Michael Owen reveals jockey plan for Love Island daughter after ‘spectacular’ racing bow
Michael Owen is certainly enjoying life after football as the England icon sees his Manor House Stables go from strength to strength.
The 46-year-old founded the stables in 2006 alongside his wife Louise when they converted a dairy farm and cattle barn into a training facility in Cheshire. The yard officially began training the following year with around 30 horses in training.
Fast forward 20 years, and Manor House Stables have over 130 horses in training, with classic-winning trainer Hugo Palmer leading the training operations. Owen’s racing venture is covered in his upcoming Amazon Prime documentary, released later this month.
Michael Owen and his wife Louise started Manor House Stables in 2006
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Speaking exclusively to Daily Star Sport, Owen, the former England striker who now helps UK gamblers compare online casinos as the British ambassador for Casino.org, gave an insight into the racing side of his documentary.
“I enjoyed it and so did the family. We got to know the crew really well and it was a really good way for people to see what goes on day in day out at Manor House stables.
“The set-up we have at Manor House was on show and it’s a good eye-opener to see how we run our stables and can be positive for the future for us to attract interest in the horses we have as we’re all so passionate about horse racing and you can see that in the documentary.
Hugo Palmer (L) and Michael Owen have been working together for four years(Image: Getty)
“We all knew we had to have family involvement, but this has come across well, so we’ve seen all the episodes and look forward to everyone seeing what goes on and how we operate.
“So, it’s good to see the day to day of what we do at the stables and I hope everyone enjoys watching it.”
Manor House Stables enjoyed a positive Royal Ascot and Glorious Goodwood, with a number of horses running well at both meetings, but narrowly falling short of a festival winner.
However, their efforts were rewarded at York Ebor last week when Mia Fantasia won the Nursery Handicap before Sale Shark made it a double by winning the Julia Graves Roses Stakes.
Gemma Owen rode Turbo Trotter to fourth place in the Magnolia Cup
The passion for racing runs through the family with his daughter and former Love Islander Gemma getting a ride in the Magnolia Cup at Goodwood. The female jockey-only charity race saw Gemma come a valiant fourth after staying on well following a tricky start.
On the prospect of Gemma pursuing a career as a jockey, Owen said: “Gemma rode beautifully, it was a great experience for her.
“It was unfortunate at the start with the way the horse next to her broke out of the stalls, so 4th was the best she could have got and if the start would have been different, I do expect she would have finished higher.
“Speaking with Hugo Palmer, he was impressed with the way Gemma rode and she looked the part and we’re all proud of her. Hugo was also impressed and said Gemma could take up horse racing more seriously if she wanted.”
