ROA Owner of the Day - Steve Wignall, Options O Syndicate - Ballyandy

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Today’s (Thursday 17 March) ROA Owner of the Day is Steve Wignall of Christchurch in Dorset. He jointly owns the redoubtable Ballyandy, who contests the fiendish Festival puzzle that is the Pertemps Final (2,10pm).

The red and white colours of the Options O Syndicate - Larry O’Rourke originally provided the ‘O’ but these days it is Steve and John Flannery - will be among the more familiar from the ranks of British runners this week at Cheltenham, a venue where the owners have been unusually successful.

Indeed, they have enjoyed more winners at Cheltenham than anywhere else, with nine victories down the years headed by Ballyandy’s triumph in the 2019 Weatherbys Champion Bumper, and with Redford Road, Foxtail Hill and Double Ross also chipping in with big-race wins at Prestbury Park.

They have a healthy level-stakes profit at the course too, it might be prudent to note, with the in-form Ballyandy back for more on Thursday, when he makes his fifth Festival appearance in the Pertemps Final,

The 11-year-old has been a genuine star for his owners from the moment he started carrying their silks. 

The first such time, after a winning debut in trainer Nigel Twiston-Davies’s colours, resulted in a victory at Cheltenham - where else? - and, 36 runs and eight further wins later, Steve and John are hoping for the best when Ballyandy and Finn Lambert tackle their three-mile handicap hurdle mission.

For Lambert, who takes a handy 10lb off Ballyandy’s back, it will be just a third career ride at Cheltenham and his first experience of the Festival.

Steve says: “Finn has partnered him for the last four races, winning the last two, and Nigel felt it would be good to keep him aboard.

“He has been an absolute star for us, winning the Champion Bumper, which first fuelled our love for the game really, the Betfair Hurdle the following season, and his last two races, at Fakenham and Chepstow, after Nigel stepped him up in trip.

“He did drop down the handicap, but he has now gone back up 13lb for his two recent wins.”

As if the Pertemps Final was not enough of a race owners probably do not approach with masses of confidence, the traditional eve of Cheltenham Festival big handicap that is the Imperial Cup served only to implant further seeds of doubt into Steve’s mind.

“Watching the only Irish runner win at Sandown on Saturday very easily does make you think,” he says.

Ballyandy has just the 11 Irish-trained horses to contend with in the Pertemps, and it will certainly not be easy to notch a third win at the course, though nor is he that much of an outsider and is the second highest-weighted runner for a reason.

His trainer adds: “The old boy has been a revelation since taking on three miles. He’s not getting any younger, so I could not be confident that he’s as well-treated as some of his rivals in a race like this, but he’s in very good form and he’ll give it his best.”

Options O actually started out on the Flat, with William Haggas. They bought three horses to get going, including Dever Dream, who won first time out for them in a maiden at Leicester under Michael Hills. Three further wins in her next four starts resulted in the filly being sold to Pearl Bloodstock, presumably for a tidy profit.

It was Newmarket trainer Haggas who recommended Twston-Davies to the lads when they fancied extending their interest to year-round and having a jumper or two.

Horses, in fact, were not even the beginning of their four-legged ownership experience, as it was getting into greyhounds that first led Steve, John and Larry into forming a syndicate.  

Dean Childs was their trainer and they enjoyed some success, with Lorrys Options voted Stayer of the Year in 2009.

Moving on, and back to the rather larger animals Steve and John own these days, and they have certainly not looked back since teaming up with Twiston-Davies, based near Cheltenham racecourse in Naunton. 

They are closing in on a half-century of winners over jumps in Britain, and in addition to Ballyandy there was the excitement of having six-year-old Gowel Road - another previous Cheltenham winner - run on the Wednesday of the Festival in the Coral Cup.

He finished seventh in what was an equally competitive handicap hurdle to the one Ballyandy is set to tackle.

The day job for Steve and John is running Options Energy Services – a leading provider for the utilities, communications, highways and traffic management, and renewals sectors – but while that pays the bills, including for their horses of course, the Cheltenham Festival called this week, specifically their lucky spot.

Steve says: “We love this week and will try to last till the Friday evening! We’ll watch our runners on the big screen in the parade ring, like always, from what we call the Ballyandy spot.”