Phil Foden is used to being involved in big results, but even by his standards this was a good one.
The Manchester City and England star is part-owner of Wreck It Ronnie, the 10/1 winner who caused a huge upset at Goodwood on Tuesday by beating 1/33 favourite Najidi Storm.
That price alone tells you how unexpected the result was.
Najidi Storm had been expected to win comfortably and was sent off at odds of just 1/33. Instead, Wreck It Ronnie made the running under Kieren Fox, kept going in the testing conditions and beat the favourite by a length and a half.
The result immediately earned Najidi Storm an unwanted place in the record books as the shortest-priced loser in British racing history.
For Foden, though, it was a much happier story.
Wreck It Ronnie Was Not Supposed to Win
There were only three runners in the Cleansing Service Group Novice Stakes at Goodwood, and on paper it looked like a fairly simple race.
Najidi Storm had won on debut at Kempton and carried the famous Juddmonte colours. He is also a son of Frankel and a brother to former St Leger winner Logician, so there was plenty of reason for the market to take him seriously.
Wreck It Ronnie was a very different proposition.
Charlie Pike’s three-year-old had raced twice previously without winning and went off as the 10/1 second favourite.
It did not take long for the script to go wrong.
Wreck It Ronnie moved into the lead after the opening furlong and was still travelling strongly as the field turned for home. Najidi Storm was asked to close the gap, but the favourite could never quite get there.
Kieren Fox kept Wreck It Ronnie going all the way to the line, where he still had a length and a half to spare.
The third horse, Dream Of Albion, finished another 76 lengths behind.
Not exactly what anyone expected when the favourite was trading at 1/33 before the off.
Why Is Phil Foden’s Horse Called Wreck It Ronnie?
Wreck It Ronnie is named after Phil Foden’s son, Ronnie, who has become a familiar face to Manchester City supporters through his appearances at matches and trophy celebrations.
Foden shares ownership of the horse with Gary Gillies, whose blue and white colours Wreck It Ronnie carries.
According to reports after the race, Foden was away with Manchester City when the horse won but was said to be delighted with the result.
It is certainly a memorable first win to be associated with.
Plenty of owners spend years waiting for a horse to produce a result people remember. Wreck It Ronnie has managed it by defeating the shortest-priced beaten favourite British racing has ever seen.
Footballers and Horse Racing Have Always Mixed Well
Foden is far from the first footballer to become involved in racing.
The two sports have had close links for decades.
Perhaps the most famous modern example is Michael Owen, who became a racehorse owner while he was still playing and later built Manor House Stables in Cheshire.
Owen has spoken about becoming interested in racing as a child before eventually buying his first horse at 18. His involvement went much further than the occasional day at the races, with his operation growing into a major training base.
He was also involved with Brown Panther, who became one of the best horses associated with a footballer in recent years.
Then there is Sir Alex Ferguson, whose racing interests have continued long after he left Manchester United.
Ferguson has enjoyed success with horses including Spirit Dancer, while his ownership interests have taken him to some of the biggest meetings in Britain and abroad.
Wayne Rooney has also tried ownership, while former players including Paul Scholes, Steve McManaman and Ian Wright have all had links with racehorses.
Football and racing seem to work particularly well together.
Professional footballers are competitive by nature, they are used to sporting pressure, and many of them already follow racing as fans.
Once you have the chance to own a racehorse, it is probably not difficult to understand how the interest can become quite addictive.
Even 1/33 Is Not a Certainty
The funniest part of the Wreck It Ronnie story is probably what it says about betting.
At 1/33, backing Najidi Storm to win £10 would have required a stake of £330.
That gives some idea of just how certain bookmakers and punters thought the result was.
But racing has a habit of reminding everyone that there is no such thing as a guaranteed winner.
Before Tuesday, the shortest-priced beaten favourites in British racing were Royal Forest in 1948 and Doom in 2023, both of whom lost at 1/25.
Najidi Storm has now gone one better, or perhaps one worse, by losing at 1/33.
It is a record his connections would probably rather not have.
For Wreck It Ronnie, meanwhile, the result could open up much more interesting options.
Trainer Charlie Pike said afterwards that the horse is still raw and may improve further with time, so this may not simply be a one-off shock result.
From the Etihad to Goodwood
Foden has won Premier League titles, domestic cups and the Champions League during a football career played at the very highest level. Yet there must have been a completely different sort of enjoyment in watching a horse he owns line up as a 10/1 outsider against a supposedly unbeatable 1/33 favourite and then refuse to be passed.
A Goodwood novice race will never compare with the biggest nights of his football career.
But that does not really matter.
Anyone who decides to own a racehorse quickly learns that success is relative. A first win can mean just as much to an owner as a much bigger race further down the line, particularly when nobody expected it to happen.
For once, Phil Foden was involved with the massive underdog.
And the massive underdog won.
