No doubts about this pandemic purchase

Martin Webb’s lockdown purchase of Ubettabelieveit as a two-year-old has taken the owner into a long term bloodstock venture, writes James Thomas

PLENTY OF US will have left lockdown regretting a few rash purchases. Perhaps it was an exercise bike that suddenly doesn’t look so appealing now that the pub is open again, or a 1,000-piece jigsaw that has remained with 998 pieces out of place. For racehorse owner Martin Webb, however, a purchase he made while confined to his home has had far more profound consequences.

It was during the first lockdown in early 2020 that Webb bought Ubettabelieveit, a decision that has led to some notable successes and some memorable journeys, both literal and metaphorical.

Not only did the colt land the prestigious Group 2 Flying Childers Stakes, but he also took Webb and the Malton-based trainer Nigel Tinkler on a maiden voyage to the Breeders’ Cup at Keeneland.

Now, with the 2022 breeding season nearly upon us the journey continues, with Ubettabelieveit set to embark upon his second career at Mickley Stud. The son of Kodiac was bred by Derek and Gay Veitch at Ringfort Stud in County Offaly from the Mujadil mare Ladylishandra, making him a sibling to the Group 3 winners Harlem Shake and Tropical Paradise, as well as the Listed scorer Shenanigans.

Having been pinhooked by Roger Marley and John Cullinan, the team behind the Church Farm and Horse Park Stud operation, the colt’s target had been the Goffs UK Breeze-Up Sale in Doncaster.

However, when the unfolding pandemic brought major uncertainty upon the twoyear-old sales calendar, Ubettabelieveit was among a significant number of prospects offloaded privately as vendors sought to reduce their financial exposure.

Marley’s Church Farm Stables is less than a 30-minute drive from Tinkler’s Woodlands Stables, so while the sales were unable to be staged, Marley brought the breeze-ups to his potential clients.

Explaining the somewhat unusual circumstances around the purchase of Ubettabelieveit, Webb explains: “Roger Marley brought three horses to Nigel’s gallop and he called me up and said ‘I’ve got two horses here I want you to look at, one by Dandy Man and another by Kodiac.’

“Nigel asked who I wanted to ride them and I said there was no point putting two different people up, and that he should ride them both.

He got off the first one and said that he was a bit ponyish, but when he got off Ubettabelieveit he had a massive grin on his face and said ‘What a horse!’. We did a deal with Roger and never looked back.

Ubettabelieveit retired from racing with three victories to his name having recorded a dominant success in a Doncaster novice event, a comfortable dismissal of his rivals in the Listed National Stakes at Sandown before his finest hour in the Group 2 Flying Childers Stakes back on Town Moor.

Sent off at a dismissive 40-1, jockey Rowan Scott settled Ubettabelieveit towards the rear of the ten-strong field and waited until the final furlong before making his move. The pair edged to the right late on to engage Sacred, who franked the form at three by winning the Group 2 Nell Gwyn Stakes and the Group 3 Hungerford Stakes, and fought on bravely to win by a short head.

“There was no way he was a 40-1 shot,” recalls Webb. “I was thinking what’s going on, what do the bookies know? So when he won it was fantastic. Before we’d even got to the winners’ circle we’d had the Breeders’ Cup on saying ‘bring him to America’ because it was a win-and-you’re-in race.”

The Breeders’ Cup invitation was taken up and Ubettabelieveit duly contested the Juvenile Turf Sprint. It speaks to the handson approach that connections take – Tinkler took on groom’s duties himself, while the owner and trainer shunned the usual salubrious visitors’ hotel for a more humble abode so they could be nearer the stable yard and their pride and joy.

Things did not go entirely to plan in the five and a half furlong contest as Ubettabelieveit missed the break by several lengths and found himself trapped behind toiling rivals as Golden Pal blazed a trail to

the winning post. However, Scott maintained his composure and guided Ubettabelieveit up the rail and into a highly creditable third place, eventually beaten just a length and three quarters.

“I know he only came third but you’d think we’d won the Grand National afterwards!” Webb says. “When he missed the break I thought we’d come all this way for nothing, but he got up there and did us proud.”

WEBB, group operations director at WJ Group, a road markings business based in Stoke-on-Trent, first had his colours grace the racecourse in 2016 when the five-time winner Allux Boy was a two-year-old.

His association with Tinkler came about in rather serendipitous circumstances, having successfully bid on a morning on the trainer’s gallops at a charity day for the Injured Jockeys Fund.

While Webb says he has followed the sport for as long as he can remember, he concedes he never thought he would see runners sporting his own silks. However, he has enjoyed some noteworthy results in the intervening years, with another early flagbearer Bashiba winning four races and the smart Kaeso landing eight.

The 2021 Turf season also saw the emergence of Isla Kai, a son of Awtaad who was bought by Tinkler and Jamie Piggott for 50,000gns and has now won four races and boasts an official rating of 99.

Although Webb may not radiate sentimentality, there is an unmistakable connection to his horses that is brought into sharp relief when he talks about the retirement plans he put in place for Bashiba and Kaeso.

Martin Webb’s Kodiac colt gave his owner, trainer Nigel Tinkler and jockey Scott a first trip stateside for the Breeders’ Cup meeting in 2020

“We had Bashiba, who did us proud and took us to some great places, and Kaeso was talented until he injured himself when favourite at Royal Ascot,’’ he says. “They’re both retired now and live just half an hour away from us now at friends’ farms. They’re still part of the family and it’s not just a case of buying the horses and getting rid of them

when they’re no good.” His involvement with Ubettabelieveit, along with a tidy windfall in his business life, has meant that his thoroughbred interests now reach beyond the racecourse and into the breeding world.

“That’s really all because of Ubettabelieveit,” Webb says when asked about branching out into the bloodstock business, an area he’d had little exposure to prior to visiting some major Kentucky studs while in town for the Breeders’ Cup.

“And because I’ve had a bit of good fortune and sold a chunk of my business in the last year, that’s enabled me to do something I didn’t really realise I’d enjoy quite as much as I do.”

With sons of Kodiac in high demand thanks to the accomplishments of stallions such as Ardad, Kodi Bear and Prince Of Lir, Mickley Stud was not the only outfit keen on standing Ubettabelieveit. But, just as he has done with his retired runners Bashiba and Kaeso, Webb was keen to ensure Ubettabelieveit stayed close to home.

We’ve kept a quarter share in the horse and I think we’ve proved the point that we believe in him by buying the fillies and mares we have to support him

“The stallion men all came around and looked at him and we had an offer for him to go to Ireland, but my wife, Lisa, was saying she wanted him to stay nearby because he’s been a great horse for us,” he explains. “I’ve got some friends who know Richard Kent well and it was decided he’d go to Mickley. “Richard said he’s been three to four times more popular than he thought he was going to be so he’s been very pleased with the response. Obviously some stallions can be a little bit ‘lairy’, but we went to visit him recently and he still eats apples out of our hands and likes the attention.

“I’m sure that’ll change as time goes on but he’s still quite the gentleman. We’ve kept a quarter share in the horse and I think we’ve proved the point that we believe in him by buying the fillies and mares we have to support him.”

Ubettabelieveit, who has been introduced at a fee of £5,000, can count on Webb’s support at stud, both in the immediate future and slightly further down the line too. He purchased two fillies at the yearling sales with the long-term aim of visiting Ubettabelieveit once they have proved their credentials on the racecourse, namely a well-related daughter of Wootton Bassett, who fetched a cool €350,000 at the Arqana October Sale, and a 65,000gns Awtaad filly who has been named Bella Capella.

He also acquired a brace of broodmares from the breeding stock sales – Angel Of Delight, a winning daughter of Dark Angel in-foal to Mohaather at 78,000gns, and the 70,000gns Queen Sarra, a daughter of Shamardal from the family of Sir Percy carrying to Showcasing.

WEBB SAYS he is looking forward to attending the sales this year too, particularly having had to settle for following his Deauville acquisition online.

“I got in from work and was watching the live stream, while my wife and some other friends had it on the television, which was slightly delayed,” he says. “I was on the phone telling Jamie and Nigel to keep bidding, keep bidding, and my wife thought I hadn’t got her, so she was a bit surprised when I told her we had!

“When I was speaking with Nigel, Richard and Jamie, I said if I get these [yearling] fillies broken in and run them as two-yearolds, three-year-olds and four-year-olds and then they go to Ubettabelieveit, that’s four years away.

So I said we should buy some mares too, to help get him moving at stud straight away so we bought Angel Of Delight and Queen Sarra. We’ll get them foaled down and covered by Ubettabelieveit and that way we’re up and running that much quicker.

Webb has come a long way from the man who once thought he would never own his own racehorses, let alone be breeding them, but then it is amazing where those lockdown purchases can lead.

“I didn’t realise just quite where the journey would take us when we started but it’s going to be great seeing one of our foals walking around the ring,” he says. “I’m still learning and taking all the advice I can as this isn’t my game really, but it’s a very exciting time.”

As a three-year-old colt, Ubettabelieveit heading out for the Group 1 King’s Stand Stakes. Photo by Debbie Burt