Dec_88_JumpOwners_Owner Breeder 17/11/2011 18:00 Page 54
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suit, and often does so, but his profession is investment banking and his presence and contacts may have helped bring others from that quarter into the champion jumps yard of Paul Nicholls.
Not that Nicholls needs much help. The turnover in his Somerset stable has been profound this year – almost half the horses are new, along with a batch of aspiring owners, most of whom tend to fit the new
Lystra Adams and her daughter Jasmine have inherited the racing bug from Fox, helped by great days such as that provided by Saint Are (below) at Aintree in April
stereotype rather than the old. Few jumps owners, though, provide a story more heartening for the sport than David Fox. With Fox, whose ten horses include the top-class duo Tartak and Saint Are, it is not just his business background that strikes a chord but the way he came into racing and the way he conducts his ownership. Also, it must be added, the woman at his side. Lystra Adams, Fox’s partner, is now rather more than an exotic decoration for jump racing – she owns her own horses, acts as the face of Racing Welfare’s Lottery and is leading a quiet crusade to remedy the regrettable shortage of black and coloured faces on British racecourses. Fox did not grow up with horses, or even adopt racing in any serious way in early adulthood. “I always had a bit of an interest,” he says. “We lived in Sutton Coldfield for years and it seemed a great day out when my kids were young – they still enjoy it now, even if they are not as enthusiastic as me!” The catalyst for involvement was a business celebration. In Fox’s life, there is frequently cause for business celebrations as he chairs Power Panels Electrical Systems, a multi award-winning company whose expertise in electrical assemblies is used in diverse industries worldwide. “I bought the name in 1980,” Fox recalls. “The company had fallen into disrepair, with no customers to speak of, but the name was significant in Japan and America. A power panel is an assembly of parts to control a machine tool, and has many uses. We built the company to what it is today. “We had a turnover of £25 million last year and we’re employing lots of extra people, which is bucking a trend. Twelve of our customers are world number one at what they do, from food packaging to airport security. We’ve probably become the best around, too, and for an Englishman to say that is reason to be proud.”