Jeremy Clarkson runner The Hawkstonian edges closer to racecourse bow

The four-year-old son of Jukebox Jury is in training with Ben Pauling and was bought at the 2023 Goffs Arkle sale for €45,000 by Highflyer Bloodstock and Pauling.

The Hawkstonian is named after a brand of beer owned by Jeremy Clarkson, who has teamed up with Old Gold Racing to make a first venture into the world of racehorse ownership.

Pauling’s Cotswold-based training operation is located close to Clarkson’s Diddly Squat Farm and the Hawkstone brewery and they are excited to see what the grey can do on a racecourse.

Ed Seyfried, chief executive of Old Gold Racing, said: “Ben Pauling is very excited about him.

“There isn’t a long-term target yet, but there are possible races coming up at the end of November.

“One at Ascot and one at Newbury so he’s being aimed at those, but with a lot of these horses that haven’t been on a racecourse before, it’s very often five steps forward, a couple of steps back.

“Although we haven’t had a setback, we think we’ll see him on a racecourse somewhere at the end of November.”

Big City Roller is another horse with Old Gold Racing gearing up for a return to the racetrack after an extended spell off it.

The Charlie Longsdon-trained six-year-old won a point-to-point in January last year before he made a winning start under rules in a two-and-a-half-mile novice hurdle at Carlisle in the hands of Lily Pinchin.

He followed that up with a second-place finish at Chepstow but has not been seen since that December run.

He is another horse that is exciting connections and Seyfried said: “He’s now back in pre-training, he’s probably got another four weeks of pre-training, maybe five, with Sally Taylor who just does the most brilliant job for us.

“He’ll be back with Charlie Longsdon in five or six weeks time and one would expect to see him on a racecourse in December and we are obviously very excited about that because he’s a very exciting prospect.

“We’ve got Apple Away, Kingston James and Big City Roller as our exciting horses for this winter that we know about.”