'We've got lucky, very lucky' - ex-psychiatrist eyeing big Newcastle payday

After wins for Godolphin, Juddmonte and the Queen at Newmarket, it could be Terry Reilly's turn at Newcastle.

There is £1,057,000 to play for on All Weather Finals day, half as much again as was offered on all three days of the Craven meeting combined, and the 74-year-old semi-retired psychiatrist hopes to land a share.

He is part of Grange Park Racing, the £1,500 down/£130 a month group whose El Caballo is favourite for the Coral Three Year Old All-Weather Championships Conditions Stakes after winning his last four races.

"We've got lucky, very lucky," admitted Reilly, who went to the same school in Stirlingshire as Willie Carson but has usually followed the sport from the stands rather than the winner's enclosure.

"I've always been a racing fan," he said. "My father and mother were both mad keen on horses and I'm told that the first words I ever read were the banner headline in the Sporting Life on Grand National day in 1951 'Teal will win' - and he did."

Reilly has been involved with Grange Park, which was set up by Alan Crombie in 2011, for seven or eight years and he said: "This is the biggest day of my racing life and I know that's a sentiment shared by many of the other syndicate members.

"Every time I speak to Alan on the phone I can hear his voice trembling with excitement and nerves. He's excited and nervous and so am I, we know how things can unexpectedly go wrong in racing.

"This horse actually sustained an injury on the gallops two days before Royal Ascot last year and he was off for about three months. But he's come back better than ever, thankfully."

Success never goes unnoticed and bigger owners have attempted to get their hands on El Caballo, a colt bought for £30,000 by trainer Karl Burke as a yearling.

"We've had plenty of offers for him but we've turned them down," Reilly said. "We're all quite proud that we've said no because some of the figures being quoted were mind blowing, almost ridiculous."

Success would take the three-year-old's earnings past £120,000 and Reilly, who is based in York, said: "I think he'll start favourite and we've got a favourite's chance. If we get the breaks, I hope we'll be bringing home the bacon."

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