Global racing expert Guy Butchers aiming high with syndicate filly

Guy Butchers, an international racing expert who has dedicated the past 40 years to working in the sport, has taken his first step into racehorse ownership by setting up a syndicate to race and eventually breed from a yearling filly.

The Zara Syndicate will campaign the daughter of Hardwicke Stakes scorer and Shade Oak Stud stallion Dartmouth and the winning chaser Twenty Eight Guns, who achieved a peak Racing Post Rating of 133.

The filly will be trained by Richard Phillips, who has taken a share in the youngster, and will likely make her debut in a bumper as a four-year-old.

"Dartmouth is a horse I really liked from the track as he was very gutsy," says Butchers.

"I spoke to Sir Michael Stoute and he said his whole temperament and demeanour was incredible and he was a joy to handle. That transmits itself to the filly.

"She is out of a winning chaser in Twenty Eight Guns, who showed a lovely temperament when I went to see her.

"The filly was advertised online and I just fell in love with her. I arranged to go down and see her and made the decision to set up a syndicate. Within about three or four weeks, we had bought her.

"Her breeder Jane Frieze is based in Wales and gives love and individual attention to everything she breeds. It's a great starting place for any horse.

"The filly is out at grass at the moment and should grow to be 16 or 16.2 hands high."

As the owner and managing director of Up-To-Date Information Services, Butchers helps to compile racecards and results from 35 different countries for his clients, as well as preparing preview comments for racing overseas.

Prior to that he worked as deputy racing editor of the Daily Express and as marketing executive for the International Racing Bureau, where he helped drum up interest in high-profile events including the Breeders' Cup and Arlington Million.

When asked which stallions appeal to him at the moment, Butchers replies: "There are two stallions I really like and both of them stand at Overbury, which I rate very highly as a stud farm. They are Jack Hobbs and Schiaparelli.

"Jack Hobbs is such a nice-looking horse and is really well put together. Schiaparelli has gone a bit under the radar but, again, he has a very good temperament and passes that on to his runners."

Schiaparelli sired his first Cheltenham Festival winner this year when seven-year-old mare Indefatigable struck in the Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys' Hurdle, while his son Ronald Pump was second to Lisnagar Oscar in the Stayers' Hurdle. The oldest crop of Jack Hobbs are now yearlings.

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