When it comes to different sports, particularly those in the United Kingdom, football and horse racing are known to be two of the most popular! Whilst many footballing stars are known to be some of the biggest names across the globe, they do have some similarities to ordinary people as plenty of them love to relax with horse racing or spending a day at the races!
Footballers from around the world all have different interests in the sport, with some purchasing and owning horses, others taking advantage of horse racing free bets, and some just enjoying the spectacle and atmosphere!
Here, we are going to look at some of the biggest footballing names throughout the sport: those who enjoy horse racing and have even owned their own racing horse!
Michael Owen
The former Ballon d’Or winner and current footballing pundit is completely racing mad, with the former striker not only being invested in the sport but also creating a new career for himself in the sport of horse racing. This Liverpool and Real Madrid forward invested in a 174-acre estate and built state-of-the-art horse racing facilities, from which trainer Tom Dascombe now operates.
Owen has had some notable wins whilst being a horse race owner, with Brown Panther being the best horse of the bunch. He was bred by Owen, and he went on to win the Dubai Gold Cup in 2015, whilst there were other high-profile wins like King George V Stakes at Royal Ascot and the Irish St Ledger at The Curragh with Brown Panther.
Owen even says his new job as a horse owner is more nerve-wracking than being a professional footballer, and he was even seen tearful after winning at Royal Ascot!
Wayne Rooney
Wayne Rooney was one of the best English footballers throughout the past decades, and the former Manchester United forward has dipped into the scene of horse racing with the pundit owning three horses over the years. Whilst Rooney was an incredibly successful forward and footballer, he’s not had the same success in racehorse ownership compared to his accomplishments at Manchester United.
His horse ‘Announcement’ has shown the same fiery characteristics that Rooney showed at the beginning of his career. Announcement is a horse which is partly owned by former teammates Michael Carrick, John O’Shea and Jonny Evans! With ex-manager Sir Alex Ferguson being a huge horse racing fan, clearly, his passion has rubbed off on some of the Manchester United players!
Ian Wright
Widely known for his exuberant personality and football opinions as a pundit, Ian Wright was a fantastic and skilful forward for both Arsenal and England and is now part of the ownership syndicate Crowd Racing Partnership, who own Born To Finish. The syndicate got off to a brilliant start, with a hat-trick of wins being achieved in the first two weeks at the start of the year, with two at Lingfield and one at Kempton.
With plenty of interest in horse racing, Ian Wright continues to follow the sport and has been seen completing interviews and challenges with horse racing legend Tony McCoy!
Joey Barton
Known best for his reckless behaviour on and off the pitch, Joey Barton has owned plenty of different horses throughout the years, the names of which are quite unusual. With one of his favourite bands being the Arctic Monkeys, he has named his horses after his favourite songs from the band, including My Propeller and Crying Lightning.
The former manager saw his horse win three of the 13 races it entered, a successful return for the ownership from Barton! With racing being more of a hobby for Barton, we look to see if he delves deeper into the sport or if he carries on with punditry and podcasts.
Thomas Muller
Commonly seen as one of the most underrated players of his generation, Thomas Muller is a World Cup winner whilst also scoring the most goals at the 2010 World Cup; he is also a Champions League winner and has numerous German domestic titles throughout his career. However, horses have always been a part of the Muller family. His wife is a top dressage rider, and they own a yard where he has given himself the title of managing director.
One of the main characteristics that makes Thomas Muller stand out from other footballers is his humour and character. This personality is shown by Muller naming his horse Dave, a clear testament to his comedic nature.
Whilst many footballers are invested in the sport of horse racing, there are many different characters throughout football who are invested in the sport, such as Harry Redknapp, Robbie Fowler, Rio Ferdinand, Charlie Austin and Sergio Ramos!
