Who Is Simon Newton?
My interest in horses and horse-racing began relatively late in life over a short period in my early twenties. A combination of trying to impress a horse-mad girlfriend by learning to ride and being summoned to the Cheltenham Festival by a pal, resulted in failure on the former and making substantial uninformed losses at the latter. An enduring connection was nevertheless established.
I consider myself an admirer of the majestic creatures that horses are, a thrill-seeker for the spectacle that horse-racing brings and a reasonably social person who loves the camaraderie engrained in the sport plus the simple opportunities for good days out. In recent years I have had enough disposable income to allow me to make a personally meaningful investment in racehorse ownership and it has proved emotionally rewarding, providing closer and cherished connection with participants - both equine and human. I do however have other interests and options to pursue similar rewards. In these respects I believe I represent not just current owners at all levels but also prospective owners who need some encouragement to increase their levels of engagement with the sport.
I also consider myself a rational man, armed with a degree in Law and a professional accountancy qualification, then shaped by a 40 year career in business finance. My experience is in providing financial analysis and advice to business leaders from within major companies. The nature of the work has always been to understand and then provide transparency on where the money does and could flow. As a senior leader at companies such as Kimberly Clark, John Lewis Partnership and Nokia I have also provided leadership in governance and control while leading transformative change to the way those organisations manage themselves. Typically that includes massive simplification of how things get done.
In choosing to participate at an ownership level, everyone has a limit to how much they are prepared to simply spend with no expectation of a financial return. I believe I represent all current and prospective owners in making rational decisions to withhold funding until the returns in racing are more fairly distributed and owner expectation of ’some return’ is significantly increased.
In my case, while my disposable income may be enough to own outright as an individual, I choose to spread my financial outlay across a small portfolio of horses with well-known trainers across Newmarket, Yorkshire, Lambourn and in France. In other words, I choose to be involved through syndication, recognising I may not always even be officially considered as an ‘owner’ by representative and governing bodies. Combined with the social benefits of syndicates, I strongly agree with those who see this as a major growth opportunity for engagement in the sport.
Everyone agrees that big and bold changes are needed to protect the future of the sport. The fundamentals of inadequate funding and the lack of communicated vision for our sport persist. Regardless of the type of ownership, I believe I represent the position of very many owners whose voice is either not being heard or is being ignored.
I want to do my bit in bringing owners together, creating a stronger collective voice in building that future.