The Wine Tipster has recently joined a racing syndicate and has already seen one of his horse Final Choice deliver an impressive winning performance at Newbury in December.

He is one of the members of The Jockey Club Ownership Syndicate – Cheltenham and South West, which offers members a share in four year-old Final Choice, trained by Warren Greatrex, and five-year-olds The Last But One and Timeforwest, trained by Paul Nicholls and Jonjo O’Neill respectively.

Membership of the Syndicate costs £2,590 for two years and includes organised stable visits, along with full membership benefits of Cheltenham including The Festival, where members can enjoy an exclusive facility; as well as membership of Warwick, Wincanton and Exeter racecourses, the four racecourses within the south west region of The Jockey Club.

He was lucky to visit Warren Greatrex’s yard for a morning on the gallops with Lucy Wheeler, who runs the syndicate and Ed Chamberlin ITV Racing’s presenter. He also enjoyed a catch up with Dan Thompson Head of Exeter Racecourse whose Super Sunday meeting on February 12th promises to be a great day out.

Final Choice trained by Warren Greatrex will most likely been seen in a couple of weeks time and with a good run will be hopefully seen at The Cheltenham Festival in March which is very exciting. He is some cool dude winning impressively at Newbury in December, however he disappointed last time out when he resented the tongue tie.

Warren is based at Fred Winter’s old yard so you can see plaques with many famous names including Bula, Pendil and Derring Rose. He has an impressive 31% strike rate with his bumper horses for this season, 18% over hurdles and 11% over jumps. Keep an eye out for World Hurdle winner Cole Harden, who ran very well on Saturday when finishing second in the Cleeve Hurdle, Western Ryder, the stable favourite Paint The Clouds and Missed Approach at The Cheltenham Festival.

This weekend sees the start of the 2016/17 jump season at Cheltenham after the summer break where we can look forward to16 exciting days of top class Jump racing over the season. Leading horses, jockeys and trainers return to the spiritual Home of Jump racing for The Showcase meeting with 7 races on each day.

In addition to the excitement of the racing, you can enjoy a wide variety of experiences at the racecourse. The Wine Tipster has worked with Bibendum Wines and The Jockey Club Catering team, led by General Manager Phil Roberts, to compile a wine list to suit all palates and to match with the various dishes served around the racecourse.
There has never been a better time to try British wines so to celebrate this, look out for ‘Best of British’ still and sparkling wines on the list. Come racing and enjoy the following wines;

Nyetimber Classic Cuvée NV, Sussex, England
Nyetimber is a pioneer of English sparkling wine with its earliest mentions being recorded in the Domesday Book in 1086. They now own 170 hectares of vineyards in Hampshire and Sussex which are devoted to the classic trio of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. The Classic Cuvée shows all the elegance and refinement you would expect, with delicate citrus, fresh mineral, and lifted white blossom notes.

Bolney Estate Foxhole Vineyard Pinot Gris, Sussex, England
The Bolney Estate was established in 1972 with 3 acres of vines. Nowadays, the estate spans 39 acres and is one of the few wineries in England specialising in red wine. The founders were inspired by the potential to create delicate red wines similar to those from New Zealand. Their work has helped to cement England’s position as a country capable of producing quality wines consistently. Current winemaker, Samantha Linter took over in the 90s and since then the estate has gone from strength to strength. This is a refreshingly zesty white wine with fragrant aromas of elderflower, jasmine and pear.

Chapel Down English Rosé, England, Kent
Chapel Down produces a world-class range of sparkling and still wines, together with the award-winning range of Curious beers & cider. It is this iconic chalk soil, the same as that of Champagne – just 90 miles to the south, coupled with our cool climate that enables them to produce truly world-class sparkling wines, as well as aromatic white wines and elegant light red wines from grapes such as Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Pinot Blanc and Bacchus.
This wine has lovely aromas of a British summer pudding, ripe juicy summer fruits. Crisp and fresh, with flavours of rhubarb compote and rosehip. An easy drinking wine to share with your friends and family.

See you there!

The Wine Tipster joins Steve Elsom on his 100th and final show of The Business Hub.

Chuffed to be asked to join Steve on his final show. Top banter. Click here to listen.