Aug_120_ROA_Forumv2_Owner 18/07/2014 17:37 Page 86
ROA FORUM
MAGICAL MOMENTS
GEORGE SELWYN
with ROA members Fiona Carmichael and Ian Jennings
Fiona Carmichael and Ian Jennings with Ivawood following his victory in the Group 2 July Stakes at Newmarket
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his time it will be Fiona Carmichael’s decision and hers alone. Owner of impressive July Stakes winner Ivawood with husband and fellow ROA member Ian Jennings, Carmichael was part of the triumvirate which sold Havana Gold and Toronado to the Al Thani family, though they were reluctant sales on her part. While she still owns horses with Chris Humber and Roger Simmons, the purple and green silks carried by Ivawood and others belong solely to Carmichael and her husband. The pair report interest in Ivawood in the wake of his easy win in the Newmarket Group 2, but the co-favourite for the 2,000 Guineas is staying put, for now at least. The 2,000 Guineas is one of Carmichael’s dream races to win, perhaps trumped only by the Derby. Carmichael’s ownership adventure began just a few years ago, the spark being a riding holiday with a friend who had racehorses. Her husband, Mark, was not keen, but after he sadly passed on, the financial advisor helping Carmichael with her accounts just happened to be Douglas Pryde, subsequently owner of a Grand National winner in Auroras Encore. Pryde suggested a trip to Deauville, where Carmichael was to bump into the husband of her riding holiday friend, Simmons. He already had horses with Richard Hannon snr, and through him Carmichael was introduced to bloodstock agent Amanda Skiffington and Humber.
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Carmichael has had interests in 24 horses since then, ten of which are current. Seven are with Richard Hannon jnr, two with Hugo Palmer and one with Nicolas Clement. She attributes her success to the team element, in particular Skiffington and the Hannons. It was a rather soggy ladies’ day at Newmarket when Ivawood showed his rivals a clean pair of heels, but still a magical
“The best bit of being an owner is going to the sales, looking at horses, the drama”
moment. “It was a fabulous day,” says Carmichael. “Everyone kept saying you wouldn’t get another Toronado. “It was a brilliant few days, in fact, because only two days before Audacia had won a Listed race at Pontefract. “I’m quite superstitious and wore the same dress to Newmarket as I had worn to watch Toronado, and invited the same friends! They were similar days, except for the weather! “I wasn’t sure about running Ivawood as I’ve lost a couple of horses on the July course.” But run he did and the Richmond Stakes at
Glorious Goodwood was the next goal as the magazine went to press, with the Middle Park and Dewhurst options later in the season for a horse named after the creator of The Magic Roundabout. Zebedee is the sire of Ivawood! Toronado is also due to appear at Goodwood, in the Sussex Stakes, and it was he who gave his now ex-owner probably her most magical moment so far in racing when winning the Champagne Stakes at Doncaster. “I would say that’s the case as it was the first big win,” says Carmichael, who as well as big winners particularly enjoys attending bloodstock sales in Britain and France. “For me that’s probably the best bit of being an owner, going and looking at horses at the sales, the drama of it all,” she says. A couple of days after speaking to Owner & Breeder, the husband and wife team were due to go to Newbury to watch juvenile Marshall Jennings – Marshall was Carmichael’s maiden name – in the plane they have bought to considerably help the logistics of going racing. “We live in Jersey and I’m halfway through my pilot’s licence course,” says Jennings, whose business is IT. The couple had a particularly frustrating time when trying to get off the island in order to see Havana Gold in the Irish 2,000 Guineas, and having their own wings should ensure no such future issues. So it’s a case of up, up and away, in more ways than one. THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER