MIKE MADDEN went from meal deal to hospitality after using Tesco Clubcard points to buy a horse.
Now the IT guru arrives at Royal Ascot in a helicopter £80,000 better off thanks to a horse who’s taken him from supermarket to superstar.
Horse owner and IT guru Mike with sister Fiona and daughter Gabriella before they hopped in their helicopter to Royal Ascot
Mike’s wife Sally kisses Star of Lady M after she wins £21,000 with victory at Beverley
Mike’s journey is the stuff all owners dream of, although how it started couldn’t be more ordinary.
A lifelong racing lover, Mike, 61, would always tot up his points to spend on something special.
But it wasn’t until 2008 that he and wife Sally splashed out on another horse after previously having shares in one who ‘specialised in finishing last’.
Little did he know 14 years later he would be swanning round racing’s most glamourous meeting with a two-year-old filly worth hundreds of thousands.
Describing how it all came about, he said: “I’ve always collected Clubcard points but back then they didn’t have that many partners.
“I came across Own a Racehorse – you could spend your Clubcard points on shares in horses.
“You think of Tesco and people think you’ve gone, ‘I’ll have some potatoes and a racehorse please!’
“It wasn’t quite like that because it was done over the phone or online, but it was innovative of Own a Racehorse to do that.”
Friendship Bay and Tenjack King didn’t amount to much – but soon after Mike’s business really started taking off.
After a good couple of years he hit last year’s October Tattersalls sales armed with £20,000 and renewed hope of finding that winner he had always craved.
Bloodstock agent and good friend Luke Lillingston was there to guide him along – but nothing prepared him for the amount of cash changing hands.