Our Stable
"A horse gallops with his lungs, perseveres with his heart and wins with his character."
Meet the Pompey Ventures Team
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At Pompey Ventures, we are committed to selecting what we feel are the very best horses, to provide the best results and returns for our owners. We firmly believe that the team we have put together is first class and we are very proud of our horses, our trainers and the results we have achieved so far.
Oliver Show
Oliver Show has been a standout performer since joining Pompey Ventures and transferring to Saffron House Stables for 30,000 Guineas. In his seven starts under our ownership, he has delivered an impressive record, securing three wins and placing second and third in other outings. His total earnings have exceeded £55,378, a remarkable achievement. George and his team have done an exceptional job with Ollie, and he has been an absolute pleasure to work with. While it will be a bittersweet moment when he goes through the ring, our primary responsibility is to deliver a significant return for our clients. Ollie has been an incredibly fun horse to be involved with, and we consider ourselves incredibly fortunate to have experienced this unforgettable journey.
Media Shooter
Media Shooter came to us with high praise, recommended by our good friend Kieran Kourdache. He started off with a handicap mark of 73 and has impressively improved 14lbs to his current mark of 87. Along the way, he has secured three wins and placed second and third in other races. A standout moment was his victory in the prestigious Pommery Royal Gold Cup at Musselburgh. Media Shooter holds a special place in the hearts of everyone at Pompey Ventures. From the very beginning, he has been a pleasure to work with and has consistently exceeded expectations. He is a true credit to the team at Spigot Lodge, and we are all keenly aware of what a star he has become.
Empowered Queen
Empowered Queen was purchased for £60,000 at the Goffs Breeze-Up Sale, and looked every inch a quick and racy filly. However, her performances in her first three runs have been somewhat disappointing. She has shown signs of keenness both at home and in her races, and it has taken time for her to fully settle and to race in the correct manner. On pedigree we believe she will continue to improve with stepping up to 7 furlongs. While her progress has not been as expected at this stage, we remain very optimistic that she can will races for Pompey Ventures.
Tuco Salamanca
Tuco Salamanca was privately sourced from Ireland through our partner, David Byrne. A well-built son of Belardo, he has plenty of quality being out of a Dansili mare. Tuco is a straightforward horse who takes his work well. He made his debut at Wolverhampton, where his inexperience showed missing the start. He was positioned too far back on a track that favours front-runners which meant he was never going to trouble the judge. Since then, we have gelded Tuco, a move we hope will unlock further improvement. We expect him to improve with racing and he is a horse we hope will give Pompey Ventures owners many enjoyable days on the track.
Kranjcar
Kranjcar is a horse we acquired in partnership with Sam Haggas of Hurworth Bloodstock. Purchased for £150,000 as a yearling from the John Dance dispersal, he is an impressive horse with substantial size and excellent conformation, which is why both Sam Haggas and George Boughey held him in such high regard. While he has taken some time to mature, he remains very much a work in progress. After gelding him, which helped reduce some of his weight, we are confident that he will develop into a horse to enjoy in 2025. Kranjcar has a great temperament, and his kind nature makes him a pleasure to work with.
Cosmic Force
Cosmic Force was suggested to us by George Boughey. He looked compact and neat and like a horse that would be ready to rock n roll straight away having had just the one run for previous connections over 6f at Windsor. Since joining our team, he has had two starts and has been assigned an opening mark of 65. He has taken a while to grasp the hang of things and showed signs of being colty in the prelims. After his third run, we decided to geld him, it has taken a while for him to regain his mojo. He is currently having a break and our plan is to target all-weather handicaps in the New Year. The team at Pompey Ventures is confident that our patience will be rewarded, and we expect to see him in the winner's enclosure very soon.
Bruce Banner
Bruce Banner was acquired for 16,000 Guineas from Tattersalls Book 1. From the moment we purchased him, we knew he would require time and patience, as he was quite unfurnished and gangly. He has always shown a lot of character, and we believe he will make significant progress next year. His dam, Special Meaning, placed second in a Group 3 over 1m3f. With racing experience, time, and a chance to follow in his dam’s footsteps trip-wise, we are confident that Bruce Banner will take a big step forward in 2025. This year has been a learning process, allowing us to carefully manage Brucey's growth as he fills out his large frame.
Soldiers Call X Maybride Filly
This was without doubt our value pick of the Breeze ups. A filly who breezed well and got better the further she went. It also helps that she is built like a colt! She has settled in great at Spigot Lodge and we are hoping to have her on the track the latter part of the year. A relation to ‘Significantly’ who Karl also trained. Karl currently trains the two highest rated progeny of Soldiers Call, both of which are fillies.
Unraced 2 year old Filly
Twilight Son x Oppressive
This nephew to Holloway Boy, rated 110 & recent winner of the Group 3 Superior Mile at Haydock, comes highly recommended by Karl & was Kieran Kourdache's NAP of the Tattersalls Somerville Sale. Karl Burke trained both the dam and brother of the dam - Holloway Boy. Our lad is a very similar model to Holloway Bay, and Kieran was immediately struck by the similarities. He is a middle season horse who’s likely to be starting over 7f and we are very excited about him! He is now being ridden at the pre trainers, Jamie Lloyd, and we are hearing very good reports about him.
Yearling
Starman x Pyrenean Queen
We recently acquired a Starman colt from the Goffs Premier Sale, out of a Zoffany mare. He stood out as an exceptional type, with the team considering him a must-have. This colt possesses an impressive physique, particularly his powerful hindquarters, suggesting significant strength and speed. He also displayed excellent balance and a robust shoulder. His temperament is outstanding, and he comes across as a kind horse eager to please, which will undoubtedly be beneficial for his development. His half-brother, Messidor, by Vadamos, achieved a rating of 93 and won twice showing significant ability. Our colt appears to be early type and looks to have every chance of becoming a "Donni rocket." He has been pleasing our trusted pre-trainer, Matt Hampton, and his wife, Felicity, and all indications are positive so far. The plan is to race him when he's ready, under the guidance of Ollie Sangster at the historic Manton estate.
Yearling
Kodi Bear x Xcite
Our first Irish based horse!🇮🇪 A gorgeous daughter of Kodi Bear, she looks a sharp early type. We loved this filly and after finding out Jack Davison was set to buy her, we thought it made perfect sense to support Jack, as a young trainer, who is a perfect fit for PV, by purchasing her together. Davison loved this filly. He owned the half sister who had talent but was very headstrong and unfortunately got injured before showing it on track. Jack felt our Kodi Bear was a much nicer horse physically and looked better than the sister. He was set to buy her and was willing to pay what he had to to get her in his yard. Therefore it made perfect sense to send her to Jack and he has retained a large share himself in this filly. We've had frequent requests to expand Pompey Ventures racing syndicates overseas & this was an opportunity we couldn't turn down. There is a race on St Patrick's weekend in Ireland where we would love to start her career & take a team of PV owners over to have a great day out.
Yearling
Sands of Mali x Eglantyne Dream
This ‘intelligent’ and ‘athletic’ daughter of Pompey Ventures favourite stallion, Sands of Mali, was again purchased with Karl Burke’s head travelling lad Kieran Kourdache. Her page jumped out at us, and put her straight to the top of our short list. The dam produced 2 winners from 3 foals of racing age. 2 by Biraaj and one by Coulsty. For the dam to have produced horses to win races from poor stallions we felt that from an upgraded stallion such as Sands of Mali she could produce a much nicer horse & obviously given our success with Sands of Mali offspring this year, we were always going to be keen on her. However when viewing her, we felt she also had an excellent physical to go alongside her page and that made her a must have for us. She looks a nice strong 2Yo who we would expect to be out over the sprint trips fairly early on for the excellent 2YO trainer Karl Burke. We were delighted to only have to give €22,000 for her. This means she will qualify for Band D restricted races next year. Last year we purchased one horse from this sale… Bob Mali. Our unbeaten two year old colt who is also by Sands of Mali. We hope she will further extend our two year old success with the stallion.
Yearling
Dandy Man x Gali Girl
A beautiful moving son of Dandy Man which we were happy paying up to €22,000 for (to keep in Band D races). We genuinely believe we have stolen this lad. The nick of Dandy Man & Canford Cliffs’ mares has a 50% strike rate of producing horses with a OR of 87+. Dave Byrne purchased him and loved him as a physical. He said ‘He is a pure athlete. The way he moves from A to B is outstanding. I genuinely can’t believe we didn’t have to go out of Band D restrictions to get him.’ Dave purchased Bob Mail this time last year for €16,000 and has again kept a considerable share in this lad himself. He has been entered for the Goffs Millions & Bonus races, of which there will be AT LEAST two restricted Band D maidens carrying a healthy €50,000 reward to the winner.
Yearling
New Bay x La Fiamma
We feel there is value straight from the word GO with this lad as New Bay’s covering fee is currently €75,000. He is from an excellent family and the first foal out of a mare that would’ve cost borderline 7 figures. The market for part 2 of the Goffs Orby sale was very weak, as we had hoped. With our budget, it is vital that we play when we think the market is wrong/weak so that we can maximise value for our owners. We certainly believe this horse is value at €22,000. A big powerful colt that has been entered for the Goffs Millions & Bonus races, of which there will be AT LEAST two restricted Band D maidens carrying a healthy €50,000 reward to the winner. Ollie has kept a sizeable share in this lad and is very happy to be welcoming another Pompey Ventures horse to our successful Manton team.
Yearling
Sabrimento
Sabrimento was purchased from the Tattersalls online Sale. As with every sale, we conducted an in depth search of the lots on offer to see if there were any standout horses, with angles we could look to improve on. We were very keen to try and secure SABRIMENTO and delighted to be successful in doing so, for the purchase price of just 10,000gns. Keep an eye out for his AW Campaign under the top class management of the very sharp George Boughey, who was straight on the phone after it was published that we had purchased him, to retain a share himself!
Profit Refused
​We were delighted to strike the winning bid at Goffs Ireland on Lot 1360 - PROFIT REFUSED. A winning 3yo Filly who will head to strengthen our team at Ollie Sangster’s. THE ANGLE Being closely related to superstar globe trotting winner, 122 OR REBEL'S ROMANCE, winner of over £9,100,100 in prize money, she looks a strong potential broodmare prospect. We have been well advised that this is a potential BLACK TYPE filly by a trusted PV source. This, combined with the fact that on her second start she beat MEGARRY a filly who went onto win a listed race in Ireland with a peak Official rating of 104. She won by over a length, well in command at the line. Her next start she found a very warm race for the grade with A LILAC ROLLA (Group 3 winner & second in the IRISH 1000 guineas- OR108) winning the race, narrowly beating OPERA SINGER (Dual Group 1 winner and Group 3 winner- OR115) Our filly was only beaten by just over 5 lengths that day. This suggests to us that the work riders are correct and this filly should have plenty more to come with a wind operation and a change of scenery. This gives us hope that we can find some blacktype for her during the turf season and increase her value significantly as a broodmare. THE PLAN GOING FORWARD She will spend the a couple of months at Rochestown Stud in Ireland before shipping to join Ollie Sangster. We will look to campaign her in the 2025 turf season & we couldn’t be more excited to have her on our books. As previously stated, we were told that this filly could be a potential pattern class performer. Ollie has a proven track record in training fillies at the highest level, as shown in the success he has achieved with the likes of: Shawari, Simmering & Celestrial Orbit. Ollie will not only train the filly, but has retained a sizeable share in her himself. WHY SHOULD YOU GET INVOLVED? Should Profit Refused progress as we hope and show a significant improvement to form she will be targeted at the Mares December Sale.  However... We have agreed a deal with a breeder who has guaranteed they will buy her from us for her original purchase price at the end of the 2025 turf season should she not perform as expected. This makes her a virtually no risk deal, with the built in guarantee of the return of at least the purchase price, plus prize money at the end of the year. For the team at PV this made it an unmissable opportunity and we were set on bringing her home with us ! ​ ​ ​
Entries
How do you know which horse's have the potential to be PV horse's?
We have an excellent team around us, with a wealth of knowledge and experience in horses and racing. We also use the services of experienced bloodstock agents on occasion and have experts in several different fields within the company. The purchase of any horse is a major investment and we would never purchase any horse, without being absolutely certain it was the right fit for PV's horse racing syndicates.​​
Can I visit my horse?
Absolutely! You are the horse owner. It's your horse. You don't need to wait for an open day! We are happy to arrange for private stables visits for you to visit your horse. Just let us know when is convenient for you and we will organise it. We have excellent relationships with all our trainers and they are very accessible. If you have any questions about your horse or its training, we can always get an answer for you!
How long will you keep my horse?
A wise man once told us the time to sell your horse is when you least want to! Roughly translated this means our aim is to buy the horse, improve its value, win our owners some valuable prize money, then hopefully sell on for a profit, all whilst enjoying some winning days out! Obviously this is an aim not a guarantee but we are confident we can judge the optimal selling point for your horse to maximise both your return and the overall owners experience.​​​
Questions on race horse ownership with Pompey Ventures?
Dont be afraid to ask...get in touch for a chat!