Welcome to Wessex Racing Club
Wessex Racing Club Members receiving prize after Le Coeur Net win at Wincanton - Boxing Day 2019
(photo Matt Webb)
About Us
About the Wessex Racing Club
Welcome to the Wessex Racing Club which is run by myself Jeremy Blackburn and my lifelong friend Jeremy Barber.
The Barber name has been synonymous with horse racing for many years, mainly through the exploits of Jeremy’s late father Richard Barber who was both a leading point to point trainer and someone with an unrivalled talent for spotting value horses.
Jeremy is a director of Wincanton Racecourse, Point to Point Association (PPA) board member and of course father of one of our trainers, Jack Barber. For myself, Jeremy Blackburn, my roots are 100% West Country and I am recently retired from the corporate world as Head of Media and Communications. I have always shared a passion for racing with Jeremy and I am connected to the Anthony Honeyball yard as an owner and a supporter of the yard. My wife Lucy is also Anthony’s secretary.
Our two primary goals in creating Wessex Racing are firstly; to give more people the opportunity to get closer to the action at a relatively low cost; and secondly to reinvest club funds to buy more horses for our respective trainers and continue to grow the appeal of club membership.
We have 3 horses in training – two with Anthony Honeyball and one with Jack Barber. All of the horses will be trained with a view to running in the Autumn of 2020 and throughout the 2020/21 season.
Apart from the Wessex Racing Club horses both Anthony and Jack will have several exciting prospects for next season for us to follow. Anthony has numerous quality horses, of particular interest will be those who step up from National Hunt bumpers last year and Jack has a number of younger horses to run that were denied a run last season due to the early cessation of racing. As a member of the Wessex Racing Club you will be close to the action!
For more information email:
Horses in Training
We currently have 3 horses in training to race under National Hunt rules.
Anthony Honeyball trains Le Coeur Net for the club. Le Coeur Net has been placed in over half of his races over fences and has won at Plumpton, Ffos Las and Wincanton. His official rating is 115 and his best distance is between 2m and 2 ½ miles on soft or heavy going. LilyThe Pink won her first race at Exeter on Jan 21st 2020.She has a rating of 107.
Jack Barber trains - Lamanver Bel Ami a lovely bay gelding by Black Sam Bellamy. In his first season he ran in two bumpers, finishing 4th and 5th in competitive races at Exeter and Ffos Las. Last season he ran three times over hurdles and has a mark of 99.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to train the horses?
With two horses in training we need to budget at least £4000 per calendar month. This covers stabling and training of the horses, shoes, entries, travel and staff costs at the races.
When you have enough funding to cover training what happens to the money not spent on training the horses?
Our objective is to increase the number of horses in training as soon as we can so the membership fees will be invested to have more horses. When we have sufficient funds to buy the right horse for the club and we have sufficient funds to cover training costs we will increase the number of horses in the club.
In addition to buying more horses for the Club, we will also spend the fees on advertising, administration costs related to training the horses and any additional costs incurred in running the Club.
Do Club members own the horse?
Full “legal and equitable title” to The Club’s horses remain at all times with The Club, at no time does a Member have a legal or another interest in any of the horses referred, or indeed any share of.
We will continue to look for and invest in seasoned campaigners with the aim to go racing and provide members with as much “live” action as possible.