PV Press

The Pompey Ventures syndicate have been active at a number of recent sales and continued their recruitment drive with the 36,000gns purchase of Disco Spirit, an unraced three-year-old son of Acclamation offered on behalf of Dance’s Coverdale Stud. The docket was signed with Sam Haggas’s Hurworth Bloodstock. Disco Spirit last appeared on the public market during Book 2 of the October Yearling Sale in 2022, when he was knocked down to Dance’s Manor House Farm at 150,000gns. The Pompey Ventures team will be hoping to maintain their run of form that has seen Media Shooter and Oliver Show grace the winner's enclosure of late. “This horse is going to George Boughey after the great job he’s done with Oliver Show,” said syndicate founder Owen Haly. “We liked him as a physical and we’re probably getting a bit of value given the unknowns around the John Dance horses. “We went and had a look at him and George liked him so we’re happy to get him. We don’t know an awful lot about him and what he’s been doing but we liked his condition and he’ll go straight to George’s from here and we’ll let him work away. Hopefully, George can work his magic.” Pompey Ventures also secured three lots at last week’s Doncaster Breeze-Up Sale, with the trio costing a combined £128,000. Prior to that they struck at 17,000gns, for Mulciber during the March Sale. On the backstory to the syndicate, Haly said: “It was started by myself and Ned Sangster and our first group of purchases were at last year’s Autumn Horses-in-Training Sale. We picked up Media Shooter and Oliver Show and they’ve been great servants over the winter. Media Shooter has nearly won what we paid for him in prize-money already and Oliver Show has been a bit of a project but George has done a great job with him. “The whole aim was to get younger people into ownership and I’d say a vast amount of our shareholders are under the age of 35. We offer shares that go from two per cent up to 50 per cent.” Expanding on the group’s approach to sourcing stock, Haly said: “With buying yearlings and breeze-up horses there are more unknowns, but we’ve always liked trying to find horses with form we think we can improve and looking for angles. It’s a big game of opinions so we’re looking for things other people might not see.” “I’m a working class lad and my first racing memory was Royal Ascot in 2015 with a couple of mates. Ever since then I’ve been a form student. I met Ned through a mutual friend and his pedigree and that surname speaks for itself in racing.” In keeping with their aim of appealing to a younger generation of owners, the syndicate recently tweeted a photo of its members with the caption of “Not a grey hair in sight.” When asked if this was an official policy or mere coincidence, Haly laughed and said: “We do accept people with grey hair!” ompey back in purchasing mode The Pompey Ventures syndicate have been active at a number of recent sales and continued their recruitment drive with the 36,000gns purchase of Disco Spirit, an unraced three-year-old son of Acclamation offered on behalf of Dance’s Coverdale Stud. The docket was signed with Sam Haggas’s Hurworth Bloodstock. Disco Spirit last appeared on the public market during Book 2 of the October Yearling Sale in 2022, when he was knocked down to Dance’s Manor House Farm at 150,000gns. The Pompey Ventures team will be hoping to maintain their run of form that has seen Media Shooter and Oliver Show grace the winner's enclosure of late. “This horse is going to George Boughey after the great job he’s done with Oliver Show,” said syndicate founder Owen Haly. “We liked him as a physical and we’re probably getting a bit of value given the unknowns around the John Dance horses. “We went and had a look at him and George liked him so we’re happy to get him. We don’t know an awful lot about him and what he’s been doing but we liked his condition and he’ll go straight to George’s from here and we’ll let him work away. Hopefully, George can work his magic.” Pompey Ventures also secured three lots at last week’s Doncaster Breeze-Up Sale, with the trio costing a combined £128,000. Prior to that they struck at 17,000gns, for Mulciber during the March Sale. On the backstory to the syndicate, Haly said: “It was started by myself and Ned Sangster and our first group of purchases were at last year’s Autumn Horses-in-Training Sale. We picked up Media Shooter and Oliver Show and they’ve been great servants over the winter. Media Shooter has nearly won what we paid for him in prize-money already and Oliver Show has been a bit of a project but George has done a great job with him. “The whole aim was to get younger people into ownership and I’d say a vast amount of our shareholders are under the age of 35. We offer shares that go from two per cent up to 50 per cent.” Expanding on the group’s approach to sourcing stock, Haly said: “With buying yearlings and breeze-up horses there are more unknowns, but we’ve always liked trying to find horses with form we think we can improve and looking for angles. It’s a big game of opinions so we’re looking for things other people might not see.” “I’m a working class lad and my first racing memory was Royal Ascot in 2015 with a couple of mates. Ever since then I’ve been a form student. I met Ned through a mutual friend and his pedigree and that surname speaks for itself in racing.” In keeping with their aim of appealing to a younger generation of owners, the syndicate recently tweeted a photo of its members with the caption of “Not a grey hair in sight.” When asked if this was an official policy or mere coincidence, Haly laughed and said: “We do accept people with grey hair!”