREAM COMPOSER
AGE: 5
WINS: 8
OR: 91
TRAINER: JAMES EVANS
Dream Composer once again had a stellar season for us, landing wins at some of the UK's most prestigious tracks. He lost his way a little in the backend of the season but in his defence, he had some excuses and thankfully, the handicapper has given him some relief as he's now 6lb below his last winning mark. He's currently having a well earned winter break and I would imagine that James Evans will look to plot a similar path with him next season. He remains our stable star as he's been a real credit to both us and James, and we are all excited for his return in 2024.
GET INVOLVED: Shares in Dream Composer are available as part of our epic Syndicate Bundle. A one off payment of just £100.00 gets you a share in both him and Justcallmepete for the next 12 months, with nothing further to pay during the syndicate period. The best part is, with only 50-60 people currently in each syndicate, you're basically guaranteed the chance to go racing which is not something which most micro share syndicates can say! #Itstimetodream
JUSTCALLMEPETE
AGE: 4
WINS: 6
OR: 90
TRAINER: JAMES EVANS
I think it is fair to say that Pete was a bit of a slow learner despite showing promise early in his career. The penny finally dropped in the later stages of 2022 though and we haven't looked back since. He's been kept busy this year, winning three times and finishing 2nd on four occasions. He also finished 5th in last year's All Weather Championship and collected a £38,500 bonus in the process. Whilst he's a horse that thrives on racing, he's now having a winter break as well and will return in 2024, ready and raring to go. It will be fascinating to see whether he can challenge Dream Composer next season for the top spot in the yard. It certainly won't be easy for him but I have a sneaky suspicion that he might just get it done.
GET INVOLVED: Shares in Justcallmepete are available as part of our epic Syndicate Bundle. A one off payment of just £100.00 gets you a share in both him and Dream Composer for the next 12 months, with nothing further to pay during the syndicate period. The best part is, with only 50-60 people currently in each syndicate, you're basically guaranteed the chance to go racing which is not something which most micro share syndicates can say! #Eatsleeprepete
MASQOOL
AGE: 5
WINS: 7
OR: 67
TRAINER: JAMES EVANS
As a Syndicate Manager I'm probably not supposed to have favourites but there's no doubt that Mac is mine. He may not have the class or physique of some of his stablemates but he's a real trier and most importantly, he's consistent, versatile and robust. This is evidenced by the fact that he's won at four different AW tracks and over five different trips. Not many horses in the UK can say that! Having done a lot of winning in 2022, he's struggled a little this season having moved up a few class brackets. However, he's still had a couple of wins and the handicapper has finally started to relent as he's now one pound below his last winning mark. He's another one of our horses who will hopefully be adding to his winning tally sooner rather than later.
GET INVOLVED: A discounted 1% in Masqool can currently be purchased for £200 together with a continuing monthly payment of £25.00. I may be a little biased, but if I was going to buy into any PCRC horse right now, it would be him. #Returnofthemac
GERROTS
AGE: 5
WINS: 0
OR: 45
TRAINER: DEBORAH FAULKNER
I could probably write an epic saga about the trials and tribulations we've had with Gerry over the last few years. He's this loveable problem child who makes friends everywhere he goes but just can't quite get the job done. He has bundles of personality and whilst he's ultimately not developed into the horse we hoped he would be, he's taught us so much about the highs and lows of racing and how you have to manage expectations. Having started off with James, we moved him to John Wainwright's in the Spring in the hope that a change of scenery and a switch to the northern tracks would help Gerry to find himself and his level. To be fair to John and his wife Fiona, they did a wonderful job with him. Although they didn't manage to get that elusive win, he regained his confidence and found his level. He's now in the care of Deborah Faulkner and he ran a cracker for her on first start, finishing 2nd. Following that run we'd hoped that a win was just around the corner, but he was then involved in a farcical race on his next start. We've elected to put a line through that run and the hope is that he can shake it off when he returns later this month. He's the only PCRC horse we've purchased who hasn't managed to win and we'd love nothing more than to change that.
GET INVOLVED: There are no shares currently available in Gerry but if he wins in the next few weeks, then everyone will be invited to come and celebrate with us!
SERIOUS LOOK
AGE: 3
WINS: 1
OR: 73
TRAINER: DEBORAH FAULKNER
This horse is a new recruit. He was purchased by Tom Faulkner in the summer and has settled in well to his new home. He had a few issues for his prior connections but Deborah and Tom have been ironing out the creases since he arrived and he should be ready to have a few spins on the AW sooner rather than later. Ultimately, he's going to be one for the turf in the spring and he should give his owners plenty of fun. You take one look at him and instantly know that he's a Dark Angel.
GET INVOLVED: We have one 5% share remaining in Serious Look. The buy in is set at £500 and there is a continuing monthly fee of £70. There are only going to be ten Shareholders in this syndicate so it's a nice option for those that want a more intimate ownership experience. #Letsgetserious
ROBERT WALPOLE
AGE: 6
WINS: 2
OR: 72
TRAINER: JAMES EVANS
We had very high hopes for Bobby when we purchased him out of a HIT sale in October last year. He'd looked progressive for Roger Varian, and we were happy to disregard his runs over hurdles for Dan Skelton. Having settled in at James' he was showing plenty of promise but then he suffered a setback in the early part of 2023. As with any horse that suffers a setback, horse welfare becomes your primary concern and thankfully, with James, we have a trainer who always has horse welfare at the forefront of his mind. It's been a long road back for Bobby and we continue to take baby steps with him, but his mechanics remain unchanged, he had an enjoyable outing at Wolves a few weeks ago, and we remain hopeful that we will get him back to where he belongs in the coming months.
GET INVOLVED: There are currently no shares available in Robert Walpole.
VILLAZON
AGE: 3
WINS: 0
OR: 0
TRAINER: DEBORAH FAULKNER
This son of Cracksman is our latest purchase. We bought him out of a HIT sale in August for just £5,775 and he's certainly an intriguing character.
His Dam (Perfect Note) was a winner at a mile and was also a half sister to the precocious, Claremont. The Granddam was a multiple Group 1 winner over middle distances as well. Perfect Note’s prior progeny have so far recorded five wins between them and as you'd expect, four of those wins came over distances in excess of 1m 4f. Furthermore, two of the Dam’s progeny (Romance Story & Strathspey) have already had success as Broodmares themselves. Romance Story has a three year old filly called Robinie, who is of particular interest, as she is also by Cracksman. She recorded her first win in June of this year in a handicap at Saint Cloud over 1m 6f.
To date Villazon has had just one run in his career and that came for John Gosden in a maiden at Windsor over 1m 2f (soft ground). He was slowly away that day but warmed to the task, finishing 3rd despite showing clear signs of greenness. He was awarded an RPR of 73 (OR 66). The form of that race is yet to really be tested but the winner (Circuit Breaker) sold for £260,000 back in October to Jonjo O'Neill having progressed to a mark of 89 on the flat.
Obviously, it is still early days for Villa but he's showing us all the right signs at home now and our plan will be to get him a handicap in the coming months and then look to progress up the ranks as he steps up in trip. There's also the potential option for him to go hurdling at some point in the future, as he has plenty of size, will stay all day and has the required constitution. His first task though will be to get off the mark on the flat before we start dreaming about Cheltenham and Aintree 😂
GET INVOLVED: Shares in Villazon will be available on our website from the 1st December. The minimum buy in will either be 5% or 10% (I haven't decided which yet) and there will be a continuing monthly payment in respect of horse related expenses. Despite my belief that he's very well bought, he will be syndicated at cost price and he's the kind of horse we've done extremely well with in the past. We expect he'll sell out very quickly. #Justsaying #UpTheVilla
FINAL THOUGHTS
At the start of 2023 we sat down as a team and set our targets for the year. We knew it was unrealistic to try to better our winning haul of 15 from last season so our primary target was to improve upon our prize money. Having banked £112,000 last year, we have so far amassed £177,323 in 2023, including the bonus Pete won back in April. That's an increase of 57% and we still have a month left to add to it. Obviously, we can't take much credit for that success as it's largely down to James Evans, his team, our jockeys, and of course the horses themselves. Whilst we may have already accomplished our primary mission this year, we'd still love to get our win tally for the year up to 10 as well. That may be wishful thinking, but with James' yard in such fine form and with Team Faulkner ready and raring to go, we might just pull it off!
Thank you for taking the time to read my ramblings. Hopefully those of you who are not involved with PCRC will be joining us very soon and you can access our store page by clicking the button below.
All the best,
Jordan Evans
Syndicate Manger
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