referred to as the sport of kings
horse-racing has been part of British
society for more than 400 years it's a
sport where the margins for victory a
tiny but the stakes are always high I'm
on a journey to learn what it takes to
be part of a sport loved by both
gamblers and royalty on it I was given
rare access to the people who own train
and ride racehorses as we attempt to
shine a light on the inner workings of a
sport that for many is shrouded in
mystery but first it's important to
understand that there are two types of
horse racing flat and jump racing also
known as national hunt
traditionally flat racing was for the
wealthy while national hunt was for
farmers and country folk today national
hunt occurs only in a handful of
countries while flat racing is global
attractant fans from Kentucky to Abu
Dhabi there's also a lot more money in
it winning national hunts biggest raced
the Grand National would only seven
hundred and fifty thousand dollars while
in flat racing you could take home 7
million dollars by winning America's
Pegasus World Cup but the major money in
flat horse racing isn't made out on the
track it's made it discrete stud farms
I've come to one called new cells Park
in Harvard shear here stallions and
mares a hand-picked based on their own
success on the track and their purebred
pedigree of champion racehorses the
mares are then covered by the stallions
in a controlled environment as they aim
to breed the next generation of winners
for the stallions owner breeding is big
business
take for instance Frankel arguably the
greatest racehorse that ever lived
[Music]
he was unbeaten during a three-year
career making his owner the Saudi prince
Khaled Abdullah around four million
dollars in prize money before his
retirement in 2012 4 year-old Frankel
had the highest rating of any racehorse
in history if Frankel had kept racing he
would have likely continued to win and
more prize money what a brilliant
thought but for his owner Frankel's
success and superstar status has sealed
his fate he would be a more lucrative
asset as a breeding stallion in this new
role Franco mated with hundreds of
horses every year earning a fee every
time in 2017 he made her with a hundred
and ninety five mares each goat cost a
hundred and sixty five thousand dollars
and in his owner more than thirty
million dollars in just one year
following the success of some of his
first Falls such as cracksman and
Rostropovich Frankel's going rate has
increased to two hundred and thirty
thousand dollars one man that paid for a
Franco fall is entrepreneur
grahame-smith Bernal a decade ago he
sold his litigation software business
for over 75 million dollars with some of
his hard-earned fortune
he bought a number of successful
racehorses and all the sudden my phone
is going and there's text messages of
congratulations and say what what is
this it cannot be that Great Britain has
just won that race so what attracted him
to becoming an owner you know you win
the race you win some nice prize money
but mainly you've got the satisfaction
and the thrill of having your horse
winning winning a race but now he wants
to breed a champion racehorse so he
purchased a brood mare called Lamont Ola
for more than four hundred and fifty
thousand dollars at the time lamort Ola
was pregnant with one of Frankel's Falls
this year she gave birth to that foal a
young Colt called Fabrizio a Colt is a
nun castrated male horse less than four
years old his development over the next
year will be closely monitored by new
sales park and its general manager
julian dollar our job is not to mess
things up really they are highly strung
and they'll do lots of things to try and
hurt themselves on an almost daily basis
everything is designed to make them the
best athlete they could be you could
sort of imagine some parent doing it to
some seven-year-old that they dreamt
there's going to be the next Venus
Williams at the tennis world he's all in
proportion is what I call well-balanced
he did it's a snapper what's changed
over him he's now three and a half
nearly four months is near just looking
for the overwrought when I say balance
of the horse it's just as I said it's
making sure everything that sort of fits
together we want him to have a little
bit of a little bit of roundness over
the top a good bit of muscle across his
back and then here you know good bit of
hind quarter which he has because that's
where the power comes from he's got a
good proportion of forum he's not too
light the muscle here that's of course
very important g-load very chilled out
in the Sun today it's half asleep but
that's good that's good because it says
he's got a good relaxed temperament if I
was going to criticize the horse it
would just be that he's a touch small
but the most important thing is he's all
in proportion everything flows together
he walked well he looks quite athletic
it's hard to breed horses bloody hard to
breed horses much easy to go and buy a
racehorse and so it's nice when you get
one like this but is for Brit SEOs owner
happy with his progress and what does
his future hold it's a hobby and it's
fun and I'm not doing it because I think
I'm gonna make money from this this is
this is this is a really really
enjoyable hobby to be involved with but
you have to be thinking in part with
your head as well and you know you've
got to otherwise you know it just
doesn't make any sense if Graham does
decide he wants to sell for Brit CEO
then he has got options he could sell it
either through a private buyer or he
could take it to auction this is tatah
sauce the oldest blood stock auction is
in the world and the largest in Europe
it sells over ten thousand horses every
year now one of the advantages of coming
to auction is that the horses all come
to you on average how much money is
being spent at one of these auctions
it varies considerably at a sale to bid
like this once a day they'll probably be
turnover of around five million guineas
a Guinea is one pound and five pence
it's used for determining professional
fees and auction prices horse racing is
a lot about gambling and that's there a
lot of people um entertainment factor
and get a little bit of that here as
well thanks yeah undoubtedly the
adrenaline rush that you get bidding you
know
I hope you have another bid on to a high
cost of a horse doesn't translate to a
champion racer know that that's one of
the the great things about a game is
that there's no guarantees your person
who comes along and buys herb keep
yearlings it's a 10 or 20 grand you know
can still hit the jackpot
two men that are trying to do just that
a trainer Hugo Palmer and blood stock
agent mark McStay they've agreed to give
me unrestricted access as they work to
find the right horse for the right price
you know it's a great industry to be
involved in most wealthy people can't
afford to buy Manchester United or
Chelsea or Tottenham Hotspur and win the
premiership but if you walk into that
ring in Tata cells here and you'd a half
a million pounds you could have bought
Australia you wanted army most people
who come into horse racing as owned as
potential owners are new people to the
sport are uninitiated and I need to find
someone I trust
i as a bloodsucker agent would sell
myself on integrity and hopefully that's
why people will be attracted to me come
to me for my advice and I will hopefully
point them in the direction of a nice
horse or a nice trainer today mark and
Hugo are on the hunt to find a horse for
Hugo's yard they'll be looking at
several but for mark this is the last
stage after weeks of research he's
prepared a shortlist of horses from the
hundreds up for sale now together they
need to make their final decision so
what do you what are you doing there
mark I just see the front of the
Cannonball and there is a little bit of
a profile to okay these horses Marcus
even we've seen them twice we're now
come back see the third time if I like
it and I think I might buy it I probably
see it a fourth time and then I'll send
a vet to see it and they will check that
the horse is you know structurally okay
and you know put a tube down its throat
and see that it canoe has the right
breathing apparatus to actually perform
so the Colt lovely big strong horse his
scope was a grade-two normal pass a
little bit of sense in the knees and
very slight pain on palpation the shins
and but all in all very solid I'm happy
to say for horse here Tilly looks like
she's growing she's gonna be very big I
think
hide behind she's laying in front okay
I would not be
preceding without getting some x-rays on
on those knees okay good time for
talking is over
the horse they've decided to bid on is
lot number 186 a young Colt called
Havana Gold but before the bidding
begins at the wall wants to see how the
whole auction is going and who he might
be competing against lot 186 is up and
as soon as Havana gold strolls into the
sales ring the bidding starts after some
confusion with the auctioneer mark and
Hugo make a late bid but is it enough
for $80,000 mark finally gets his horse
now it's down to Hugo and his team to
try to turn this young cult into a
champion racer for Havana Gold a new
life awaits of racing and ritual but he
won't be going far he'll remain in this
distinct corner of England along with
3,000 other racehorses behind me is the
town of Newmarket it's surrounded by
wide open expanses which is led to it
becoming the home of flat horse racing
in the UK this is a town where the
pecking order between horses and humans
is a little blurred and it will be no
different for Havana Gold while he's
living at hugo Palmer's yard
I suppose in many ways we're like like a
private school for the owners or you
know in the school's case that you know
the parents send their child horse to a
school to be educated so we take them in
here just so we know about one and a
half years old so they're they're
immature but they're probably 90% of
their add out size and strength and we
we work out which which ones are the
scholarship pupils and are likely to be
turning up a trial a skirt and and which
ones a less so in his eight-year career
Hugo has established himself as one of
the leading trainers in the business
but what's it like for young trainers
just starting out and the challenges
they face we're headed today to meet
George Scott a young trainer who's only
actually in his third season but he has
had already some big successes we're
gonna go and have a look at his yard and
see what he does every day to make sure
his horses are in peak condition you
can't imagine the amount that goes into
getting that horse in the afternoon
wearing the silks at a big meeting them
at war effort concentration time a lot
of pressure in being a horse race
trainer if you push yourself to try and
be successful and want to achieve
something and there's always going to be
pressure routine for a horse race
trainer I can imagine sort of early
starts long days I mean up at 5:15 and
you know we'd work to through there
until one o'clock and then you get home
for a bit of lunch in it I always have
to have a sleep in the afternoon without
fail how to have a quick sleep and then
back in the afternoons or go racing when
you don't have winners yeah how hard is
that it's hard but I mean it's part of
the game you have to take the rough with
the smooth and you have to remain level
is this your dream job yeah definitely I
wouldn't really know what I'd do if I
wasn't a trainer I don't get a rush out
of anything else other than writing no I
like football I like rugby I like crazy
I love racing today just save a little
bit for the hell those are mine crossing
there so I need to get crossed what are
you going to be looking for some get up
the hill nicely I'd like to listen to
their breathing and I was in second to
struggling a bit but he hasn't been up
here at all before the force in front
stick Wow we're going to walk across you
hanging in there flat she's done much
yeah what's it like to have a winner
having that feeling where you sort of
spent days months with this horse and
got to know quite intimately yeah and
then it wins this race with thousands of
people watching yeah it's it's
absolutely unbelievable like it's the
best feeling in the world
you know I stand there with huge
anticipation and I enjoy sharing that
moment with friends and family and it
puts all of the bad days just out the
back word out of back to editors and
it's incredible moment that moment of
crossing the line first riding a horse
at 40 miles an hour is an experience
felt by only a select few Fram Berry has
been a professional jockey for more than
20 years I can still remember my first
winter and day like that Lake was
yesterday and day you know I think that
if that poses he gets two leaves here
down it's time to give up the routine of
jock you must be pretty brutal losing
weight and keeping yourself fit and
strong at the same time how tough is
that it is quite tough I'm 37 no you
know and kind of know what I can and
can't do but the biggest thing as you're
as a jock is your way you gotta find it
trying to keep itself right and eat and
do everything properly you know it takes
a bit of application eating disorders
amongst jockeys is that a thing yeah I
don't think it's any secret you know it
may be more prevalent in the United
States you know what they call it
flippin expose which is a form of
bulimia but hey you know I've come
across and worldwide and it is an issue
what have you had today for instance in
terms of food and I did two egg omelet
this morning that wouldn't be every day
some days here you're bit restricted
Alexa is born containing the fluid
take and run a few laps to track a just
to get my weight back to its normal
level and a so you would have sped walk
the track or a speed walk speed walk
yeah with plenty plenty close on me to
get a good squirt hop can I ask how much
you get paper oh it's about 150 140
pounds of damage deductions he'd
probably work out at 100 pounds nest you
know before he attacks and you gotta pay
your own diesel and expenses you know so
so for instance you raced two horses
you're not making a great deal of money
no they you know not today some days
enough ten rides and some days you've
got to a you know travelling expenses
are quite high and a you know riding
fees paid for me pay my bills pay pay
everything that keeps show Android at
home but you're relying on your win
prize one of your players prize money
really to make money it's an interesting
sport you're kind of on your own yeah
yeah you know even even called for
somebody came and ads around them or
something you know you gotta kind of do
everything for yourself in a way you
know one day we don't you don't do it
nobody else for you what injuries have
you had in the past
you can't got time I broke him bought my
uncle's of just district here to my
right I can a fracture my left I've
eighty-nine fractures c6 displaced
fracture made vertebrae's a tea tree
compress fracture fractured sternum a
fractured shoulder blade ninety nine
ribs and one occasion on the same fold
so yeah and I more than your average
flat chocolate injuries some days you
think you having a bad day you got you
have five or six rides they all get
beaten and maybe people aren't happy
with cheer or something but if you can
get into that car and ride home you have
another bad day not here you're safe and
sound
Fran is risking life and limb doing this
job for sometimes minimal financial
reward I've learnt it's the love of
horses and racing but keeps him and many
others invested in this game coming back
and for such an old sport
which can sometimes be at odds with the
outside world it's still after all this
time the thrill of winning that
continues to captivate and entertain
[Music]
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