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'We bought a golf course, built a yard - and now I've created a monster'
Lambourn correspondent James Burn meets a trainer who is dreaming big again
If you think an Irish point-to-pointer is expensive these days, try buying a golf course in the Cotswolds.
Yet that's exactly what Ben Pauling has done as he enters the next phase of his training career at a new purpose-built yard built on unused land at Naunton Downs Golf Club – a phase he ushered in with a winner at the Cheltenham Festival last week.
Asked if he feels comfortable talking about how much money he had spent, Pauling jokes it was "too much", which might explain why one long-time member flinched at the cost of a sandwich in the clubhouse. "£9!" he exclaims in the car park. "It's not a golf club anymore."
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Published on inInterviews
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- 'I've never paid six figures for a horse and never will - I learned pretty quickly you're only one phone call away from f*** all'
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- ‘When you’re in the moment and you’re starved, you’re ready to explode - everything built up and I just lost my s**t’
- It's been a quarter of a century since we started - here's how we've seen the sport we love change
- 'You can see why people end up struggling - when you're trying to pay the electric bill, losing one ride can be massive'
- 'I've never paid six figures for a horse and never will - I learned pretty quickly you're only one phone call away from f*** all'
- 'I’ve trained some fabulous horses, worked with some excellent riders - maybe I have brought a little bit of talent to the table as well'
- ‘When you’re in the moment and you’re starved, you’re ready to explode - everything built up and I just lost my s**t’