THE Masters Syndicate is made up of people such as Lee Westwood, Alan Shearer, Andrea and Graham Wylie, Chubby Chandler and television personalities Ant and Dec, otherwise Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly. They own Augusta Kate who provided Donnelly with an early 40th birthday present when she won a bumper at Listowel recently under Patrick Mullins, finishing some 23 lengths clear of her opponents in the process.

Afterwards her rider said: “She’s obviously a lot better on the track than she is in her work and she appreciated the ease in the ground. There is a good mares bumper for her in Navan in November but I wouldn’t rule out going hurdling this season.” Her victory is a good advertisement for racehorse ownership in Ireland, given the household names that own her, and hopefully will be siezed upon by the marketing department in Horse Racing Ireland to promote the sport.