Tony Bloom teams up with millionaire punter known as the ‘baby-faced assassin’ in bid to take over Flat racing

10 months ago 93

BRIGHTON owner Tony Bloom has teamed up with Britain’s most feared punter – nicknamed the ‘baby-faced assassin’ – in a bid to takeover Flat racing.

Renowned bettor Bloom has joined forces with Patrick Veitch, who is estimated to have won over £10million from the bookies.

Brighton supremo Bloom is turning his attention to Flat racing having won some of the biggest prizes over jumps[/caption]

Veitch’s most famous punt came when he stung the bookies for half a million quid by backing his own horse Exponential in from 100-1.

Bloom – who has been called the ‘cleverest man to ever place a bet‘ – has made his fortune through shrewd investments and poker – using his cash to guide Brighton from League One to the Premier League.

Now the duo, along with Bloom’s business partner Ian McAleavy, are looking to take on the likes of Coolmore with more Flat runners, report the Racing Post.

And their grand plan will see Bloom start his own breeding operation at Hillwood Stud in Wiltshire, where Veitch has a band of mares.

But despite Bloom and Veitch being the scourge of bookies everywhere, the latter insists the tie-up is not about landing bets.

Veitch, who called himself ‘enemy number one’ in his book detailing his remarkable life, explained a bit about the new partnership on the Nick Luck Podcast.

He said: “I don’t want to get to a stage of retirement thinking I’ve done well but don’t have much to do.

“Now I could potentially could some nice horses and a lot of runners that I have bred – it’s part of a life strategy we’ve come up with.

“Tony and Ian are keen to expand their interest in racing

“They chatted to me, seen I have done well in that field – they want to be commercial breeders and owners as well.

“Tony and Ian don’t want a ceiling on their ambitions

“They’ve been keen to take some advice from myself and they both have a lot of analytical skills, but this is not in any way going to be about landing punts.”

Bloom, who owns Gimcrack winner Lake Forest with McAleavy, is best-known for his Champion Chase hero Energumene.

But the Willie Mullins-trained champ won’t be at Cheltenham this year to defend his crown due to injury.

Perhaps that swayed Bloom towards campaigning more runners on the Flat, where Lake Forest has got him off to a great start.

Bloom told the Post: “We are delighted Patrick has agreed to become involved as his analytical approach chimes with the way we look at sport and he was first on our list when we decided to expand.

“We’re joining him in having our breeding operation at Hillwood Stud, but Ian and I are also keen for more runners on the Flat.”