Our team

The Team

• 

  Tim Palin

  Partner and Director of Racing

  

  Tim Palin

  Partner and Director of Racing

  Syndicate Manager for horses trained by: Mick Appleby, Michael Bell, Scott Dixon, Mick Easterby, Micky Hammond, Richard Hannon, Ben Haslam, Rod Millman, Sir Mark Prescott, Kevin Ryan, Bryan Smart, Richard Spencer, Ian Williams along with our horses trained in France.

  Email: tim@middlehamparkracing.net
  Telephone: 07785 745292  Instagram: @tpalin1 Twitter: @TimPALIN1 

  The business strategy is shaped by Tim and fellow partner Mike Prince. Tim, by his own admission, lives and breathes MPR. His vision continues to drive the company forward on all fronts. Tim is not only determined to maintain MPR's status of the country's leading syndication company, but also to continue to strive for excellence and perfection wherever possible within all aspects of the company. To facilitate this, Tim keeps a keen eye on all the dimensions to Middleham Park Racing, ensuring that all areas are covered by the team to the very best of their ability. To be second best is simply not good enough in Tim's opinion. 

  Tim’s specific responsibility is the management of the horses in training with the above listed trainers. There are many things that fall under the ‘syndicate manager’ remit, far more than one may realise in truth. Here Tim describes what is involved for the team:

  “The most recurring role when managing one of our horses, is race placement. Entries will go in from both the trainer and ourselves, this way it’s very rare that we will miss a suitable race for a horse. Where possible we have various options covered for every horse and this has to be done even prior to the horse’s previous race.

  We assess each race option in great detail and run the horse in the most suitable race for them. Owners can attend the races safe in the knowledge that their horse is in the right race to do themselves justice, so we always explain our reasoning to them for declaring a horse.

  Whilst the trainer has a large say regarding whether a horse is declared or not, I would suggest that the ultimate run or no run is made by MPR. We only work with trainers who consult us when declaring a horse, a non-declaration may be slightly different in that we don’t always talk them through, but no horse will be declared without being given the green light by the syndicate manager.

  Once the declaration is made, we’ll re-assess the runners and riders that are confirmed and begin to make a race plan. On the morning of the race, a preview is sent out to the owners analysing the draw, where we think any pace will be coming from, the race tactics and where we expect the horse to finish. The idea is that if you cannot attend the race meeting, you will have all the information available to you, as if you were in the paddock.

  There is no easy way around this part of the job. The only way to ensure you find and put the horses in the right race, is to never stop looking; you will search for something you might not have done the day before and suddenly find a race for a horse. Devil’s Bridge for example, won his maiden in a race that Tom found, as it had been added to the fixtures list at a later date! Then we have the European race fixtures to consider, where the prize money can eclipse that of a similar grade race over here, so the studying never really stops.

  When we arrive at a racecourse for the day’s race we like to have an option in mind for the horse whatever the outcome. Clearly this isn’t always possible to have a specific race or two in mind, but we do always like our owners to know that the ship does have a rudder!”

  

   

   

• 

  Mike Prince

  Partner and Director of Operations

  

  Mike Prince

  Partner and Director of Operations

  Syndicate Manager for the horses trained by: Keith Dalgleish, Roger Fell, Mark Johnston and David O’Meara.
  Email: mike@middlehamparkracing.net
  Telephone: 07883 095693
  Twitter: @MiddlehamPark

  

• 

  Tom Palin

  Partner, Bloodstock and National Hunt Manager

  

  Tom Palin

  Partner, Bloodstock and National Hunt Manager

  Syndicate Manager for horses trained by: Roger Charlton, Clive Cox, Tom Dascombe, Richard Fahey, Charlie Fellowes, Hugo Palmer, William Knight, Archie Watson and the National Hunt horses trained by: Brian Ellison, Nicky Henderson OBE, Donald McCain, Paul Nicholls OBE, Ben Pauling, David Pipe & Colin Tizzard.

   

  Email: tom@middlehamparkracing.net
  Telephone: 07909 915079
  Instagram: palin_mpr   Twitter: @tpalin

  Tom says “I’ve been around Middleham Park Racing my whole life, going on stable visits with Dad instead of playing cricket matches, racing at Beverley after school and spending my October half term in a wonderful place called Newmarket. I joined the team full time after finishing University, where I studied sports marketing and public relations.

  The biggest learning curve for me in the early days was adjusting from being 'around' racing, to being 'in' racing. I soon understood that racing is not something you can pay lip service to, you are either fully invested in what you are doing or you won’t be having any success. You have to throw yourself head first into this game and spend your evenings looking through races, your weekend mornings on the gallops and then the afternoons at the racetrack.”

  As well as his Syndicate Manager role, Tom’s principal role is our Bloodstock Manager, which he describes for us: “Last year I attended every major sale in Europe in the attempt to see as many horses for sale as possible, so we can cover every base and not have to compromise one jot. I start several weeks before each sale on the catalogues and these sales probably total around 50 days in total selling, but the real work is done at home in the preparation, even before a horse enters the sales ring, and this is a year long task. The process of buying one of our horses is probably a good bit more detailed and extensive than one may originally think. Each horse has to undergo roughly six “filters” before they are deemed worthy enough to appear on our website. We go to such painstaking processes to ensure that what we offer to prospective owners, we believe to be the very best bloodstock pound for pound and those that we’d be proud to have carry our colours.

  I would estimate that my average yearly mileage is north of 40,000 and my job often involves long nights and early starts, but fear not, I love the role and seeing the smiles on owners faces when they have a winner makes it all worthwhile! I’ve been very lucky to not only meet and work with some of the biggest names in the industry and I’ve met some wonderfully interesting owners in my time as well. I very much look forward to what the future holds for everyone involved with MPR.”

  

• 

  Charlotte Nolan

  Syndicate Manager for MPR Ireland and Racing Administration Manager

  

  Charlotte Nolan

  Syndicate Manager for MPR Ireland and Racing Administration Manager

  Syndicate Manager for horses trained by: Ken Condon, Gordon Elliott, Joseph O'Brien & Nigel Tinkler and is the Racing Administration Manager for the business.

   

  Email: charlotte@middlehamparkracing.net
  Telephone: 07947 774915
  Twitter: @holmes_char

  
  Charlotte manages the racing admin for all MPR trained horses and is the co-ordinator for race days, liaising with race courses to organise Owner and Trainer badges for our owners. She distributes all the horse updates from the syndicate managers, as well as entry and declaration notifications to owners. She is based in Ireland where she is syndicate manager for the MPR Ireland trained horses and also attends all bloodstock sales with the MPR team.

  Charlotte attended the Royal Agricultural College in Cirencester, gaining a degree in International Equine and Agricultural Business Management.  She has a wealth of experience within the racing industry, including riding as an amateur jockey for a number of seasons, both on the flat and in the Point to Point field. Her favourite racing moment was steering Ivestar from a last to first victory at Hamilton!  Horses have always been part of her life and prior to race riding, she evented to 2-star level.

  Time was spent in a number of yards, including Henrietta Knight's Wantage yard and before working for MPR, Charlotte was racing secretary to Bryan Smart at his Hambleton base.  Charlotte also worked during sales days for Goffs UK over a 10-year period.  

  

• 

  Sarah Davey

  Client Relations and Marketing Manager

  

  Sarah Davey

  Client Relations and Marketing Manager

  Email: sarah@middlehamparkracing.net

  Telephone: 07748 770133

  Sarah joined MPR after being an owner with us since 2013 (in fact she still is, she can’t help herself!) Her background is from the service industry, having been Operations Director at Hobbs, the fashion company for many years. Her skills have been used to put together our new website and she focuses on everything that is ‘customer facing.’ This includes our branding, marketing and communications. She puts together our monthly newsletter, creates our various owner brochures, collates our racing statistics, manages our website and oversees our social media presence, as well as always looking for new opportunities to take the business even further forward. Sarah also hosts our owners at the Southern racecourses when we have a runner.

  Sarah says “horse racing has always been my number one passion, but working in a 7 day a week industry such as retail, I very rarely had the time to actually go or even watch! When I left Hobbs, I decided to take the step into ownership and after contacting all the ‘known’ syndicates, selected MPR and here I am now, six years later, with over 50 winners (yes, I keep a spreadsheet!) four at Listed level, plus a Group 3 and a Group 1 (and let's not forget the St Leger 2nd - we nearly did it!) so you could say I made the right choice..

  When Tim approached me about joining the team, I could hardly say no! Working in an industry I am fanatical about and for a syndicate especially, which, like retail has it’s ‘customers’ at its core, you could say I have found my ‘niche’. Like retail, horse racing is a constant and my role means I really have to have a holistic approach to our whole business and know what’s happening around all aspects, such as what are we buying, what’s taking place, what needs to be announced or shared; where and how, what achievements need highlighting and of course knowing all the horses and their plans, plus of course am I needed to go racing tomorrow?! When I was solely an owner, I had NO idea just how much goes on behind the scenes.”

  As with all of the MPR Management team, Sarah attends race days and open mornings for all our horses. She describes that role here: “Going to the races with one of our horses, means we not only need to know everything about the race in advance (Tim described all the work that goes into that), know the owners who will be in attendance, let them know where to meet us and be ready to do any media interviews. (On my first week ‘on the other side of the fence’ I was asked lots of questions by Matt Chapman at Windsor, which was a test, but think I did alright!) We arrive at least an hour before the race to greet owners in the Owners and Trainers facility, answer any questions that they may have and to be ‘the middle man’ between the jockey/trainer and the owners. Racing can be a daunting game even for the most seasoned of owners but with MPR welcoming so many first-time owners, it’s ever more important to help and guide new owners through the race day experience.

  On the face of it, going racing most days is good fun, but it’s the behind the scenes work that then takes a back seat, plus the miles of driving to and from racecourses, combined with not knowing where you will be racing sometimes until just 24 hours before and our social lives can suffer! But I think my friends are resigned to the fact that I am back in the land I was in at Hobbs, instead this time my life has been taken over by horses and not shoes and dresses!”

  

• 

  Tom Denham

  Social Media Editor and Syndicate Manager

  

  Tom Denham

  Social Media Editor and Syndicate Manager

  Syndicate Manager for horses trained by: by Marco Botti, Tim Easterby, James Ferguson and Robert Cowell.

   

  Email: tomdenham@middlehamparkracing.net
  Telephone: 07968 551837
  Instagram: denham_tom   Twitter: @T_Denham

  Tom joined the team in 2019 following the merger between Middleham Park Racing (MPR) and Ventura Racing (VR). Tom is the syndicate manager for several of the joint MPR/VR horses, as well as overseeing social media across all the leading platforms for the whole business.

  Tom says “My family have been involved in horse racing for as long as I can remember. My grandad owned a few horses with various trainers before he and my dad joined syndicate ownerships with MPR. This really is where my passion for the sport came from, cheering on many successful horses carrying the famous sky blue and orange silks. Penitent and G Force are two horses that will live long in my memory.

  After joining the family business from University and ultimately deciding it wasn’t for me, I set up my own horse racing syndicate business. I have always believed that syndicate ownership is a vital part of helping horse racing thrive in the future. We had some great days with Ventura Racing, particularly with Copper Knight- my favourite little sprinter.

  Fast forward a couple of years, and I now find myself presented with an exciting opportunity to work for the biggest syndicate in the country. It’s a dream job, and I can’t wait to see what the future holds for Middleham Park Racing.”

• 

  Tony Denham

  Bloodstock Advisor

  

  Tony Denham

  Bloodstock Advisor

  It is fair to say that in my early adult years I had a passing interest in horse racing but that all changed in 2008 when my Dad (Keith) purchased a Bahamian Bounty chestnut to be trained with Richard Fahey which we named VENTURA COVE.  In October 2009, I took the plunge into ownership and bought a third share in a horse I named LEXINGTON BAY (see below).  Now it is true to say that neither of these could be referred to as greats of the sport but that did not matter to us at all.  They took us to some wonderful days out at glorious tracks and on the odd occasion to the winner’s enclosure.

  During 2010, whilst watching one of our horses run at York I saw a syndicate owned horse called Victoire De Lyphar win the Reg Griffin Memorial Trophy.  I wrote down the name of the syndicate on a scrap of paper and two days later I rang a chap called Tim Palin of Middleham Park Racing (MPR) and the rest, as they say, is history!

  My first syndicate horse with MPR did not even make the track but I do find it pays to be persistent. In the last 9 years I have been involved in some fantastic horses with them such as Sandiva, G Force, Toormore, Ventura Storm, Penitent (my personal favourite), Kool Kompany and of course more recently Raymond Tusk and Ventura Rebel.  During my time with MPR I have been racing as an owner to some of the best tracks in the world, including Dubai (on World Cup night), Royal Ascot, Sha Tin in Hong Kong and Longchamp (Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe day).

  In 2018, I helped my son (Thomas) set up his own horse racing syndicate business which he called Ventura Racing. I would like to think in a short space of time we managed a small amount of success in a very difficult industry and we are both delighted to merge with MPR and take on roles within the biggest and most successful syndicate company in the UK. 

• 

  Dave Bourton

  Racecourse Representative

  

  Dave Bourton

  Racecourse Representative

  Dave has spent all is working life in racing! He was apprentice jockey to Ron Atkins, where had over one hundred rides on the flat. He then became travelling head lad for Oliver and Simon Sherwood in National Hunt racing for 12 years. He then moved to become travelling head lad for Mick Channon for 10 years and latterly travelling head lad to Richard Hannon for 6 years.

  He also had a one year contract training at Wolverhampton where Dave trained winners across both codes.

• 

  Kate Cavanagh

  Administrative Assistant

  

  Kate Cavanagh

  Administrative Assistant

  Kate is our part time employee who assists Mike and Tim in the smooth running of purchase and sales invoicing. She also deals with VAT returns and the issuing of owner’s accounts summaries and their prize money payments.

  Kate says “I am a school teacher by profession but I have relished the opportunity to work for the country's biggest and most successful racehorse syndication company. I have known Tim for a number of years and have been impressed by the steady growth in recent years of MPR. I see my role (which I describe as general ‘dog’s body’!) as a vital and integral cog to enable MPR to liaise seamlessly with HMRC and owners alike!”