John Waterworth – man on a mission

Timing in racing, as in life generally, is everything so there’s no better time to catch up with John Waterworth.

“This is our most successful season and Saturday would be the best day we’ve had in the sport,” says the owner, speaking not long after a memorable double at Ascot courtesy of Reynoldstown Novices’ Chase winner The Changing Man and his Joe Tizzard-trained stablemate First Confession, who followed up in a novice hurdle on the card.

“I backed them,” he responds when asked about his expectations beforehand. “I’m not a huge punter and still bet in the same way I did before I owned horses, but we kind of fancied them. The Changing Man (below) had performed well against experienced horses in big handicaps, while First Confession didn’t turn up at Newbury in the Challow but had been in great form at home.

“There were a couple of glasses of bubbly and we were well looked after at Ascot, but that’s the same everywhere to be honest.”

Waterworth would know about that given he has owned horses since 2017 and has visited 49 of Britain’s tracks.

Ticking the remainder off the list is an ambition for him and wife Susan, who is “just as big a part of this” and was a “happy hacker” with her own horses when the pair met in Suffolk.

By then, the Northumberland native was a keen follower of the sport who jokes he probably “thinks about it too much” these days.

“My granddad Tommie had a real passion for horseracing and it was always on at his house on a Saturday afternoon when we went there,” he says. “That’s where my passion came from and I continued it, mainly over the jumps, although we have owned and still do own Flat horses.

“The passion was jump racing, though; in the winter, all the family in a room watching it. I’ve fond memories of watching the Grand National like that and also when The Thinker won the Gold Cup after that snowstorm. I’m not sure it’s quite like that these days. When racing was on two of the three channels back in the day, it was always there for people, unless it was diving from Acapulco on World of Sport because the racing had been cancelled!

“I’d do a patent or Lucky 15 on a Saturday and take advantage of a day off in the week to go racing, and I remember going to Yarmouth a lot when I worked down there. I always thought getting involved in ownership was something I’d do when I retired, and we had the time to enjoy it.”

Having built a successful holiday business, which in its pomp had 73 caravan parks in the UK, Waterworth was true to his word, albeit with racehorse ownership preceding retirement.

“I had a friend in Bristol who’d done a lot of advising for us and our business over the last 30 years and he said he was buying a horse and he knew I had an interest,” explains the 61-year-old.

we’ve found you can have a wider portfolio if you’ve other people sharing half a horse

“We bought a piece of My Lady Grey, our first horse who happened to be at Colin Tizzard’s. Because a lot of our business was in the south-west, I was going past the yard quite regularly and it suited us to have the horse there. That was in 2017 and I retired two years later. We then had War Lord, who did very well, winning six and being placed in a couple of Grade 1s.”

The son of parents who ran a taxi firm, Waterworth and his wife have accelerated their interest in racing in recent years, linking up with other owners to expand their string, which, at times, carry the owner’s black and white silks – a nod to his beloved Newcastle United.

“We have found it enjoyable,” he adds. “When you get more horses, there’s more involvement and planning. We’ve got 19 horses at the Tizzard yard in various ownership guises. The majority are owned in conjunction with somebody else and we’ve found, as we’ve got further into it, you can have a wider portfolio if you’ve other people sharing half a horse or whatever it is.

“You’re sharing the reward, but also the risk as well. Some are people I’ve known previously – through work or friends – and, in the case of Ilovethenightlife, I met Geoff [Nicholas] through the yard.”

In full flow, the catering management graduate of what is now Sheffield Hallam University lays bare why this term has been so fruitful.

“Six of our eight novice hurdlers have won and both of our novice chasers have won as well, while we’ve some youngsters coming through too,” he continues. “It’s quite a long game and patience isn’t one of my virtues, but you have to have it! We have progressed to buying a few more point-to-pointers now because, as you get older, it shortens the time between acquiring the horse and getting to the track.

“I didn’t think we’d have this many when we started, maybe half a dozen or eight, but, as we’ve got going and shared the burden, we’ve ended up with more and we’ve five, including First Confession, with Kevan Leggett now, for instance.”

you kind of have to write off the purchase price when you buy a horse, which is unfortunate

Tizzard talent scout Ross Doyle is namechecked as a key component in the process of securing new purchases at the sales and he was responsible for helping source The Changing Man for £135,000 in 2020.

“I think we’re lucky we’ve done well in business, but you kind of have to write off the purchase price when you buy a horse, which is unfortunate,” replies the measured, down-to-earth Waterworth when the outlay versus income from prize-money is put to him.

“That said, if you can get a horse rated 115/120+ then you can cover your training costs and you can pick your way around races, too. We’ve won quite a bit of prize-money at Plumpton recently and sometimes the prize-money at a Plumpton or Taunton can be better in the week than some more premium tracks at the weekend.

“Racing isn’t something you go into to make money, but we love and enjoy it, and it doesn’t matter if you’re going to Hexham or Catterick or Taunton. You go to those smaller tracks and the crowd is knowledgeable, and it’s a big day out for the local area. You get a good atmosphere as people are there for the racing and not something else. War Lord took us to some big meetings, which we also enjoy, and hopefully some of the novices now can get us back there.”

Meetings, as Waterworth is well aware, do not come much bigger than this month’s Cheltenham Festival, which might be on the promising First Confession’s agenda, but will certainly be next for The Changing Man, who is a 40-1 shot for the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase, but around 12-1 for the National Hunt Chase and challenging for favouritism in the Ultima.

“I’d love a winner at Cheltenham,” he says, not for one moment getting carried away at that thought but definitely letting a flicker of excitement be heard in his voice.

“Whether The Changing Man can get his head in front in one of the races he’s entered in is another matter, but he’s going to go there with a chance – a Festival winner would be phenomenal.

“He’d been a long way clear of the third when he’s been second in his races, and I think he’s learned a lot. It’s similar to when he was a novice hurdler; he got his head in front at Stratford after an indifferent season and then completed a hat-trick, which might have been a four-timer but for a loose shoe on his next start. He seems to have grown in confidence. We aimed him quite high as a novice chaser last season and I think he was unlucky at times, but his jumping has improved this year.”
It might need to again in the face of likely strong opposition from Ireland, although Waterworth is relaxed when questioned about the recent dominance of the raiding party.

“It’s not really crossed my mind, competing with them,” the owner goes on. “What we’re trying to do is create our own amazing memories. Going to Cheltenham is like going to the Olympics. The best jumpers in the world go there, but it looks like it could be more balanced this year. We won’t know for a few weeks and maybe it will swing back to Britain.”

The underlying reasons and causes for Irish success at Cheltenham have been pored over, but Waterworth is an enthusiastic, glass-half-full individual who acknowledges British racing isn’t perfect, yet prefers to extol what he views as the positives, rather than put the boot in like so many can be prone to do.

ITV do a fantastic job

“Everyone is working hard to get it right and, for example, that jockeys’ championship on ITV is something I quite like,” he outlines. “I think you’ve got to recognise the jockeys can be in a dangerous situation, which we’ve sadly seen recently, and they’re the personalities the public can latch on to.

“I think that’s the same way people latched on to Red Rum, Desert Orchid, Kauto Star, or Cue Card and Native River at the Tizzards’; they saw them regularly.

“Racing has to remember it’s an entertainment industry and is competing with everything else, which is why I think it’s also vital it remains on ITV. The job they do is fantastic and I love how they’ve extended coverage at tracks such as Exeter and I’m delighted Hexham is going to be covered later this year. ITV is our shop window, so the more of that, the better.”

In Colin and Joe Tizzard, Waterworth has found trainers he admires for their up-front honesty – “they tell it how it is” – and discovered an unflinching, grass-roots affection for horses, which has left a lasting impression.

“I’m not sure people in general appreciate the love and passion everyone who works in racing has for the animal,” he says.

“There is so much passion for it and it doesn’t matter what yard you’re in. We love having horses with Joe and Colin before him. It works for us and it’s a team effort, but it would be the same if you went to another trainer. It’s different with other sports and I think the horses thrive off that devotion. Take the other day, The Changing Man and First Confession came in with their ears pricked at Ascot; they’d enjoyed themselves big time.”

Expect that to be the same for the Waterworths should either oblige at Cheltenham.

VICTORY IN THE PLATE WOULD BE SMASHING

John Waterworth freely admits jumping occupies a bigger place in his heart than Flat racing, although he would love to capture one of the latter’s signature handicaps.

“I’ve been going to the Northumberland Plate for years and it would be extremely special to win that,” he says. “We’ve been in the Never Say Die syndicate, which [bloodstock agent] Richard Brown ran, and were involved with Onesmoothoperator, who won the race last year after being sold.

“We’ve got horses with Charlie Johnston on the Flat and before that with [his father] Mark, and we’ve done quite well. We were second in the Chesham with March Law and had various other bits and pieces. Pons Aelius won six and the Flat works where it is, but we’ve this shared ownership over jumps now, and Susan and I haven’t bought a horse outright for maybe three years. Everything purchased since has been with someone else as we like that approach.

“We enjoy the Flat but have just found like-minded people to share the jumpers with and we haven’t got that position on the Flat.

“We’re at a stage in life now where there are other things we want to do in the summer – travelling and holidays that might clash with Flat racing – and being able to attend meetings is why we have a lower number of horses on the Flat.”