Owner of the Day: Berkshire Parts and Panels - Berkshire Rebel

As the voice of Owners, the ROA are consistently promoting the impact and benefits of ownership whilst working to make ownership more rewarding.

Once again we will be hailing our popular “ROA Owner of the Day” for Royal Ascot, which showcases an owner with a runner at the meeting. 

Today’s (Thursday 16 June) ROA Owner of the Day is Berkshire Parts & Panels Ltd, which owns Berkshire Rebel, a runner in the King George V Handicap (3.05pm).

Horses with the prefix Berkshire will always have racegoers and punters taking a second look at Ascot and neighbouring Windsor and Newbury, and anyone who took that a step further before the Coventry Stakes last year and backed Berkshire Shadow was rewarded with an 11-1 winner.

The same colt carried the silks of Berkshire Parts & Panels Ltd on the opening day of the Royal meeting this year too, and again did owner Paul Spickett, his family and company proud with a close sixth-placed finish behind Coroebus in the St James’s Palace Stakes.

Spickett and wife Lisa will be back for more at Ascot on Thursday, when Berkshire Rebel runs in the King George V Stakes, the mile-and-a-half handicap for three-year-olds.

Berkshire Parts & Panels is a thriving local business and does what it says on the tin as a large motor factor company - supplying vehicle parts and accessories, and catering for bodyshop and workshop requirements.

Spickett says: “It’s a family-run business based in Aldermaston, near Reading, which is coming up to its 23rd year, so we’re doing well and I can’t grumble! It’s myself, my wife Lisa, my son Lee and daughter Laura in the company.

“It’s what’s behind the Berkshire prefix with the horses. We’ve got a good following from all our clients, and the staff are mad keen on the horses, they support us, come racing, and it’s just a great day out for everyone.”

The first day of Royal Ascot 2021 was an especially memorable day, with Berkshire Shadow confirming the promise of his debut win at Newbury with a Group 2 success in the Coventry, keeping on strongly to win by a length and a quarter.

“It was a dream come true, you can’t make up days like that,” recalls his owner. “It was just myself and my wife there, and so we thought we’d better not change that, being superstitious, so it’s just the two of us again this week!”

Their 2022 Royal Ascot week as owners started with Berkshire Shadow, who after winning the Coventry last year finished runner-up in the Vintage Stakes at Glorious Goodwood and closed the campaign with a commendable fourth in the Group 1 Dewhurst Stakes behind the champion two-year-old Native Trail, now of course a Classic winner.

Berkshire Shadow began this season well too, his owner adding: “He ran a very good race in the Guineas to be fifth, first time out this year, so that was very good and we’re looking forward to the rest of the season.”

On Tuesday’s evidence there is plenty of reason to, as Berkshire Shadow finished just a length and three-quarters behind Coroebus in a bunched finish to the St James’s Palace, having been five lengths adrift of that rival on the Rowley Mile. 

Attention turns now though to his Andrew Balding stablemate Berkshire Rebel, who has to carry joint-top weight in the King George V off a mark of 96.

He was a winner on his debut at Goodwood last August and has earned prize-money on all five starts, including in two Group 3s, and on Thursday contests his first handicap. Despite a decent and lightly-raced profile, however, he looks set to start one of the outsiders.

“It’s difficult to weigh up these three-year-old handicaps, especially a big-field one like this,” says his owner. “We have got Harry Davies on, who I think is a top apprentice and can claim 5lb, and we’re looking forward to him running.

“He’s a compact little horse and the good to firm ground should suit him well. He didn’t like the soft at Chester last time [when fourth of four in the Chester Vase].”

The ROA member continues: “We have got eight in training at the moment. There are four two-year-olds ready to unleash fairly soon, they are looking good, and four older horses. We have got three three-year-olds and also Berkshire Rocco, who’s five. He’s coming back and is ready to race.  

“They are all with Andrew Balding, I’m a loyal owner! It’s ten minutes down the road so I can torment them as often as I like! No, they are very understanding. If I phone on a whim, they’ll invite me over, so it’s great.”

A fair few connections are content to watch the action on the big screen in the paddock at Ascot, preferring to keep away from the hubbub, but the owners of Berkshire Rebel will not supplement their numbers.

“I’ll be on the finishing line, like always, bang on it, so I know what’s what if there’s a photo-finish before almost everyone else - that’s how I like it,” says Spickett.

If Berkshire Rebel and his young jockey in his red and white silks motor past the winning post in front on Thursday, you might well catch a glimpse of a couple celebrating an unexpected victory.