Money Not The Concern For Sendell

Arnie Sendell, owner of Betfair Chase winner Kingscliff, has revealed he turned down a potentially record-breaking offer for his star steeplechaser.

Speaking as he visited his star at the Dorset yard of trainer Robert Alner, Sendell confirmed he had accepted an offer of £750,000 earlier this year - only to have a change of heart and cancel the sale the next morning.

Kingscliff is the only horse in with a chance of claiming the inaugural Betfair Million, a £1million bonus payable to the connections of any horse who wins the Betfair Chase, the Stan James King George VI Chase and the totesport Cheltenham Gold Cup.

But when Kingscliff lines up at Sandown Park on Boxing Day in his bid to keep that dream alive, Sendell insists his mind will not be on the bonus.

'If we win the million, then three cheers, but it´s not everything,' he said.

'I´m not a rich man, I´m only a little bloke down the street. But I didn´t get into owning horses to make money. That´s why I turned down three-quarters of a million pounds for him.

'At first they offered half a million but they kept upping the offer until I accepted. Then the next morning I rang Robert at a quarter to six and told him I had changed my mind - I hadn´t slept a wink all night.

'I had kept Robert informed all the way. He was going to be sold to stay in the yard, although I wasn´t sure who was buying him.'

And having decided there was more to owning Kingscliff than £750,000, it therefore follows that winning £1million is also less important than the welfare of the gelding.

'It doesn´t make any difference to me,' he continued. 'If you try and build these things up you come down to earth with a big bump, especially in racing.

'You think you have this right and that covered and then it goes wrong.

'If somebody turns round and offers me a million pounds then I´ll say ´Thank you very much´. Of course I would like to win - who wouldn´t want to win? But on paper there are going to be plenty of people taking horses to Sandown who think they can beat us.'

(C) PA Sport