The joy of Gemmell’s celebrations after Paisley Park’s every success, particularly his victory in the Stayers’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival, have lit up the winner’s enclosure and illustrated so much that is good about the sport.
But the Shropshire‐born Londoner is no new arrival to the ranks of racehorse owners, having cut his teeth with a range of different ownership groups and syndicates. Indeed, even now, Gemmell, finds just as much enjoyment from the horses that he shares with other owners as he does with the couple he has to himself.
Having worked for Westminster Council for 20 years, Gemmell took early retirement in his early‐40s and decided it was time to start enjoying things a little more. He had loved racing ever since his trips to the Scottish Grand National and York’s Ebor meeting as a teenager, where he found himself able to soak up the atmosphere at every racecourse despite being born blind.
“I had been thinking about it for ages when someone told me about the Million In Mind syndicate and how it worked,” Gemmell explains. “Anthony Bromley does a lot of good work with that group and I’m still involved with them now. In fact, I’m pretty sure they gave me my first winner as an owner.”
His interest in being an owner having been piqued, Gemmell wanted more involvement. His investments spread.
“I got involved with the London Racing Club, and they had an ownership syndicate together for a horse called Owens Quest, who was trained by Tim Etherington. I remember that Richard Hoiles was one my co‐owners.
“Then at a cricket do, I met a guy who was a syndicate manager for Peter Harris Racing, so that was another group I joined. I stayed with the stable when Peter passed over the reins to Walter Swinburn and even had one or two horses as a sole owner with Walter. Amazingly, one of the horses I was part of at Walter’s some 10 or 11 years ago is still going strong as Shifting Star is still in training with John Bridger, so he is always a favourite of mine to follow.
“The first horse I owned by myself, though, was called Seymar Lad. I was out in Australia for the cricket and I got introduced to Alex Lavelle, Emma’s brother. As a racing fan, I obviously knew a bit about Emma already, but I got in touch with her and she put me on to Favourites Racing, a syndicate who had horses with her and quite a few trainers.
“I got to know Emma and one day she went up to Doncaster Sales and I asked her to get me a horse. She came back with Seymar Lad and for a relatively cheap buy, he did well and got me four wins, including my first in my own colours, which Noel Fehily rode.”
As anyone who has been involved in racing for a long time knows, every good run comes to an end and there have been numerous disappointments along the journey. However, it’s abundantly clear that the ups and downs have done nothing to dent his enthusiasm for life as an owner.
“The run that Paisley Park has been on has been brilliant, but it won’t last forever – you just have to accept that, and enjoy the good times,” Gemmell says. “I am particularly pleased for Emma though as she has such a great team around her and they thoroughly deserve all of the attention they have been getting.”
Gemmell’s second 2019 Cheltenham Festival runner, the Paul Nolan‐trained Discorama – owned jointly with Tom Friel, the landlord of the Black Lion pub, his favoured watering hole when in East London for West Ham United matches – finished a narrow runner‐up in the National Hunt Chase.
But even with the jumps season about to come to an end, there is more to look forward to. Much more, in fact, as unpicking Gemmell’s ownership interests is a bit like pulling on a loose thread.
“I’ve been involved with Highclere Thoroughbred Racing for a while, and there is a Sir Michael Stoute‐trained filly called Nantucket that we have high hopes for this season,” he says. “I also have a couple of horses with Ed Dunlop, I’m involved with the Kingsclere Racing Club at Andrew Balding’s yard, and I’m also in the Barbury Lions syndicate with Alan King.
“I have an interest in a couple of horses in Australia with OTI Racing, who I was introduced to by Ed, and was lucky enough to be a shareholder in Fastnet Tempest when he won the Victoria Cup a couple of years ago.
“I’ve even been persuaded by my good friend and neighbour Patrick Milmo to have a small ownership in a horse with him trained by Tim Easterby, so that’s another stable I am looking forward to visiting!
“First and foremost the most obvious advantage of joint ownership is a financial one. There’s no getting away from that. You share the cost and still get all of the fun when they do well.
“For me, the most important thing is the communication. One thing that the groups that I am involved with have in common is that they are good at phoning me up and keeping me up to date with plans.
“Being able to get to the stables and talk to the trainers is something else that is particularly important to me. Paisley Park has done enough for the season now and is going out into the field for the summer now but I’ll be heading down to Emma’s later this week to give him some Polos. Spending time with the horses and the people who look after them is always a pleasure.
