'They clearly got motor racing and horseracing confused!'

"Fake news" was my first reaction, because it seemed highly unlikely that Jeremy Clarkson was going to join in the "my pet can run faster than your pet" stakes, as he describes horse racing.

This, after all, is a man who only really likes animals if they have four wheels, an exhaust and an engine that makes a bloody racket. But I was wrong because Clarkson's brewery Hawkstone has collaborated with Old Gold Racing, who are The Beatlesof horse racing ownership and trainer Ben Pauling, the darling of Naunton.

There must be something seriously strong in the latest Hawkstone brew topersuade Clarkson to swap his driving gloves for a crash helmet and body protector.

So, you can join them on the journeywith The Hawkstonian. He is a four-year-old by Jukebox Jury, who has already sired Grade 1 winners over hurdles and Group winners on the flat.

It will have taken their marketing department at least two sessions at the bar in The Chequers to come up with that name. Or perhaps it was the persuasiveness of the lunch with Ed Seyfried and Francesca Cumani, the powerhouseand ambassador behind Old Gold Racing, that turned the head of the motorhead?

It definitely wasn't the promise of a round of golf with their trainer Ben Pauling. The last time Clarkson was spotted on a fairway they had to shoo all the Dodos off the green.

But horse racing should be fun and what better way to have that than spending a morning on the gallops with Old Gold Racing, Ben and The Hawkstonian followed by an afternoon at the Brewery as Jeremy malts his barley crushes his apples and drinks quite a lot of his produce just to make sure it's drinkable.

Old Gold Racing is a breath of fresh air when it comes to racehorse ownership, offering transparent value for money and no hidden extras. Their trainers are all top class and they create a real sense of community by being brilliant communicators.

3,250 shares will be sold in The Hawkstonian for £60 each. Outstanding value for craic. What could possibly go wrong?

The combination of Hawkstone and Old Gold Racing feels like a new era in racehorse ownership, because it has a distinctly tribal feeling about it. I can see one horse for the IPA drinkers, one for the cider lads and maybe a filly for the ladies?

But Pauling will have to give serious consideration as to where he runs The Hawkstonian, when he's ready to run sometime in May, ground permitting. There aren't that many racecourse owners' bars that can fit a 3000 tribe into them.

Ben Pauling is the perfect trainer for this new Hawkstone collaboration. Ben showed at the Cheltenham Festival this year that he is the young kid on the block who can stand up to the Irish powerhouses. He has shown that he can get the job done.

It's frankly incredible that he has already trained four winners at The Festival in such a short career. There will be man more to come. All he now needs is more ammunition.

It's also a really nice touch that Jeremy has chosen Ben to train The Hawkstonian. Ben's father. Howard, and his father Peter before him all farmed the land that is now Diddly Squat Farm and it was Ben's dad who taught Kaleb everything he knows about farming!

So without their care and tuition. the fields that are now producing the barley for Hawkstone wouldn't be producing such great crops.

Click here to learn more about The Hawkstonian

Written by:

Charlie Brookes

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