The Hawkstonian, the racehorse owned by a syndicate fronted by Jeremy Clarkson and set up by Old Gold Racing, will make his debut at Uttoxeter on Friday.
Having been bought for €45,000 by Highflyer Bloodstock and Ben Pauling at the sales in June of 2023, Old Gold Racing put together the syndicate for Mr Clarkson.
The 3,250 shares were quickly snapped up at £60 each in April earlier this year.
Mr Pauling has been impressed with the son of Jukebox Jury since arriving at his base in the Cotswolds.
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“From day one he always seemed a nice individual,” he said.
“He’s been in the yard since the backend of last season, and he’s been a joy to train.
“He takes it all in his stride and is a very straightforward customer, which isn’t always the case at this early stage of their careers.”
Pauling’s link to Mr Clarkson is made stronger by the fact that the Pauling family originally worked the land that is now Clarkson’s Diddly Squat Farm and taught Clarkson’s Farm star Kaleb Cooper how to farm.
Though it’s very early days for The Hawkstonian, Mr Pauling has high hopes for Clarkson’s first-ever runner.
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“His work at home has been very good,” he added.
“He’s got a great brain on him and we just hope he can be nice and professional on debut.
“He settles into his exercise at home very well, so hopefully he can do the same on the track.”
“On a scale of Morris Minor to Ferrari – for the sake of Jeremy’s [Clarkson] understanding – we’re hoping that he’s closer to the Ferrari end.
“He’s certainly one of the nicer four-year-olds we’ve got this season, so we’re excited to see him on the track.”
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On the model of racehorse ownership syndication, such as that run by Old Gold Racing, Mr Pauling added: “Without doubt these multi-share ownership syndicates are brilliant.
“Syndicates like Old Gold Racing are allowing a lot of people into ownership that otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford a larger share.
“I can only see this concept of ownership becoming more and more popular over the years.”
Ed Seyfried, CEO of Old Gold Racing, added: “I just love that The Hawkstonian syndicate is bringing the experience of racehorse ownership to so many people so inexpensively whilst helping Jeremy Clarkson and the Hawkstone Brewery back British farming – even his oats are British.
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“Racing syndicates like these really are a wonderful opportunity for anyone to get involved in racehorse ownership.”
The Hawkstonian will run in the final race on the card at Uttoxeter on Friday at 4.22pm and will be ridden by Ben Jones.
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