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What will the once-a-year RP reader make of this?
I will give my opinion on this once I get a proper connection but for now I’ll just say to DJ, I hope you never win a championship race at Cheltenham because you represent all that is wrong with the sport.
All anyone will learn from the article is that David Johnson has been prudent in reducing his costs in these harsh economic times.
They will also learn he said he
probably
would get rid of some horses.
David Johnson has put over several million pounds into racing not only by purchasing horses and sponsoring races but by in directly paying for stable staff, vets, blacksmiths etc etc etc.
Mr Johnson has had to re capalitise his money lending operation recently and must have been hit along with all banks in having to write off a lot of bad debt.
It is not only horse racing that he has had to cut down on he has also recently disposed of the large helicopter he once owned.
As he explained in the RP yesterday some of the 80 horses he owns have not raced for a year yet every single one has cost him around 20K just to eat grass.
Its not as if he will make a profit when selling them just a simple way to cut costs.
RE:
Its not as if he will make a profit when selling them just a simple way to cut costs.I would be concerned about where these horses will end up as presumably he’ll be letting go of the ones who are no longer likely to win …
£20K costs for each one out at grass … ????!!!!
to be fair you have to feel sorry for the man , i mean if he has had to sell his chopper
What will the once-a-year RP reader make of this?
More mythical people for racing to be concerned about, like the use of the whip in the sport the article will surely turn people away from racing in their droves who otherwise would have been in it for life.
to be fair you have to feel sorry for the man , i mean if he has had to sell his chopper
I agree, having to sell your Chopper
and
reduce the size of your string to a mere 25 horses in training must be devastating. Although probably not quite as devastating as for the 400 employees he’s just had to lay off.
£20K costs for each one out at grass … ????!!!!
Thats exactly what I thought. If you were to believe everything that is in the RP, you’d have to wonder how such an obviously business minded man could be so ripped off.
If DJ is downsizing his operation then I fear for Pond House as he was the only power owner they had left. Martin got out at the right time it would have been awful to see him slipping down the ranks behind inferior trainers.
Saying that there could be some bargains to be had,its amazing how a horse can come out of a big yard and go to a smaller trainer who can spend more time on them and they improve big time.
He seems to have got rid of his sourest charges already, Copeland, Korelo and Marcel spring to mind.
I can’t see the problem with him selling of some of his string, it’s not as if he’s said he’s going to slit their throats and dance naked in the blood that spurts out to save himself some money.
I’d imagine the once a year RP reader would think "so what?"
I would think that the once a year RP reader wouldn’t have a clue who David Johnson is.
I’m thinking Kotkijet’s point lies in the region of it sounding as if Johnson has little feeling for his horses and treats them as commodities……..just like selling off a few shares.
Whether the average RP reader gives a feck is something else.
Colin
I wonder if Timmy will continue as retained jockey, If DJ is gonna be down to 25 horses it would seem extravagant. Anyway he will find an opening somewhere, too good not to.
Saying that there could be some bargains to be had,its amazing how a horse can come out of a big yard and go to a smaller trainer who can spend more time on them and they improve big time.
How many horses have "improved big time" after leaving the Pipe’s regime?
He seems to have got rid of his sourest charges already, Copeland, Korelo and Marcel spring to mind.
I can’t see the problem with him selling of some of his string, it’s not as if he’s said he’s going to slit their throats and dance naked in the blood that spurts out to save himself some money.
I’d imagine the once a year RP reader would think "so what?"
He still owns Marcel to my knowledge. It is up north with Montieth alongside other ex Pipe cast offs.
Thought he did well to get rid of Marodima, previously trained by Nicholls. Eked some wins out of this wild front runner, was badly h’capped and done nothing sense.I wonder if Timmy will continue as retained jockey, If DJ is gonna be down to 25 horses it would seem extravagant. Anyway he will find an opening somewhere, too good not to.
There were recent racecourse rumours linking Timmy with the Howard Johnson job. Seemed to be no obvious basis- O’Regan was injured and Timmy just filling in
David Johnson rose from humble roots as a docker’s son to become a hugely succesful businessman.He may or may not be hard nosed- I don’t know the man.His financial business "Commercial First" proved susceptible to the economic downturn and he has had to make 400 staff redundant. Under the circumstances it seems prudent and sensitive to substantially downsize his string , pull the plug on a lucrative race sponsorship in the name of Commercial First and sell his helicopter.Over the years he has put millions into the jump racing industry and it is not as if he has residual stud assets.I think his comment "they are not pets" referring to his racehorses may have upset animal lovers, but I’m sure he was just making a pragmatic comment. He didn’t say he was sending them down to the glue factory. His downsizing is not all recent news- he hasn’t visited many sales and has some store horses in the pipeline.
Not good news for the Pipes , who were very dependant on him. He had began to diversify and have horses with Nicholls, Montieth, F Murphy and Powell anyway. David has tried to attract alternative owners.
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