The Pompey Ventures
2025
Season Review
From the first winner to the last - a year to remember!
The 2025 season.
For us, 2025, passed in a mad whirlwind of race planning, ownership updates and hosting owners at racecourses up and down the country - with no shortage of winners to enjoy along the way!
With plans already taking shape for the coming 2026 turf season, it feels like a good time to pause & reflect on our second full year as a racehorse syndicate.
The 2025 season was all about building on what we started. Our targets were simply to do even better than we did last year.
More winners, more prize money and to grow our ownership numbers.
💷
£228,090 Prize Money
🏆
15 Winners
🏅
44 Top 4 Places
We are delighted to have ticked all three of those boxes.
We aren’t resting on previous results though. In typically competitive PV fashion, we are aiming to beat our 2025 figures!
Let’s have a look back at some of the stars of the show - the horses that defined our 2025 season
Our Star Performer: Tuco Salamanca
Well…
What. A. Legend.
At the end of 2024, we were fingers crossed and hoping that a wind-op would help bring out the Tuco we had seen at home.
He made his first start of 2025 at Kempton.
In what we thought was a respectable looking novice, we were just hoping that he would show a glimpse of improvement after his breathing operation & you could say he did just that… going on to absolutely bolt up and win by 2&3/4 lengths. We knew he had arrived…
On he went to Wolverhampton, where you’ll find a similar trend with this horse, the owners were, in a nutshell, told to ‘have what they like on’. He went on to win, although a little bit closer than we had initially expected, but this was over 8.5f.
He then obliged again at Newcastle, this time over 7 furlongs. A similar hinted message to his owners of ‘this will win’ saw him again well bet from 5/2 into an SP of 5/6.
PJ reported post race ‘I felt like I was never getting beat on him, I travelled everywhere much the best’.
A big group of us were watching from The Horse & Groom pub in Armthorpe, as on the same day Oliver Show had almost won the Lincoln. A night to remember as the lads broke out in song - ‘here we go, Tuco’s won three in a row’.
Tuco then went on to finish a rapidly closing 4th in the All Weather 3yo championship sprint at Newcastle, making up a huge amount of ground but kept being denied a run. We have now finished 4th in back to back runnings of that race.
He then went pot hunting, on ground that would’ve been plenty quick enough for him. Second at Ascot and Third at Goodwood saw his earnings pot increase, but not his handicap mark, which is always a joy in itself.
York’s track on the day biases saw his chance at the £150k Skybet Sprint squandered. We decided then to pull up stumps and wait for the Racing League.
In the week leading up to Yarmouth with plenty of rain forecast, I had text Mick Fitzgerald and promised him this horse should be running for Team Ireland. Mick took very little convincing having looked at Tuco’s progressive profile. Billy Loughnane, a regular PV pilot, took even less convincing to take the ride than it took Mick to run him!
When the rain came, and it did hammer it down, I was crossing my fingers the long 5 hour drive from Portsmouth wouldn’t be for nothing.
He opened at 5/1 with the firms and again, was sent off much shorter thanks to his owners financial backing!
He absolutely blew away a competitive field to go and win under hands & heels and collect a cool £25,000 in earnings.
In a post race interview with Sky Sports, Owen straight away said ‘it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him line up again in the Racing League at Newcastle in a few weeks time’.
And that he did!
With Billy occupied with rides at York’s Ebor meeting, for PV trainer George Boughey, we called in Cieren Fallon - who’s had an unbelievably good season to date.
Cieren gave him an excellent ride and again, we were again sent off favourite after some fair on-course punts from Tuco’s owners. Cieren said he was never in a moments worry, as soon as he sat into him he took off. ‘He felt like a group horse’ was feedback to Tuco’s delighted crew of owners, after bagging a second consecutive £25,000 in prize money.
He then took us to Ireland, the Bold Lad Handicap at the Curragh to be precise. 20 owners flew out for the day of racing & dinner in Kildare afterwards. Although we had nothing but traffic issues in our race, the day and experience was amazing and one we, as a syndicate hope to produce more of.
He started the season rated 61 and ends the season rated 92 with over £85,000 in the pot.
Legend.
Oliver Show takes PV International...
Oliver Show had an amazing start to his 2025 campaign, which started in Bahrain.
He finished his race off well in the last two furlongs of the Al Methaq Mile (Listed race) to grab second place and to become our first black-type performer.
A really cool achievement so early in our operation, made even more fun by being on the international stage with a handful of owners out there to support him.
He had never looked so good as when he arrived back home to Newmarket. The winter sun which he had been enjoying along with his recent performance at Listed level clearly had him in great order as we headed towards the Lincoln Handicap.
Some clever race planning ensured he ran in the Lincoln off a mark of 95, although returning from Bahrain with an Official Rating of 101...
The race panned out near on perfect and it was a dream run everywhere bar the line.
After that, we thought it was only right to work back from one of the Royal Ascot handicaps. And that we did. Although he ran below par and things didn’t go to plan, what a day he gave his owners. Lining up on another big stage.
His total career winnings for us are now over £100,000.
Not bad for a 31,000gns HIT purchase.
He took his owners to the Middle East, picked up plenty of prize money and ran at Royal Ascot.
He is currently back in the Middle East as we map out his 2026 campaign.
International racing. Big stages. And memories his owners won’t forget.
Bone Marra...and that debut!
We are convinced that yearling purchase Bone Marra is one of the most relaxed horses in training. Before his debut we weren’t really sure what was under the bonnet!
And a very interesting debut it was…
He was extremely slow away from the gates and looked very outpaced in the early stage of the race, which wasn’t a surprise to us, as there is plenty of stamina in his pedigree and this test was over a sharp 5 furlongs. A real burn-up race that was set up for a closer, but the way he won this was a real marker that he is a horse with ability.
There is something so sweet about a 2 year old debutant winner.
The phone was pinging for the weeks that followed and we thought we had him sold privately for extortionate amounts twice. Sadly neither came to fruition. He was entered at the Goffs Royal Ascot sale the Monday evening before the meeting commences on Tuesday. He was bought back and another group of owners had a trip to the Royal meeting.
An interrupted prep with two failed sales procedures, accompanied by a ride which was opposite to instructions left a lot to be desired.
Thankfully on winning his most recent start at Wolverhampton, he confirmed he will be an exciting horse for the 2026 season as he fills out his powerful frame.
Profit Refused. Our Queen.
Profit Refused was the queen of the team 👑
Notching up two victories and multiple placed efforts. She was purchased for €45,000 after not winning throughout her 3yo season, and later sold in the December mares sale for 80,000gns.
After multiple gallops, with her leading the 2025 1,000 Guineas 2nd and 3rd finishing fillies, both also trained by Ollie Sangster, she looked to have been sweetened up and right back to her best.
Her mark of 78 looked lenient and she certainly didn’t let us down at Wetherby. Again well supported from 6/1-11/2 into a 9/4SP Fav, Jamie Spencer displayed he can ride winners from the front as well as his trademark hold-up tactics!
Not to forget, she also went on to be steered home in front by Grand National winning jockey Patrick Mullins, around Chester no less, which resulted in the victorious flying dismount!
Dublin Bay: An Easy Win!
Dublin Bay, another yearling purchase, had shown several times at home that he would be a horse that would best progress by learning on the job. A very raw and coltish individual who’s mentality improved substantially for a gelding operation. He showed up very well at a racecourse gallop at Salisbury before lining up at Ffos Las. He was well supported in the betting from 9/1 into an SP of 8/11 and duly obliged his owners support winning comfortably under a confident Trevor Whelan ride. Trevor has of course had a nasty injury since and we look forward to seeing him back on a racecourse soon.
‘Dubbers’ then lined up 4 days later under a penalty at Doncaster, where I doubt jockey Danny Tudhope would ever have ridden an easier winner.
He also ran in the six furlong handicap at York’s Ebor meet, with a very attractive prize money pot. He was ridden by Hong Kong jockey Harry Bentley to finish 6th, picking up some of the prize money.
He looks another horse to train on as a three year old, particularly backed up by the fact he is by New Bay.
Bruce Banner
Our first winner of 2025 came in the shape of the ginormous Bruce Banner and in doing so, landed a bit of a touch…
The son of Starspangledbanner was purchased for £16,000 as a yearling from Tattersalls Book 1 yearling sale and headed off to Gary Brown’s.
As a two year old, things all happened WAY too quickly for him and races weren’t suitable for his size and profile, being out of a Mount Nelson mare. So when it came to his three year old season, with races upped in distance - he looked well handicapped.
Stepping up in trip from 7f to 1m 4f showed that our theory was right.
He was handicapped leniently enough to win the right race… hats off to Gary and his team, they got him spot on for that evening and it was safe to say, we didn’t go hungry that night!
Francis Drake
Last but far from least, Francis Drake broke his maiden in the black and blue silks.
He was purchased at the Tattersalls Guineas HIT sale for 15,000gns. By a stallion we like (Belardo), we were confident this was a horse whose handicap mark was lenient enough to pick up a race under ideal conditions. He had been campaigned with wrong track and trip combinations and tactics which we saw to be detrimental to the outcome of his races.
He was prepared to the minute by his trainer George Boughey and confidently steered home by Billy Loughnane.
A satisfying result and he provided a lot of first time owners with their first winner.
An awesome day.
Looking back on the 2025 Season, we’re incredibly proud of what our horses, trainers and owners achieved together. From big race performances and valuable prize money to first-time winners and memorable days out, it was a season that captured exactly why we love this sport.
With more horses in training, new owners joining the team and plans already well underway for 2026, we’re very excited about what lies ahead.
Thank you to everyone who played a part in the season — we’re looking forward to another exciting year!
The PV Team
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