Like many retired footballers, the competitive itch remains for Michael Owen.
But rather than drop down the leagues or enter the dugout, the former Ballon d’Or winner has turned away from football to indulge his post-playing competitive instinct.
At Manor House Stables, his training operation in Cheshire, Owen has built a business that combines his love of horse racing with the same drive that saw him become one of English football’s most prolific goalscorers.
Owen on his drive to make Manor House the best
“I don’t really like just taking part – I want to be at the very top table,” Owen tells FourFourTwo when asked about the scale of his ambition for the stables.
“We’re mixing it now but there’s a long way to go to be one of the best. Being the best is possibly an impossible thing when you think of the superpowers, but we’ve definitely got room for improvement.
“What do we need to do? We need more horses, better quality horses. How do you get more horses? You need more owners, wealthier owners I suppose if you want to be brutally honest about it. How do we do that? We need results and a facility to look after people that want to have a good time. And how do we do that? We have to be at the cutting edge of science and get out there when there’s a big event on and there might be potential owners there.
“You’ve got to get your arse off your comfy chair and start pressing flesh. You have to have drive and ambition, you have to be here at the crack of dawn, learning your business, getting the best out of your staff, motivating them. It all starts with a target, which is to be the best in the business.
“If you’d seen us 20 years ago, when I set this place up, and at any stage in between, it’s been constant progress. That can’t stop and won’t stop while I’m here – and I’m going to be here for a very long time hopefully.”
Owen’s focus at Manor House is on flat racing, which precludes a crack at the Grand National, but does he dream of winning one of the other big races one day?
“The Derby, absolutely, although people ask me what’s the dream, and having this business, employing all these people, in many ways I’m living the dream now,” he continues. “And it’s like saying ‘If you win the league or the Ballon d’Or as a footballer, is that the dream, is that it then, you’ve achieved it?’ No it’s bloody not, I want to do it again and again. Who the hell wants to do something that’s so good once and doesn’t want to do it again?
“If I won the Derby, I wouldn’t put ‘For Sale’ signs up. So yes, it is a dream to win it, but this place isn’t stopping regardless of what we achieve. I will die doing this, whereas I had to stop at football at 33. I can continue running this place forever, trying to be successful, and the beauty is you really enjoy it along the way.
“It’s a constant joy – following horses, going to Royal Ascot for a week, Glorious Goodwood, I might go to the Breeders Cup in Kentucky or the Melbourne Cup in Australia, travelling the world seeing your horses running. It’s just the most incredible business.
“I don’t have to run around for 90 minutes any more – blood, sweat and tears. I can just enjoy it.”
All six episodes of Meet the Owens are available now to stream on Amazon Prime Video
