Motivator
Royal Ascot Racing Club member Sue Brealey writes about the euphoria of owning a Derby winner, and the privileges of belonging to the finest racing club in the world.
 Racing is famously described as The Sport of Kings but this year the most democratic winner in Derby history showed that the peasants could get a look in too. As the mighty Motivator was led into the winners enclosure after his five length triumph in the world’s premier horserace, a multitude of owners from the Royal Ascot Racing Club cheered as one and top hats were flung in the air. To have a Derby winner is as good as it gets but to spread the dream around so many people was to create a euphoric atmosphere which will be etched on the memory of everyone there for some time to come. It was a day of sheer magic.
 For the 2005 Derby was no ordinary running of the race, but one where romantic dreams became a reality and Epsom was returned to the people. Motivator’s victory over the cream of British and Irish three-year-olds proved that racing did not have to be the preserve of a favoured few but was open to all.
For a start he was bought by bloodstock expert John Warren for just 75,000 guineas, a snip when compared to the vast amounts paid by the big battalions of Godolphin and Coolmore. “I liked Motivator very much”, he said, adding endearingly, “It’s a bit like looking at a girl – you either like them or you don’t.” Furthermore the winner was not trained by an Aidan O’Brien or Sir Michael Stoute but by Michael Bell, a trainer outside racing’s Premiership. The man who has trained Motivator to perfection commented astutely after the race, “I’m not a big league trainer and the horse isn’t owned by one of the major owners, so it showed that everyone has a chance. It was a result the Derby needed”.
Indeed, this blob of then unbeaten equine gold was not owned by a mega-player such as Susan Magnier or the Aga Khan, but by something approaching a social club, consisting of 230 members brought together by a love of racing. And now I must declare an interest, because I’m fortunate enough to belong to it.
 The Royal Ascot Racing Club was the brainchild of the Duke of Devonshire and Harry Herbert, Managing Director of the hugely successful racing syndicate Highclere. In 1998 they spotted a redundant stretch of storage space within the members’ stand at Ascot and identified its potential to accommodate a top class racing club. Their aim was to provide an interest in several Club horses – “as a catalyst for conversation”, said Harry - and racing facilities second to none. Seven years later, they have succeeded in delivering these objectives beyond anyone’s wildest dreams.
I blush to admit that to belong to this inspired creation is to enjoy an almost obscene standard of luxury; an oasis of air-conditioned calm during the crush and heat of Royal Ascot, and a welcoming snug on a cold November day over the sticks. Champagne is on tap as part of the membership fee, as are exquisite canapés, lunch, and afternoon tea and cakes. The Club’s manager, the superb Emma Banks oversees every aspect of club life with skill, tact and diplomacy. OK we’re not exactly peasants – Sir Clement Freud and Lord Lloyd Webber would possibly object to that label – but it is true that we come from all walks of life and class. But, whatever the differences in background or the way we earn our particular crust, we have one thing in common - a share in one of the best racehorses of his day and access to the finest racing facilities in the country – perhaps the world. We are a pampered and privileged group of race goers, and we know it. My subscription to the Club is the best money I spend in any year.
And in addition to our luxurious surroundings, Harry and John Warren have provided us with some fabulous horses over the years, affording the members huge enjoyment (and occasionally a rebate on our membership fees for good measure). In Motivator they have given us infinitely more than just conversation. His win on Derby Day 2005 was the pinnacle of our racing dreams, a day that I for one will never forget.
But winning the Derby unbeaten is one thing, remaining unbeaten is quite another matter. On 2nd July the apple of our eye went to Sandown to attempt to win the Eclipse, a race that only nine Derby winners have won in its long history, and just two in the last 30 years, Nashwan in 1989 and the legendary Mill Reef in 1971. Motivator was the hot favourite and acknowledged star attraction. ‘Motivator Mania’ screamed the front page of The Racing Post – ‘He’s the biggest draw at Sandown since Desert Orchid’. But there, in spite of all the hype, Motivator joined the ranks of famous Derby winners such as Benny the Dip and Reference Point who, before him, had failed to capture the elusive Eclipse. He was beaten fair and square, half a length by Oratorio, a horse he had thrashed 25 lengths in the Derby. Reality bit and the fairy tale juddered to a halt. The shock waves round the racecourse were almost palpable. It wasn’t just Motivator’s owners who were brought down to earth with a thud, but the wider legions of admirers whose hearts this charismatic colt had garnered with every run. As one racing commentator put it: “The racecourse is a graveyard of sentiment.”
But that’s racing – a series of highs and lows, all of which demand to be endured with the same equanimity. In 1956 thousands saw the Queen Mother’s horse Devon Loch inexplicably collapse in the Grand National, only 40 yards from victory. The disappointment must have been almost beyond endurance but his illustrious owner commented stoically, “Oh that’s racing”, comforting Dick Francis, her devastated jockey, before going on to greet the sympathetic crowds. Sheik Mohammed’s millions could not lessen the heartbreak of prematurely losing his beloved Dubai Millennium, a horse he described as running “with the wind from heaven blowing between his ears”. The vicissitudes of racing are no respecter of fame and wealth.
Of course there are disappointments in racing, as there are in any other sport, but the excitement of seeing your horse run and, if you are lucky, seeing it win is a thrill almost beyond description. There is nothing else quite like it. Motivator fans suffered a setback at Sandown but nonetheless he remains a stellar horse of infinite promise, and the utter pride and joy of the Royal Ascot Racing Club. I’ve been quoted as saying that I’m like a school girl with a crush on a movie star and, yes, I’m afraid there is every truth in the rumour that I’ve started a Motivator scrap book. The pleasure he has given me is immeasurable, even before that once-in-a-lifetime joy of being the owner of a Derby winner (incidentally, the best since Generous in 1991). But he is also the People’s horse and when Johnny Murtagh flourished his whip crossing the winning line and signalled to the crowd in delight, many beside his owners shared in that euphoria. As I said…..sheer magic.
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