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A phrase heard and used many a time by owners before a race.
I’m thinking you are there to win, that comes first in your mind. If you was that worried you wouldn’t run the horse.
I’ve owned on and off for over forty years, flat and jumps with half a dozen different trainers. And I don’t think I ever uttered that cliche, but I can certainly identify with the sentiment it expresses.
Equally I don’t think winning the race was ever the main thought when I was at a meeting to watch one of them run. I’m sure it’s different for the likes of Coolmore and Godolphin, but my approach was to enjoy the day, enjoy being part of the sport I love, and take each race as it comes.
A win was always a great pleasure, as it was often the result of planning that I’d done, both in the buying of the horse and the choosing of the races in which it ran. But I certainly wanted the horse to return sound and to at least show signs that it was still enjoying the business of racing. Because both those things would be necessary to start looking towards the next outing.
If you go racing, probably midweek somewhere quiet, make a point of going to the area where the beaten horses are unsaddled – excuses corner as my first trainer used to call it. The jockey and trainer may look serious and/or unhappy, but you’ll see most owners still patting the horse, talking to the lad or lass that looks after it, and probably smiling and still making the most of the day.
I was trying to think of something that works on the same level as owning a racehorse, and the best I came up with is the Olympics. There are people who dedicate much of their time to excelling at some obscure event that only ever gets on TV once every four years – canoeing, shooting, etc. And they almost all would say that the objective is to become an Olympian, with the chance of a medal as very much a possible bonus, rather the primary objective.
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