We bought a racehorse after a night out – here’s how it won the Ascot of the North against all odds

Anth Freeman had been thinking about popping the question for some time. In the years before this particular night in 2020, he’d been dropping hints, letting the idea settle in a bit. His mates hadn’t been keen on his “pestering”, as he puts it – but at the opportune moment “when we were about six or seven pints in” down at their local pub in Darlington, Anth asked again. “This time it started to get a bit more traction,” he explains.

The next day, they decided to buy a racehorse.

Who has one too many and decides to buy a horse? The stars of ITV’s new hit documentary, It’s Showtime, a show about an unlikely group of eight lads and an unlikelier stallion chancing their way on the racetrack – and winning.

The following day Freeman set up a WhatsApp group and cold-called Grant Tuer, a racehorse trainer based in Northallerton, North Yorkshire. “He said, ‘Well I’ve got this horse, he’s only £8,000. Do you fancy it?’ And we said, yeah, we do.”

Apart from meeting in their local, the Darlington Railway Athletic Club, and talking about it, or attending York races most years in the decades since they turned 18, the group of friends had no knowledge of what owning a horse would entail, and no idea what would come next.

Almost two years later, in May 2022, their £8,000 horse, Showtime (named after their shared love of NFL along with their syndicate name, the Muffed Punts) sailed through the finish line in first place at their beloved York racecourse – known as the Ascot of the North – to a startled crowd.

In the stands, Anth, Ste Wake, Kev Wake, Baz Bozeate, Jeff Wake, Stephen “Dog” Russell, Nick Lyons and Mike Parker stood arm in arm, before erupting with the announcements that they’d won. “We were a set of lads from Darlo, working class,” Jeff says. “And we won at York.” 

The win, the victory for a bunch of true underdogs with nothing but a dream and a horse bought on a hangover – it was all unprecedented. “Showtime was by far the cheapest horse in the race, and there were 20 horses in it,” Tuer, who trains around 70 horses, explains. But, even this – smashing through several odds in a horse race – isn’t the most compelling thing about their story.

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“It has become so much more than just about a horse, or winning a race,” Anth, a civil servant, explains. While the syndicate has been the realisation of a long-held dream (and a great excuse to get to the bar early), it’s also been a haven of male bonding, support and deepening friendship.

“We’ve all had a lot going on… the way I think of it is that when you hear someone else’s issues, you feel better about having your own. It makes it easier to talk about it all.”

When Showtime was storming the gates at York in 2022, Anth was quietly facing his own challenges at home. That year his 14-year-old son, Charlie, who suffers from severe, non-verbal autism, began experiencing puberty.

Every few weeks, during the confusing rush of testosterone and new hormones, he would develop painful ulcers in his mouth. Being unable to communicate his pain and discomfort to his family meant his behaviour towards himself and Anth became violent; he started self-harming.

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Anth’s younger son, Jack, 12, had to move out of the family home to stay with his grandparents regularly. The impact on all of them was substantial.

“It was the toughest year of our lives,” says Anth. He was left feeling alone and bereft, unsure where to turn for help. “I just felt helpless.” On screen he says that one of the most difficult moments was questioning why “As a man, I can’t do much here – I can’t help anyone here. I’m, like, useless.”

Racing, and confiding in the group, was “a release” for him. “The lads were aware at the time because I couldn’t go anywhere or meet up with them outside of the races. When I did get to a race day I’d chat through it all with them.

“But don’t get me wrong, even though I’ve been through a hard time, I’d go to the races and Steve would talk about his dad who’s got Alzheimer’s and everything he’s been through. And you kind of think, bloody hell, that’s even worse than I’m going through, you know? Before I’d got to the point where I didn’t want to put my shit on other people. Up north, men don’t really talk, you keep it all in. But it’s something I’ve got better at – in 2022 I was talking about it straightaway really, it was that bad. Hearing others, it gives you a bit of comfort.”

It had only been a matter of months since Mike, an accountant, lost his mother and wife to cancer within the space of five weeks during the first lockdown when he joined the hardy group.

Not wanting to “burden” others with his feelings, he tried to deal with the loss of “the two most important women” in his life alone. The text from Nick inviting him to invest in Showtime provided a slither of hope and purpose as he grieved. And plenty of food which, during the course of the documentary, we learn is something else he holds dear to his heart. 

Taxi driver Jeff is also grieving the loss of his brother, Michael, who he describes as his soulmate. Steve, or Dog, a spray painter, has rebuilt his life after spending time in prison for possession and intent to supply.

Outside of their difficulties, each of them are typical blokes – they like the races, they like their scran and they like beers more. But seeing their complex lives and close bond on-screen – seeing working-class northern men talk and cry without apologising – is almost astonishing to watch, all the more so because that really shouldn’t be the case.

Showtime hasn’t had too many wins since his runaway York victory, but he’s set to run another 10-12 times over the summer and will be housed near the group so that they can still visit him after his retirement.

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Still, over the course of their new career so far, they’ve already won more than £35,000, money they’ve used to invest in a second horse to carry on their triumphant story.

“I just hope that if people are going through difficult things they could watch the documentary and get something from it. To feel better about their struggles, or see others going through similar things; losing people,” Anth, who pitched the story to a mutual friend back when the group first got together, says. “Really I wanted to raise awareness.”

Alongside that, they’ll be back to more important work when the main horse racing season begins again in May. “Usually we’ll be letting the excitement build up the week before a race,” he says, “then meet for breakfast – and then get on the drink. And after the race, we’ll stay for a drink,” he laughs. The hangovers are “getting worse”, but still, “it’s all worth it. All of it,” he says.

‘It’s Showtime!’ is available to stream now on ITVX