BACK in May, the Foran Equine Irish EBF Auction Series could not have begun better when Beckford won the second race in the series at the Curragh.

The €55,000 yearling hit the headlines as Gordon Elliott’s first two-year-old runner and winner. The Bated Breath colt has since gone on to win the Group 2 Railway Stakes and finished second in both the Group 1 Phoenix Stakes and the Group 1 Vincent O’Brien National Stakes.

Bought by agent Aidan ‘Mouse’ O’Ryan, Beckford made his winning debut in the colours of the Nick Bradley Racing Club, a new venture which brought some new faces into racehorse ownership.

The club subsequently decided to cash in on Beckford and sold the colt to Newtown Anner Stud, and the deal cleverly included a bonus payment if the horse went on further success in stakes company.

Recalling the Curragh maiden win this week, Aidan O’Ryan said: “It was a great start for the syndicate. Everyone has stayed involved and now we have a second syndicate of 20 new owners for next year.”

Aidan bought nine yearlings during the first two days of this week’s Tattersalls Ireland September Yearling Sale and he is obviously a big supporter of the Foran Equine Irish EBF auction maiden series.

“They definitely make a difference,” he said. “The prize money is very good and it keeps you away from the Galileos and the War Fronts. It gives you more options. Restricting these races to horses which cost €72,000 or less is a big help and in fact I think the limit should be lower.

“Fair play to Foran Equine. They have done a great job marketing the races and they were rewarded with full fields anytime the ground was fine. They deserve a pat on the back.”

Nick Bradley, who headed the Beckford bunch, was a professional gambler before he got involved in ownership. He was a major player in the Middleham Park Racing, whose big race winners included Group 1 scorer G Force, before striking out on his own.

He teamed up with Gordon Elliott to buy Commissioned who memorably gave them a Royal Ascot winner last year. That gave him confidence to launch the racing club and invest in yearlings last autumn. Nick Bradley Racing now has 60 horses in training.

Interviewed by The Irish Field earlier this year, Nick had the following advice for budding racehorse owners: “Definitely get involved with a syndicate initially. There is a lot to learn in this game and many of my investors dipped their toe in before they jumped into the pool. Spread your interest and rather than investing in just one horse or even with one trainer, split your investment amongst horses in different yards. Do plenty of research and invest with ambitious people who want the same things as you do.”