Owner's multicolour floral pattern set to light up Uttoxeter

Mrs Slocombe, fond as she was of changing her hair colour from one week to the next, would surely nod her head in approval when seeing Captain Peacock – not to mention Leighton Aspell – at Uttoxeter on Saturday.

For the Grand National-winning jockey will be sporting silks the like of which have never been seen before on a British racecourse as he represents three owners who include clothing and homeware retailer Tom Joule.

Thanks to the colourful creativity of Joule, founder of the 'premium lifestyle brand' that bears his name, the Oliver Sherwood-trained Captain Peacock, and in particular his jockey, will look like something akin to a galloping Kew Gardens when sporting silks registered at Weatherbys as "lemon, multicolour floral pattern (pink, red, soft blue), multicolour buttons and soft blue trims".

Lemon is the base colour for the Tom Joule creation

Joule – whose partners in the winning Flat handicapper are Josh Apiafi and Andrew Black – was one of nine individuals initially selected as part of a BHA trial to offer existing and potential new owners the opportunity to design and register their own silks at a cost of £5,000. Twenty per cent of that sum is split between Racing Welfare and Retraining of Racehorses.

Captain Peacock's appearance at Uttoxeter comes in the same week the changing nature of the times was highlighted by the sale of a set of silks described as "black, yellow and red dartboard, white sleeves with red darts" at Sotheby's for £8,000.

"This is a journey which started for me on the circuits of point-to-point meetings almost 30 years ago,“ said Joule.

"Racing has always been a passion of mine, so to be able to combine that with the day job and bring the ethos of Joules to a racetrack was a no-brainer for me. I’m really excited to see Captain Peacock run this weekend and see the silks in action.”

Also set to be gracing racecards and racecourses in the near future are silks featuring a swarm of bees, a Chinese dragon and a dog motif.

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