A TOP horse owner said he was ‘delighted’ to miss out on £2.2million – claiming the offer for his superstar filly was ‘nowhere near enough’.
Members of the Basher Watts Racing 2 syndicate voted overwhelmingly in favour of rejecting the life-changing sum for Shes Perfect.
Basher Watts, third from left, was briefly a Classic-winning owner with his syndicate and filly Shes Perfect – until they were demoted to second[/caption]
The Charlie Fellowes-trained three-year-old was first past the post in the French 1,000 Guineas under Kieran Shoemark last month.
But, amid boos and cries of ‘cheat’ in the winner’s enclosure, she was demoted and placed second behind Zarigana, with connections also losing their appeal against the decision of French stewards.
Shes Perfect returns to action at Chantilly on Sunday in the Group 1 Prix de Diane Longines, where victory is worth ‘just’ £472,231.
The horse was bought for around £42,000 in May last year – meaning, if they had sold to Japanese buyers, the syndicate would have made a 5,138 per cent profit on their investment.
It equated, Basher said, to around £20,000 each.
But, while much more than they stand to make at the races with her, Basher said the sum was ‘nowhere near enough’, and added: “Some things are worth more than money.”
Explaining the deal, the syndicate boss said: “So, what actually happened?
“We had a Japanese client approach Charlie and offer £2.2m.
“How it works is people own a share of the horse and are entitled to a percentage of the sale which, in this case, after fees, if you own one per cent you would have got about £20,000.
“So I put it to the group and 37 out of 38 voted no.
“I’m delighted everyone voted no.
“For me, I had a dream of getting lucky and owning a Classic, Group 1 runner – a horse who will take you to all the big racecourses… which is what she did.
“She might not earn £2.2m in prize money but, we had her valued and, if she never raced again, she’d be worth up to £1m.
“So, you’re trading the rest of her career for £1m.
“That to all of us, and me, is just not worth it.
“Those 15 minutes we experienced at Longchamp where we were Classic-winning owners, I would not trade that for any amount of money.
“Horse racing is my passion, my love, and this is my dream to be in the poisition we are in.
“Some things mean so much more than money and this is one of those moments. We are absolutely living our dream.
“If she gets beat on Sunday who cares? As long as she is fit and well we’re going to have many fantastic days out with her.
“The time to sell will be down to the syndicate only – and at the moment she’s not for sale.
“Imagine her winning in someone else’s silks – I dont know how I’d process that. She’s our baby, our dream.
“And it’s not worth trading in the dream for that amount of money.”
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