'We're Like Kids In A Sweet Shop' – Meet The Owners Behind UAE Derby Contender Heart Of Honor

Yesterday at 10:04 AM

DUBAI, UAE–Owners Jim and Claire Bryce have admitted to feeling “like kids in a sweet shop” ahead of Saturday's UAE Derby where their own Heart Of Honor (GB) (Honor A. P.) could help jockey Saffie Osborne create history by becoming the first female jockey to win a race on Dubai World Cup night.

Trained by Jamie Osborne, who won the same race 11 years ago with Toast Of New York (Thewayyouare), Heart Of Honor is the most high-profile Flat performer for the husband-and-wife owners who admitted to having mixed emotions about being forced to bypass Aintree where their Warren Greatrex-trained Good And Clever (Ire) (Soldier Of Fortune {Ire}) lines out for a Grade 1 novice hurdle on Grand National day. 

But speaking at Breakfast With The Stars at a sun-kissed Meydan racecourse on Thursday morning, the owners explained how Heart Of Honor is the culmination of a plan hatched by their trainer to target and buy dirt horses at the breeze-up sales for this very meeting. And the confidence in the camp is beginning to grow.

“I don't think it's unreasonable to think that we're in it to win it,” Jim said. “We think that the boy has more in him than what he has shown on the track so far. It's just whether we can extract it on Saturday or not. We're hopeful.”

He added, “Saffie is already the first female jockey to have won a race out here in Dubai full stop. I know she likes to play it down and she doesn't want to think about it as she wants to focus on the race but we'd love it for her if she did achieve it. We should also mention Adrie de Vries, as he rode Heart Of Honor three times and has been very supportive throughout the horse's career. Saffie is the stable jockey but he has been very helpful to us as well.”

Heart Of Honor is one of eight horses that the Bryces bought through Osborne at the breeze-up sales last year and is described by Jim as the “golden nugget” within the group. He is quite a unique horse in that he has been through three different sales houses already. He was first sold as a foal by Tweenhills Stud at Tattersalls for 35,000gns with David Redvers having sourced the dam [Ruby Love (Chi) (Scat Daddy)] the previous year at Keeneland for $90,000. Heart Of Honor was then sold for €42,000 to Hurley House Stud at the Book 1 session of the Goffs Orby Sale before being knocked down to Osborne for €160,000 after posting an eye-catching breeze for Meadowview Stables in Arqana last May. 

Jim said, “If you were to look at him on an individual basis, you could say that he was a great bargain. Jamie came up with a project plan and, when you do a project like this, you need to buy a few horses. This horse is the golden nugget of what we bought at the breeze-up sales. To get us to Dubai World Cup in the first year of this project is quite remarkable, really. 

“In essence, Jamie came to me to tell me that he had been thinking about doing this for a while. We had already started coming out to Dubai and really enjoyed that. Equally, we'd seen through Jamie's past exploits, that it has been very hard to take on the Godolphin-owned horses on the turf. So we tried to do something different. It sounded interesting and I have to say we had a lot of fun going to the breeze-ups. We bought eight in total. We still have some nice ones who just weren't quite forward enough to make this campaign.”

Asked about opting to go to Dubai over Aintree, Jim added, “We love it all, really. Jetting off over the winter to get a bit of sun and going racing, it's quite nice. That said, we're just as into the jumps as we ever were before. We enjoy both sides of it. It's actually quite difficult, because we have Good And Clever (Ire) (Soldier Of Fortune {Ire}) running in a Grade 1 novice hurdle at Aintree. I think we have to say that this is more special, given it's World Cup night, but we are a little bit gutted that we had to make the choice.”

There's no doubt that the journey the couple have been on with Heart Of Honor over the winter months has left a lasting impression. Claire, who is being blamed by Jim for their rapidly-expanding string, admitted to being captivated by a horse auction and revealed that plans are already being hatched to go back in search of the next Heart Of Honor at the Craven and Arqana breeze-up sales. 

She explained, “It's been quite a dramatic increase! We've only been in ownership for the past eight years and I suppose the interest stems from my Dad, who used to take me to our local racecourse in Uttoxeter when I was young. Dad and I used to have a couple of horses that we used to go riding together on. I just love horses. Heart Of Honor has given us some great trips already and we've really enjoyed being out here.”

Claire added, “I am becoming renowned for sticking my hand up at the sales! It's difficult to describe how much we love this sport but, we've been very lucky with the sale of Jim's business that, financially, we have found ourselves in a place that we never expected to be in. We're retired now but it seems as though we're as busy now as we ever were.”

It's at this point where Jim points out, “Going back to your original question, about how we got into the sport, safe to say I attribute all blame to Claire!”

Some people buy a boat and others take up golf in retirement. The Bryces have gone into racing in a big way and, regardless of how Heart Of Honor performs on Saturday night, one gets the feeling that they wouldn't change it for the world. There is, however, a suggestion that the couple could cash in on what is one of the hottest young dirt prospects out there. But for now, Jim and Claire are keen to enjoy the ride. 

Jim said, “I suppose you could say that we are very much like kids in a sweet shop right now. As the years roll on, we might put a bit more structure to the thing. I owned a software business. It was a long slog–I was in it for over 30 years–before finally getting a good payday. We haven't decided exactly what level we're going to be operating at in the market but we're definitely going to buy a few more breezers and plan on going to the Craven and France. I don't think how Heart Of Honor performs on Saturday will determine anything but, in your head, you just really want to get a good result.”

He concluded, “We know lots of people have been sniffing around but I don't think we have any interest in selling the entirety of the horse. As Jamie would put it, lowering our risk could be an option at some point, in that we would sell some of the horse. But equally, it's going to be a fantastic experience on Saturday to see him racing in our colours. We're happy to take the full ride for now.”

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