Club History

Elite Racing Club has enjoyed immense success since its launch at the end of 1992. The Club has achieved over 438 wins on the Flat and Jumps across the United Kingdom, Ireland, and France.

Our story began when rookie trainer Charles Egerton started training the steeplechaser LUMBERJACK, who was the first horse we purchased, along with most of the Club's early winners. Lumberjack set the ball rolling as our first-ever runner at Newton Abbot in January 1993, where he finished a respectable second. Within a month of that debut, we had chalked up our first winner with our second purchase, KABAYIL, who won a mares' novices' hurdle at Plumpton for Egerton. This was our first milestone, and the relatively small membership was thrilled. Nobody had any idea it would be the start of one of the biggest success stories in British horseracing.

In March 1993, the Club became more ambitious and purchased the quality chaser STIRRUP CUP, who rewarded our faith when becoming the Club's first high-profile win in the Singer & Friedlander Chase at Uttoxeter. This was the feature race of the meeting and was televised live on Channel 4 Racing.

The following season, the Club's boldest early purchase was made in the form of emerging Jumps sensation MYSILV, who had won the previous season's Triumph Hurdle for trainer David Nicholson. Mysilv cost the Club £162,750 - breaking the world record price for a Jumps horse in training, making the news headline material for the racing media.

After anxiously waiting for the Club's new purchase to run at Kempton's Boxing Day meeting in December 1994, the race proved a surprising anti-climax. Mysilv finished last of the six runners in the Christmas Hurdle. Despite this poor display, Charles Egerton was convinced this huge investment would pay off; and how right he was. A few weeks later she won at Cheltenham, steered home by Norman Williamson. Following this triumph, Mysilv continued to raise the profile of the Club throughout her career. She won several races, with her most notable moment arising when she placed a close second to Cyborgo in the Stayers' Hurdle, just two days after finishing sixth in the Champion Hurdle. She later went on to finish runner-up in the French Champion Hurdle at Auteuil, watched by a coachload of members who had made the journey to the beautiful Parisian venue.

Developing a breeding programme seemed a natural progression for the Club, to help find another star and to combat the extravagant prices paid for yearlings at the sales. This was new territory, and the management team was understandably cautious before investing in the project. In December 1993, the Club purchased a mare named CORMAN STYLE, who was in foal to Primo Dominie. Her price tag was a mere £5,775, and she was sent to Maurice Camacho, a reputable trainer/breeder in Malton, North Yorkshire, who has been fundamental in developing the breeding programme.

In April 1994, the Club's first homebred foal was born. The filly foal was named DOMINO STYLE, who immediately added a new dimension to the membership package. Members could see this foal being raised throughout her career, from the first few months of life to running on the racecourse. Her career from day one was described with grand narrative by Maurice Camacho, whose reports graced the magazine for 20 years, until he handed over the reins of his breeding operation to his daughter Julie and son-in-law Steve Brown, who now narrates the reports in similar style.

A better-quality broodmare was soon added to the breeding programme called DIXIE FAVOR. In March 1998, her son STATELY FAVOUR, trained by Julie Camacho, created another significant milestone for the Club when he won at Southwell, ridden by the late Lindsay Charnock. Achieving our first homebred Club winner was a massive boost for our fledgling breeding programme, and offered some compensation for the tragic news suffered just over a year earlier that Mysilv had died as a result of a freak accident. The Club was keen to see more winners emerge from the breeding programme, so set about further improving the quality of its broodmares.

Meanwhile, one of the Club's yearling purchases, KALINKA (trained by Paul Cole), achieved a rating of 86 on the Flat after winning her maiden and finishing fourth in a Listed race. After failing over hurdles, Kalinka was introduced to the breeding programme, which proved a pivotal move that later earned the Club international recognition.

Kalinka's second offspring was the brilliant superstar filly, SOVIET SONG, trained by James Fanshawe. Between 2002 and 2006, she captivated Elite Racing Club Members with her brilliant performances, winning nine races from 19 starts, including five Group 1 races. She was the Club's first Classic runner when she finished fourth in the 1,000 Guineas in 2003. Soviet Song won £1,168,670 in prize money which was distributed amongst delighted Club Members.

Soviet Song broke new ground for the Club when winning the 2002 Group 1 Fillies' Mile, then ran at Ascot and remained unbeaten as a juvenile. Soviet Song failed to win as a three-year-old but returned to become a champion the following year. After two surprising defeats in the spring, she won four of her next five races, including the Falmouth Stakes (after losing by a neck in the Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot), the Sussex Stakes, and the Matron Stakes in Ireland. She returned to win the Falmouth Stakes the following year before landing the Windsor Forest Stakes (now known as the Duke Of Cambridge Stakes) at Royal Ascot in her final season. The remarkable James Fanshawe has trained Group 1 winners on the Flat, including a Breeders' Cup winner, and Grade 1 winners over hurdles (including two Champion Hurdles), but still considers Soviet Song the best horse he has ever trained.

A year after foaling Soviet Song, Kalinka produced Grade 1 winner PENZANCE, providing the Club with its only Cheltenham Festival winner. Penzance began his career with James Fanshawe, who won with him on the Flat before he was transferred to Alan King to go jumping. The switch from the Flat to hurdles proved an inspired decision as Penzance progressed through the ranks with finesse to win the ultra-competitive Triumph Hurdle in 2005.

The Club's first winner, Kabayil, produced a Club legend named DANCING BAY, who won on the Flat with Julie Camacho later over hurdles and fences with Nicky Henderson. Dancing Bay finished fourth in the Group 1 Prix du Cadran on Arc day at Longchamp, was narrowly beaten in the Group 2 Lonsdale Stakes at York, and finished second in the Queen Alexandra Stakes at Royal Ascot. His finest hour over hurdles came when finishing second in the Coral Cup at the Cheltenham Festival. Dancing Bay retired in 2007 as the winner of 11 races and is enjoying an honourable retirement at our EquiPrep Stables in Wiltshire.

Another immensely popular and talented Club horse at this time was NEW SEEKER (trained by Clive Cox), who became our first Royal Ascot winner in 2003 when blazing a lone trail on the far rail to land the Britannia Stakes. He returned to Ascot the following month to win the valuable and competitive International Stakes. Two years later, New Seeker returned to Royal Ascot (run at York that year due to Ascot's redevelopment) and set a solid pace to land the Royal Hunt Cup; winning both races is a very rare achievement. New Seeker also won three Listed races for the Club and amassed total prize earnings of nearly £400,000.

Listed-winning two-year-old FFESTINIOG (trained by Paul Cole) soon emerged as the Club's most consistent broodmare in the breeding programme's history. Her second foal, EISTEDDFOD (Paul Cole), won 12 races, which remained a Club record for ten years until August 2019. In a lengthy and glittering career, Eisteddfod's greatest hour came when winning the Group 3 Prix De Meautry in 2005. Other members of his family include BRECON BEACON (Paul Cole), who was placed at Royal Ascot on two occasions, and BORDER PATROL (Roger Charlton). Border Patrol won two Listed races and the Group 3 Solonaway Stakes at the Curragh in 2009. Ffestiniog foaled ten individual winners from 11 foals, so it was fitting that one of her sons, LLEWELLYN, should become the Club's 300th winner and our 100th homebred winner in 2012.

After Eisteddfod and Border Patrol's retirement, DANDINO (initially trained by James Given before joining James Fanshawe) flew the flag for the Club at the highest level. After a steady start, Dandino won at Epsom on Derby Day before landing the King George V Handicap at Royal Ascot. Dandino became the Club's second runner in a Classic (following Soviet Song's fourth place in the 2023 1,000 Guineas) when contesting the 2010 St Leger. Dandino failed to stay the distance and finished eighth but was invited to compete in the £4million Japan Cup. Dandino finished just out of the money in this thrilling contest, beaten six lengths. James Fanshawe took over Dandino the following season, leading him to victory at the Group 2 Jockey Club Stakes at Newmarket and the Group 3 September Stakes for Pegasus Stables. He was later beaten by half a length at 25/1 in the $1million Canadian International at Woodbine. Dandino showed incredible longevity throughout his career, later moving to new owners in Australia where he retired from racing in 2015, and now stands as a stallion.

Later that season, MARLINKA emerged as a talented two-year-old with a thrilling burst of speed. Trained by Roger Charlton, she won three races at age two, including a Listed race in France, and retired to the Club's breeding programme the following season. Her first foal, JUDICIAL (initially trained by Roger Charlton before joining Julie Camacho), also had plenty of speed. He was unbeaten in three starts as a two-year-old, and in 2019, surpassed Eisteddfod as the Club's winning-most horse, winning 18 times by the time he retired in 2023. Judicial's most significant achievements came in the Group 3 Coral Charge at Sandown, the Group 3 Chipchase Stakes at Newcastle, twice in the Listed Queensferry Stakes at Chester, the Listed Beverley Bullet, and the Listed Golden Rose Stakes.

Although Kalinka sadly passed away in 2014, her legacy continued through the Group 1 winner RIBBONS, trained by James Fanshawe. Ribbons was a granddaughter of Kalinka, through Soviet Song's ill-fated sister, SISTER ACT (James Fanshawe), who had always been held in the highest regard, but was sadly held back by soundness issues which prevented her from fulfilling her potential. She managed a solitary maiden win during her career but was overshadowed by Ribbons' resounding successes. Ribbons remained unbeaten in her first four runs, before landing the Group 1 Prix Jean Romanet at Deauville under Frankie Dettori. She was narrowly beaten in the Prix de l'Opera on 2014 Arc day at Longchamp, but soon added the Group 2 Blandford Stakes to her CV in 2015, having run superbly in defeat in the Group 1 Pretty Polly Stakes at The Curragh behind Diamondsandrubies and the three-year-old filly of the year, Legatissimo.

There was further excitement for the Club when ZEST (James Fanshawe) became the first winner out of the Club broodmare, AFFINITY. Affinity was a half-sister to Soviet Song and Penzance by the legendary Sadler's Wells. Affinity won a maiden and was placed several times for Sir Henry Cecil in a reasonably brief career before joining the breeding programme in 2011. Zest won a maiden in the autumn of 2015, and became the Club's 350th winner when victorious in a fillies' handicap at Nottingham during the summer of 2016. Since then, Affinity has also produced winner and winner-producing broodmare Harmonica and the Listed and Group 3 winner, TIFFANY.

Homebred ELGIN became the Club's most recent Graded Jumps winner when landing the 2017 Grade 3 Greatwood Hurdle and the 2018 Grade 2 Kingwell Hurdle. Son to Duke of Marmalade, the talented Elgin was trained by all-rounder Alan King, who also led him to victory twice on the Flat.

While Judicial was an enduringly high-class ambassador for Marlinka's talents as a broodmare, her best progeny was undoubtedly the superstar filly, MARSHA, trained by Sir Mark Prescott. The master of Heath House produced Marsha late in the summer of 2015 to win two races as a juvenile. The following season, Marsha dropped back to five furlongs, revealing incredible speed when winning two Listed races and the Group 1 Prix de l'Abbaye at Chantilly, in front of a crowd of Club Members who had travelled to watch the entire Arc de Triomphe meeting. Marsha thus became the Club's third individual Group 1 winner, joining the illustrious pair Soviet Song and Ribbons. Marsha's best achievements on home soil include carrying a Group 1 penalty to win the Group 3 Palace House Stakes and the Group 1 Nunthorpe Stakes at York.

In this epic feature race, Marsha rallied close to home to deny the front-running hot-favourite Lady Aurelia, trained by Wesley Ward in the USA. Earlier in the summer, Lady Aurelia had blown away her rivals, including Marsha, to win the King's Stand Stakes at Royal Ascot. The multiple Group 1 winner Battaash finished in fourth place in this great contest. Lady Aurelia's jockey, Frankie Dettori, famously saluted the crowd as he thought he had held on, only for Marsha to be called the winner before the horses returned to the winners' enclosure.

In the autumn, Marsha became the Club's first runner at the Breeders' Cup championships, finishing sixth in the Turf Sprint at Del Mar, California. Marsha's late speed was slightly blunted by the tight, turning course, which did not give her time to build momentum. Marsha became a record-breaker in the winter of 2017 when sold at the Tattersalls December Breeding Sale for 6,000,000gns - a world record. MV Magnier purchased her to join Coolmore Stud but sadly did not foal a winner before she passed away in 2023.

Sister Act's final foal, TRIBUTE ACT (James Fanshawe), won on debut and achieved black type by finishing second in the Group 2 Duke of Cambridge Stakes at Royal Ascot. She has since joined the Club's breeding programme, and in time we hope she will prove to be a worthy successor to her mother. Her two-year-old daughter, KORDYLIA, is currently in training with James Fanshawe, and we hope the daughter of Kingman can follow in her mother's illustrious footsteps.

Further Club history was made in 2021 when the Paul Nicholls-trained TULIN became the Club's 400th winner when landing a novices' hurdle at Taunton under Lorcan Williams.

In 2023, we were delighted that another homebred from our award-winning breeding programme should achieve winning black type on the racecourse. The Sir Mark Prescott-trained TIFFANY was highly progressive throughout the season and rounded off her campaign in fine style when she landed a Listed fillies' race at Hanover, Germany, in early September. Since then, Tiffany has added another German Listed race and the Group 3 Hoppings Stakes to her CV. We hope that Tiffany will develop into our fourth Group 1 winner in time.

Elite Racing Club has recently celebrated 30 years of operation, and the foundations are firmly in place for another 30 years of success on the racecourse. The Club boasts a superb pedigree and a proven winner-finding track record that should stand us in good stead for the next generation.