If you mention the name of Michael Owen, most people will think that you’re talking about football. Having played for the likes of Liverpool, Real Madrid and Manchester United, the England striker was once one of the hottest properties in the game.
Now, he is endeavouring to enjoy the same level of success with the horses that go through his Manor House Stables, which he owns alongside Andrew Black, the founder of Betfair. Whilst Owen enjoys his life as an owner, he leaves the training of the horses to Hugo Palmer, who took over from Tom Dascombe in that role.
About the People in Charge
With such a large group of people in charge of Manor House Stables, it is helpful to take a look at each of them individually:
Michael Owen
Born in Chester on the 14th of December 1979, Michael Owen began his senior career with Liverpool in 1996 and he soon became one of the hottest properties in football. As the Reds struggled to keep up their initial momentum under Gérard Houllier, he decided to leave for Real Madrid on a free transfer, missing out on the Merseyside club winning the Champions League under Rafael Benítez. He left the Spanish side after one season and joined Newcastle United, leaving there four years later to become a Manchester United player before seeing out his career with Stoke City.
Having met Louise Bonsall at primary school, the couple got engaged in 2004 and married a little over a year later, going on to have four children together. He became a racehorse owner on the back of having a firm interest in the sport, with Owen and his wife being the pair who were behind the setting up of Manor House Stables originally. In 2017, Owen was a jockey in the Prince’s Countryside Fund Charity race, coming second on his horse Calder Prince, narrowly missing out to Golden Wedding, which was ridden by Tom Chatfield-Roberts.
Andrew Black
It was in the July of 2009 that Andrew Black approached Michael Owen about becoming a joint owner of Manor House Stables LLP, using some of the money that he had earned by setting up the betting company Betfair. That followed his success as a bettor, which had allowed him to leave his role in a derivatives business in the City of London. Both the money and the pulling power of Black allowed Manor House Stables to employ Tom Dascombe as the yard’s trainer. Black’s own interest in racing extends to having a bloodstock operation, which he writes about on his blog on the topic.
Hugo Palmer
When Dascombe decided to leave Manor House Stables as the trainer, Hugo Palmer was brought in as his replacement. Having been granted a licence to work as a trainer in 2011, he syndicated the 11 inexperienced horses that he had under his control. He soon began winning Listed and Group races, with the victory of Covert Love in the Irish Oaks in 2015 helping him to make his name. If there was any sense that it was just a flash in the pan from Palmer, that was quickly dismissed when Galileo Gold won the 2,000 Guineas and the St James’s Palace Stakes.
Further success for the likes of Afandem, Best of Days and Gifted Master ensured that Palmer finished in the top ten in the Trainers Championship in 2016, going from strength to strength in the years that followed. It was his burgeoning reputation that persuaded Owen and Black that he was the right man to take over at Manor House Stables, starting in the role of head training there in the March of 2022, nearly 11 years to the day that his training career began. A number of horses moved to the yard with him, winning his first stakes race at his new home with Brad the Brief in 2022.
Manor House Stables Facilities
As you might expect from a training centre with both Premier League and Betfair money behind it, Manor House Stables has all of the top facilities that horses need to become successful. Set in 170 acres of land in the Cheshire countryside, it has seen significant investment pumped into it in order to allow it to change from its original purpose of use, a dairy farm, into the world-class facility that it is today. There is an excellent range of gallops, for example, which are supplemented by state-of-the-art veterinary facilities. There is also an indoor equine swimming pool to aid with a horse’s recovery and training.
The indoor equine swimming pool comes with a heated horse walker, whilst the horses are also able to head to the equine spa if needed. An electro-vibration plate is in place, whilst the stables that the horses are kept in are well-aired. There is a central office building that boasts an owners’ entertaining facility, which promises a commanding view of the yard in order to allow owners to be able to see how their horses are getting on. On top of that, there is a fully stocked bar for owners to make use of during their time visiting Manor House Stables to check on their charges.
Touring Manor House Stables
If you happen to own a horse that is being trained at Manor House Stables, then you can pay a visit to the venue whenever you fancy. If, on the other hand, you are not an owner and would just like to turn up and do a tour separate from that, then you will be given the opportunity to do so every now and then. That is to say, you will need to keep an eye out for when tours are being organised, on account of the fact that they don’t happen regularly. If you do manage to snag a place on a tour, though, you will enjoy a presentation from one of the assistant trainers, as well as a look around the wider facilities.
That includes a run out to the gallops, plus a tour of the yard in general. On some occasions, one or both of Michael Owen and Hugo Palmer will be on site and able to have a chat with the touring group. Refreshments are usually included in the cost of the tour, which is well worth trying to get on if you consider yourself to be a racing enthusiast.
