Businesswoman Maureen Schofield has never looked back since she was given a racehorse as a surprise 50th birthday present.
The horse, Mister Manannan, has become a familiar figure on racecourses in the UK and further afield.
Maureen, co-director of Castletown based corporate service provider Optimus Fiduciaries Limited, likened owning racehorses to running a ‘mini business’ in its own right. She is the sole owner of the horse she affectionately calls ‘Mister Man’ whose last outing was last Tuesday night at Beverley when it finished an unlucky fourth.
She and husband Mark Schofield, a co-director of Optimus, also jointly own another flat racing sprinter known as Majestic Manannan.
Maureen is also part of the Gaga Syndicate that owns another popular runner called Bonnie Charlie.
All three horses could be running at some stage during the prestigious Ayr Gold Cup meeting later this week.
Mr Schofield was in the Midlands on business last week and drove up to the East Yorkshire track to see Mister Manannan in action.
Mr and Mrs Schofield live in Douglas and run Optimus from St Mary’s, The Parade, in Castletown.
Maureen, originally from North Yorkshire, described Mister Manannan as her ‘little boy’ who has a habit of making a beeline for her scarf when she visits him at David Nicholls’s stables in Thirsk.
I’ve been involved (in horseracing) since I was given Mister Manannan as a surprise present for a significant birthday four years ago last March. It’s proved to be the best birthday gift I’ve ever had. Mark’s always been interested in horse racing and his family have been too.
‘My mother Mary died in Christmas 2008. I was coming up to my 50th, and Mark took it upon himself that a racehorse would be a good way of keeping me going back to Yorkshire.
‘Hence the choice of trainer David Nicholls because he is based close to Easingwold.
‘Mister Manannan was sourced, he came from Ireland. He was two and we had him from being broken in. We chose the colours and looked for a name with a Manx connection.
‘He’s my little boy and he’s quite a character. He’s stubborn and likes to have his own way but he’s been good to us.
‘He came third in his first race at Ripon, then we took him to Pontefract and he won. It was something I’ll never forget, he won by six or seven lengths.
‘We were being congratulated and this guy said: ‘‘Do you realise most owners never ever have a winner. It’s only about 10 per cent of owners who have a winner and you have done it in two races.’’ ’
Mark and Maureen try to watch their horses run whenever they can.
She said: ‘We’re running a business here in the Isle of Man and we have family commitments so we try to juggle everything.
‘We try and get over as much as we can.’
Maureen has lived in the island since 1979, describing herself as a stopover.
Mister Manannan is the most highly rated of the three flat racing horses the Schofields are involved in. Aged six years old he has raced at Royal Ascot, ‘Glorious’ Goodwood and even Meydan in Dubai. ‘The stables at Meydan were out out of this world.’
Out of his 28 runs he has won four races, come second in two races and third in four contests.
Bonnie Charlie came third in a race at Thirsk a fortnight ago. He has won four times out of 41 races.
Majestic Mananannan, known affectionately as ‘Maj’ has had two wins out of 17 races.
Maureen said she and her husband enjoyed a good relationship as owners with trainer David ‘Dandy’ Nicholls who trains all three horses in North Yorkshire. He is a well known character in the horse racing world. ‘One of the first times he rang me after we had bought Mister Manannan I think I was shopping in Strand Street at the time and he left a message on the answerphone which went along the lines of: ‘‘Maureen, now that you are a blank, blank racehorse owner you have got to get used to answering your telephone.’’ I won’t repeat the blank blank words.’
Asked by Business News: ‘It’s not cheap owning a racehorse?’ Maureen replied: ‘It depends if they’re winning or not,’ with a laugh.
Maureen said she and her husband were saddened by the loss of the direct flights from the island to Leeds Bradford airport because it was so handy for getting to North Yorkshire.
Optimus Fiduciaries employs more than 30 people and some of the staff like to keep abreast of the latest runnings of the horses.
Maureen said they love the friendliness and atmosphere at racecourses and nothing beats the the excitement of seeing your horse pass the winning post in front.
She said she is not tempted to have a flutter when their horses are running.
‘Our entry fees for the races they enter are our bet,’ she said.