A ballsy decision paying dividends as Paddy The Squire seeks Haydock glory

Ian Jones didn’t get as far in business as he did by ducking out of making a ballsy decision or two, so it flies in the face of the Wirral-basedowner’s natural instincts to have held off from accepting trainer Iain Jardine’s advice before finally agreeing to remove the crown jewels of his Betfair Exchange Old Borough Cup contender Paddy The Squire.

A gelding operation last autumn has belatedly been the making of the still-improving five-year-old. An impressive victory in Hamilton’s historic £100,000 Lanark Silver Bell less than a fortnight ago was the son of Golden Horn’s third in five starts this season. Another back on home turf in Saturday’s Betfair-sponsored feature at Haydock will be roared to the rafters by Jones, his wife Mary, their two grown-up kids, Harry and Lucy, and many friends on Merseyside. Yet it’s one that could still leave the Liverpool FC season-ticket holder wondering what might have been.

Jones, who sold his Warrant Group logistics business two and a half years ago to devote more time to his lifelong passion for racing and breeding, said: “It might sound silly, I know, but I’d always had this dream that Paddy might one day become a stallion!

“Iain and Andrew Mullen, Paddy’s jockey, had said to me for a while that we should probably geld him. I was reluctant to because we’ve always had a lot of faith in him and knew he had the ability to be a really good racehorse. But towards the end of his four-year-old season last year, it became clear he was losing a bit of focus and not really putting it all in. That’s when the decision was made.

“Although I wasn’t keen on it initially, it’s definitely been the making of Paddy. It’s an odd one really, because without gelding him I’m not sure we’d have had the racehorse we finally have now. Either way, Iain’s been proved absolutely right.”

Paddy The Squire made a winning reappearance off a mark of 81 at Chester in May. Placed efforts at York and then in Haydock’s OId Newton Cup were followed by a five-length rout at Thirsk early last month. It earned Jones and Jardine’s charge a 9lb rise from the handicapper - enough to have secured him a starting berth in The Ebor had his new mark been applied, rather than the 4lb penalty for winning after the weights were published.

That forced Jones and Jardine’s hand toward Hamilton instead of York, though neither had any regrets after Paddy The Squire surged clear inside the final furlong for a decisive victory in South Lanarkshire. His mark is now into three figures, yet his optimistic owner believes even bigger days lie ahead, especially as the step up to the Ebor trip of 1m6f for the first time on Saturday is expected to spark a further jolt of improvement. Jones, 56, added: “Paddy has won his last two with plenty in hand. He certainly wasn’t stopping at the end of a mile and a half at Hamilton, so I’m quite confident that he’ll not only stay a mile and six, but improve again for it. And I think he’s still got it all in front of him.

“As an owner, I’m not one who tends to overface my horses. Iain rides Paddy out every day and says he’s come out of Hamilton absolutely bouncing, and is in even better form now. When your trainer tells you that, you have to strike while the iron’s hot.

“I’m not saying he’s going to win on Saturday because it will be a very competitive race. But if he does, what’s his mark going to go up to then? He’s 101 now, so you’re probably looking at another 5lb to 106, maybe more. If he were to win, we’d probably be looking at a race like the Cumberland Lodge next. The big one, though, is next year’s Ebor. That’s the one we’d really love.”

Jones isn’t just dreaming big for himself and his horse. He also wants to help elevate Jardine’s standing in the training ranks after The Ebor victory of Nakeeta eight years ago failed to provide the kick-start many assumed it would. 

Nakeeta twice took the former jump jockey, who rode as a conditional for his now Dumfriesshire landlord Len Lungo, on an odyssey Down Under for the Melbourne Cup; while his deeds with Born Famous - whose six straight wins in 2023 included Market Rasen’s Summer Plate under an inspired ride from Harry Cobden - are testament to the 49-year-old Scot’s talents for multitasking.

Jones said: “I’d love to help Iain increase his profile, because I don’t think he gets as much coverage and exposure as he should. If you give him a good horse, he will deliver. 

“Iain has shown time and again what can do with three and four-year-olds, and with milers, middle-distance horses and stayers. But I think he’d like to be further on with what he’s achieved with two-year-olds and proving he can be successful with them too. I’ve no doubts he can be as good a trainer of two-year-olds as he is of older horses, or jumpers for that matter. It’s just a case giving him the right ammunition.”

To that end, Jones and Jardine have made a conscious decision to source yearlings with the right pedigrees to make a splash as juveniles. Jones’ latest purchase at last week’s Goffs yearling sales - a 90,000gns Ardad colt out of a Teofilo mare who was a winning two-year-old for Tom Dascombe - is a case in point.Jones said: “Personally, I love a mile-and-a-half horse! But speed is what seems to be fashionable these days, so Iain and I decided a while back to buy more precociously-bred types. We’ve got youngsters by Cotai Glory, Mehmas, Ten Sovereigns, Kodi Bear and now Ardad. We’ll also be looking at those by the likes of Minzaal, Naval Crown and Blackbeard.”

Jones and Jardine share more than just the same name and initials. The former added: “I started out in ownership in a syndicate with a few horses, one of which was Jabbaar who won four races for Iain. When I sold my business and decided to go on my own as an owner, working with Iain was a very natural fit. We’re very like-minded and aligned in what we do and how we do it. He’s also very hard-working and loyal, so we get on well and are on the same page. 

“I've been passionate about racing since I was a child and I’m fortunate enough now to be in a position where I can follow my dream. I’m big into pedigrees and do a lot of my own work into what sires I like, all that stuff. Iain and I both put a lot of time and effort into trying to buy the right horses at the right price. There’s no substitute for doing that homework.

“I’m only a small owner in the grand scheme of things, but if I can help Iain to raise his profile by winning more big races and proving to other owners that they can be confident about sending horses to him, that would be great. In racing, it’s fashionable to have your horses trained in Newmarket or Lambourn or Malton. But there are so many talented trainers in Scotland and the north in general who can do the job every bit as well. Iain is absolutely one of those.”