Swapping Scrums For Silks

Features | 23rd March 2020

A long‐time love of Leicester Tigers has seen leading Newmarket trainer Robert Cowell link up with the rugby club to promote a new racing syndicate designed to bring fans of one sport into contact with another.

Cowell, who has trained a host of top‐class performers from his Bottisham Stud base at Six Mile Bottom in Newmarket, is best known for his handling of sprinters, his best‐known speed stars including Prohibit, Jwala and Kingsgate Native. He is a passionate advocate for involving his owners as much as possible into the life of the yard what they want and this latest experiment will not surprise anyone who already has an involvement in Cowell’s stable.

The Tigers Racing Syndicate will see one or two yearlings bought and raced next year as two‐year‐ olds for a partnership that could well include both Tigers fans and players, if Cowell can convince Leicester supporters to become involved in a project that has the backing of English rugby union star Ben Youngs.

Youngs, who is fast approaching a century of caps for his country, is something of a legend among Tigers fans, having played for the club for well over a decade.

Earlier this month, Cowell pounced when the opportunity came to sponsor the player, having first met Youngs and a number of other players at the club during his years as a supporter.

“After I first met Ben, we stayed in touch and when the chance came up to sponsor him, I thought it was a good opportunity,” explains Cowell. “Over the years, I’ve come to know a few of the staff and players and I really do love the club – I have been going six or seven times a year, but now I am more involved, I’m hoping to get more games.

“A few months ago, I took my son and a good friend to a match. We had a nice meal and of the 10 people in my table, eight of them were racing fanatics. The experience got me thinking about the potential crossover between the sports.

“To some extent, it’s an experiment, because I’m not sure what demand there is going to be, but the aim will be to race the horse or horses at Leicester or tracks relatively close by in the Midlands or at Newmarket so those involved won’t have to travel too far.”

Youngs was already a keen racing fan and Cowell says he is looking forward to having the player and his family come to his yard, meet the horses and design a new set of silks for the partnership.

“I think a lot of the players already have at least a passing interest in racing – they like to go to Leicester races together for some fun and a flutter – and if we can get some of them involved then that would be brilliant,” the trainer continues.

“The aim will be for it a very affordable syndicate though so that supporters of the club, who perhaps haven’t done anything like this before, will also be able to get involved.

“Hopefully it will work well in introducing people to a different sport. I’m always interested in trying new things and I hope it will prove popular.