There were fears that Wylie, a technology tycoon, who has been a regular entry in the Sunday Times Rich List for a decade, had become disenchanted with the racing game following the four-year disqualification of his trainer Howard Johnson last August. The BHA found Johnson guilty of running a horse, who had been ‘de-nerved’ in one leg, and Wylie publicly declared “they treated Howard like a criminal, and he’s not.”
When Johnson did not appeal against his ban, it left Wylie with 60 horses, and a key decision to make, though having already sent six horses to Nicholls, his mind was half made up. In the event, he dispersed almost half his racing stock at the sales and kept the rest.
“I chose the best trainer in England and the best in Ireland,” he declared. He sent 12 to Nicholls, and seven to Willie Mullins in Co Carlow. “And, I’ve also got another 18 in a field somewhere,” he reported.
Wylie has not been to visit Mullins as yet, but he has several times travelled to Ditcheat, and been impressed with what he has seen. He has also been quick to acknowledge that throwing hundreds of thousands of pounds at agents and trainers in an attempt to purchase quality horses does not necessarily always pay off.
“It may minimise your risk, but it is no guarantee that you will get a champion,” he said. Inglis Drever, who won Wylie and his wife Andrea three Ladbrokes World Hurdles, cost £100,000, which was a modest amount for what he went on to achieve at Cheltenham.
Having made that point, he will also keep on buying horses. “I recently bought one in partnership with Andy Stewart, and it has already won for us. I’ve always had the passion for racing,” he explained. That is good news for the sport.
