LEICESTER CITY fan Simon Mullaney is hoping his horse For Pleasure can have a sensational “underdog” season like his beloved Foxes did in 2016.
Jamie Vardy and Co bagged the Premier League title at odds of 5,000-1 in 2016.
And Mullaney – who runs a plastering and painting business employing over 200 in nearby Wigston – had a box at the King Power Stadium for their amazing triumph.
He also managed to have a decent bet on them at 20-1. Now Mullaney is aiming for an even bigger payout with a 25-1 bet on For Pleasure in Sunday’s Betfair Hurdle at Newbury.
The 50-year-old has also backed the Alex Hales-trained chestnut at 100-1 for Champion Hurdle.
“Underdog is a big song from Kasabian, who are from Leicester,” said Mullaney.
“It’s happened before, so we’re dreaming it can happen again with For Pleasure.
“How would For Pleasure winning the Betfair and Champion Hurdle compare to Leicester winning the title?
“That was something I thought I’d never see in my lifetime and I had a box down there and me and all my mates had a brilliant time.
“But this is more personal and if it was to come true I’d dedicate it to my dad Michael. When I was young I used to go to the bookmakers with him and it was from him I got my love of racing and the dream of owning my own horses.”
Mullaney paid £50,000 for For Pleasure in August 2018 but feared the worst after a fall in his first outing at Ludlow.
He said: “I nearly lost him, they put the curtain round him.”
After six attempts to hold up the headstrong For Pleasure, Hales opted to let the gelding front-run – and he scooted up by 22 lengths at Stratford, where he later beat the course record.
In November, the six-year-old turned in his best performance yet, landing the Grade 2 Sky Bet Supreme Trial Novices’ Hurdle at Cheltenham.
Mullaney added: “It was the tenth anniversary of my dad Michael’s passing and I’d always told him I’d have a horse running at Cheltenham.
“There were quite a few tears that day and afterwards I went to where my dad’s ashes are with a Christmas bauble with a note on it saying ‘thanks for pushing For Pleasure up that hill!
“I’ve backed him at 25-1 for the Betfair and I think it’s going to take a good horse to beat him. The form of the Cheltenham win is looking strong and the way he runs is just so exciting.
“I love For Pleasure’s personality. It’s like mine, people say – it’s 100mph and you’ve got to catch him if you can!
“He is in the Supreme but the Champion Hurdle is a very tactical race and I don’t think they will give him the respect he deserves.
“That’s why he’s 100-1, if he was with Paul Nicholls he’d be a fraction of that price. All my mates call him Champion, Champion the Wonderhorse.
“He may be the biggest outsider in the race, but that is why I am in it – to be the underdog and beat the big boys. It’s about a council kid who has done well and is living the dream.”
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