ROA ownership strategy: signs of progress but still much to be done

Racing without owners is an orchestra without instruments. In their absence tracks would fall silent and trainers would be left waving their arms like forlorn composers as they stare out on empty yards.

Their vast financial investment runs into billions of pounds annually with countless thousands of jobs relying on the largesse of an eclectic group of aristocrats, sheikhs and smallholders upon whose waxing and waning interest the sport lives and dies.

The average annual cost of keeping a horse in training across both codes is £25,200 yet more often than not the returns are paltry, with owners of low-class runners unlikely to see ten pence back for every pound invested. Poor returns, coupled with mixed racecourse experiences, can often prove too much to shoulder.