Michael Owen's text message to James Milner inspired a dressing room sales pitch to his Liverpool teammates.
The England legend contacted the Anfield ace after a topical result at the 2021 Cheltenham Festival. Mrs Milner, a horse her namesake placed a bet on, galloped to victory in the Pertemps Final. Milner revealed he had a return from his successful wager on Twitter and told dozens of fans that he did not own the horse – as well as joking his wife Amy wanted his winnings.
But shortly after he was paid out at odds of around 12-1, Milner took the plunge and became more involved with the sport.
Owen and Milner's conversation led the current player and squad members to invest in a thoroughbred of their own. Mr McCann was sourced for Jordan Henderson, James Milner, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Andy Robertson and former Reds midfielder Adam Lallana.
The colt won three races in his first season and is due to contest next week's Dee Stakes at Chester to trial for the Cazoo Derby at Epsom. Explaining how the Premier League syndicate came together, lifelong racing fan Owen said: "A horse called Mrs Milner won at Cheltenham and I remember texting James Milner straight after the race with some form of remark.
"Anyway a few exchanges later and I managed to sell them a horse. James Milner was the leader of the gang, he went back into the dressing room the next day and rounded another five of them up.
"So there's six of the guys that own the horse (and Milner), I keep trying to tell them how lucky they are - to win three times last season as a two-year-old. We went to the breeze-ups (sales), Ed Sackville bought him for £65,000 and he has been an absolute star.
"Every time we step him up in trip he tends to get better so we are very excited about him. He's pencilled in for the Dee Stakes, if all goes well then we have the heady heights and grand plans of maybe him running in the Derby which would be the most incredible story."
Mr McCann was one of the horses on show as Owen gave the media a tour of the new set-up at Manor House Stables in Cheshire on Monday. The 160-acre site is the new base for Classic-winning trainer Hugo Palmer, who has a leading chance of a second Qipco 2,000 Guineas triumph at the weekend.
Six years on from his win with Galileo Gold, Dubawi Legend gets his chance to end the unbeaten run of ante-post favourite Native Trail. There was two lengths between them in the 2021 Dewhurst and newlywed jockey Tom Marquand has the job of trying to turn around the deficit.
Palmer admits a trip to Del Mar in November for the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf, where the son of Dubawi finished ninth, was a "complete disaster" - but he is now back on track as the big race looms.
"We have two lengths to find on Dewhurst form," he said. "He has grown and filled out. We are very excited about Saturday.
"His turn of foot and change of gear is what is exciting about him. I think he would win Galileo Gold's Guineas. If it was the same year I feel Galileo Gold would finish second to him but it is a different year, a different time."
Swiftly on the back of a trip to HQ comes the the Boodles May Festival, featuring the Chester Cup. Owen's love for racing began when Treble Heights won at his local track in 2002.
He purchased the horse shortly after Liverpool landed the UEFA Cup, FA Cup, and League Cup treble the previous year. The dam of the filly was called Height Of Fashion, hence the name for the two-year-old, prepared for an impressive debut on the Roodee by John Gosden.
Principal hopes for Palmer in this year's Chester Cup lie with course scorer Solent Gateway – the ante-post favourite with the bookies. Further down the line, one of his stablemates with another football connection is expected to follow the lead of Owen's first horse.
An unnamed two-year-old is showing up brightly as the wheels really begin to turn in Palmer's new operation.
"There's a nice Showcasing colt that I like quite a lot that belongs to Michael, Sir Alex Ferguson, Ged Mason and Peter Done," he said. "I have been asking them for four and three quarter of the five weeks I have been here to come up for a name for him!
"If he gets named he could be a possible for one of the races at Chester."
