Huddersfield fan Richard Ward buys a filly for £800 then sells it for an “undisclosed fee” to Sheikh Fahad Al Thani after she won on debut
Marchingontogether, named after a Leeds United song, showed she was worth well more than the £800 Richard Ward paid for her when winning on debut at Leicester
OWNER Richard Ward is living on cloud nine after making a tidy sum selling his filly to a Sheikh and watching his team Huddersfield get promoted to the Premier League.
Ward runs the BGC racing syndicate who sold Marchingontogether – bought for an incredible £800 – to Sheikh Fahad Al Thani for an undisclosed sum after she made a winning debut at Leicester for trainer Ivan Furtado.
Ward now hopes she can go on to compete at the top level and has no regrets over selling the filly whose name originates from a Leeds United song.
He explained how the unlikely sale came about: “We had one called Shelneverwalkalone – by Captain Gerrard, hence the Liverpool name – running at Doncaster on an evening when Sheikh Fahad had runners.
“He won the Newmarket Plate a couple of years ago and I actually messaged him offering him a job as our retained rider, which he had retweeted and liked or whatever. He then accepted me as a friend on Facebook, so I knew he was a decent bloke and I was telling Ivan what a nice guy he is.
“After that evening at Doncaster, I messaged him again telling him about an idea I had and told him I was making the same offer to the Queen and she would accept if he didn’t. I also told him about Ivan and how fantastic he is.
“I didn’t hear anything back but then after Marchingontogether won at Leicester, Ivan said we had had an offer from Sheikh Fahad.
“I’m not going to say how much I sold her for, but I made a decent profit and I’ve had a few ex-girlfriends getting back in touch!
“I didn’t think she was going to be any good so I’d not actually syndicated her yet as I like to make sure a horse is going to at least be competitive before I sell shares, so I suppose you could say this is reward for doing things right.
“The credit must go to Ivan though as he picked her out. If she does go on to win at Royal Ascot and turns into a star, there’ll be no regrets, I’ll just be pleased for Ivan as he’s a great trainer.
“I also have shares with another racing club in a horse called Beckford, who won at the Curragh earlier in the month, so while I dislike Leeds being a Huddersfield fan, the connection has been working out well.”
Ward has also had Huddersfilly Town turn out in the BGC colours so far this season and retains the football theme for naming with other horses, including Newton Heath and Trautmann.
He said: “All our horses have football-themed names and we will eventually have 100 horses and be the biggest syndicate in the UK.
“It has been a struggle in the past and it has been built up from not a lot.”
Ward is hoping to get former Chelsea and England star Frank Lampard involved in a plan to purchase a Frankel offspring in the autumn, but in the meantime he is left to reflect upon a landmark few weeks which culminated in victory on penalties for Huddersfield at Wembley on Monday.
He said: “It’s been the best three weeks of my life and it all started with this filly.
“I’ve been a Huddersfield fan since I was seven and I was definitely there on Monday.
“I was mascot for the club when I was seven and it listed racing and Huddersfield Town – in that order – as my interests.
“I’ve been to over 1,000 games and I certainly shed a tear or two.”