Gold Cup win was best day of my life

Another winner for DAB Hand

By Sean Wallace

Published:

CHEERS: Derek Pearson raises a glass after his Regal Parade won the Ayr Gold Cup.

AT £16,000, Regal Parade could be one of the biggest bargains in horse racing – and an Aberdeen-based consortium are raking in the cash.

The four-year-old romped to victory in the John Smith’s Ayr Gold Cup, Scotland’s top flat race, to win a £93,000 cheque.

The six-furlong victory was the latest for owners Derek Pearson, Alan Pirie and Sheena Taylor, aka DAB Hand.

But their success did not end with the winner’s cheque, as all three scooped at the bookmakers, more than doubling their cash.

We met with fish-house owner Derek, 50, who reckons the four-year-old can out-perform DAB Hand’s previous find The Tatling, who won more than £600,000.

Q Can you talk us through that historic win for Regal Parade at Ayr?

A It was probably the best day of my life, it was a dream come true to win such a prestigious race.

It had even more significance because the win came in Scotland.

In 2002, we were beaten in a photo finish at the Ayr Gold Cup with The Tatling, so it was fantastic to finally go that extra step and get the win.

My winnings were more than the prize money of £93,000 which shows just how well I fared. The bookies suffered a real hammering.

All three of DAB Hand backed Regal Parade when he was 33/1, and that dropped to 18/1 for the race.

The win did not come as a shock because we knew very early on we had bought a class horse.

Our jockey William Carson is just 19, and the grandson of Willie Carson.

Despite his age, he ran the perfect race, sitting at the back and not panicking, before making a move.

Q After winning at Ayr, what does the future holds for Regal Parade?

A We paid around £16,000 for Regal Parade and he is getting better and better.

The aim is to win the top sprints because that is where the money is and the horse runs from six furlongs up to a mile.

Regal Parade can go on to achieve great things. There is a possibility he could race in Dubai this year.

He is only young and will be even stronger next year.

Ideally we can go on and secure a hat-trick of Ayr Gold Cups.

Q Would it be possible for DAB Hand to produce a horse capable of winning one of the Classics?

A Our ultimate ambition is to win a Group One classic, especially the Derby, but I am not sure if we would ever find a horse good enough to do that.

But we never thought we would have a horse that can go on to win Royal Ascot, and now we have two Royal Ascot winners.

Many owners and trainers who have had long careers cannot say they have had one Royal Ascot winner – we have done it twice.

Q You have linked up with renowned trainer Dandy Nicholls. How important has he been to your success?

A Dandy had actually beaten us in the Ayr Gold Cup in 2002, when his horse Fanfare Wayne won a photo finish to just edge out The Tatling.

We thought if you can’t beat him, join him and it has worked out well.

Dandy bought Regal Parade for us and it was a gamble because the horse had ran very poorly in its last three races.

His form tapered off, but we took the chance that he did not have an injury.

Dandy has got the horse back to his best, and he has won at Royal Ascot as well as the Ayr Gold Cup.

Q Horse racing has opened many doors for you with The Tatling and now Regal Parade. What have been the highlights?

A Winning at Ayr last week was unbelievable, but we also had great success with The Tatling.

That horse, which is now retired, cost just £15,000, but won us more than £600,000 in prize money. Ideally Regal Parade will go on to beat that figure.

At the moment, we only have two horses, Regal Parade and Blue Tomato.

We are hoping to buy one or two more horses in the near future.

We have travelled all over the world with the horses and the Sha Ting racecourse in Hong Kong was fantastic.

We were invited over there and travelled first class, everything was laid on and it was a fantastic atmosphere.

Q How did you go from being a Torry loon to one of Britain’s top race horse owners?

A I have been betting since I was seven, when I would go to the bookies with my grandparents, and my love of racing all stemmed from there.

I have been in racing since 1990 and DAB Hand racing was formed in 1993, which is made up of friends from the fish trade.

I had the chance to join Staffordshire trainer Reg Hollinshead as a jockey but turned it down, which I regret.

But owning a horse is the next best thing.