I was a failed jockey who served tea to AP McCoy – but life’s turned round with horse who could make me £5.4million
A FORMER racecourse tea boy is dreaming big after a horse he bought for £63,000 has been invited to compete in a £9million mega race.
Ryan Tongue, 29, who runs a small horse management outfit called Deva Racing in Worcester, bought Imperial Emperor in April last year.
Fourteen syndicate members chipped in an average of £3,500 per 5 per cent share for the longshot horse on Ryan’s say-so.
And to their amazement Imperial Emperor has won three out of four races, bagged more than £450,000 in winnings and has been invited to race at the prestigious Dubai World Cup.
The race on April 5 boasts £9.2m in total prize money and the winner of the Group 1 feature race gets a hefty £5.4m cheque.
On top of that, Imperial Emperor won the qualifying race bagging another 10 per cent on top of the main prize should he win again.
Excited Ryan told The Sun: “I’m pinching myself, I just can’t believe it, it’s amazing.
“I only bought him last April for £63,000, so we’re all in dreamland.
“And to receive an invitation to one of the world’s most sought-after races is simply incredible.
“I’m a working boy, I’ve grafted all my life, I didn’t go to college or university, I was a failed jockey, so for this to happen, it’s just brilliant.”
Ryan said all 14 owners of the thoroughbred horse will travel to Dubai for the big race and said he can’t wait.
“My mum and dad are coming as well, it should be an incredible experience,” he said.
“It’s a £9million race, it’s very exciting.”
Ryan said his passion for racing started as an eight-year-old watching it on the telly.
And he became obsessed with champion horse Best Mate, the three-time Gold Cup winner from the early 2000s, trained by renowned race horse trainer Henrietta Knight.
Ryan remembers sending a fax to Henrietta and she invited him to meet Best Mate, a memory he treasures.
“When I turned the telly on I was glued to the racing,” Ryan says, recounting how his love of the sport began.
“I first started off riding at a riding school in Worcester and they put me in touch with trainer Henrietta Knight.
“I’d go to West Lockinge Farm to help out.
“I was hooked and wanted to be a jockey, I’m quite small.
“I did well at school but all I cared about was racing and then a friend of mum’s found the perfect job for me, tea boy at Worcester Racecourse weighing room.”
Ryan served up hot brews to all the elite jockeys of the day such as Grand National hero AP McCoy.
“Jockeys were my heroes,” says Ryan. “There I was at the age of 15 making tea for perhaps the best jump jockey ever seen.
“AP McCoy liked seven sugars in half a cup of tea and I’d take him a tub of Galaxy chocolates. He also liked a bit of scampi and mayonnaise. He was like an iron man to me, looking after him was unbelievable, he was an inspiration.”
Ryan later focused on being a jockey and graduated from the British Racing School in Newmarket, during a three-year stint working for trainer Oliver Greenall.
But by age 19 his dream of being a professional jockey was short-lived, so he turned to horse management instead.
“I failed at being a jockey, I fell off more than I got round, but was lucky enough to get a job as a Racing Manager to keep my passion alive,” said Ryan.
His successes as a Racing Manager for some high profile owners included the purchase of I Am Maximus.
Ryan’s owners sold it on, before the horse won the 2024 Grand National and it’s currently among the favourites for the 2025 edition.
Then in 2019 he set up Deva Racing and he manages 24 horses.
“We have had some good horses, but Imperial Emperor has shocked us all,” he said.
“He’s won three and come second out of four races since we bought him in April last year.
“He was previously owned by Sheikh Mohammed, ruler of Dubai. We paid 300,000 UAE Dirhams (£63,000) and it was money well spent.”
With a commanding win in the Group 2 Al Maktoum Classic at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai, Imperial Emperor not only secured a £220,000 prize but also earned an invitation to the Dubai World Cup.
The event, held at Meydan, is one of the world’s richest and most renowned horse racing events in the world, boasting a total prize fund of £23.6million.
The Group 1 feature race boasts a £5.4million winner’s prize and elite race horses from across the globe, including the UAE, Japan, and the US will compete.
Imperial Emperor is trained by Bhupat Seemar in Dubai and on April 5 will be ridden by either Tadhg O’Shea or Richard Mullen, both experienced jockeys.
On his thoroughbred’s incredible run, Ryan said: “It just doesn’t happen you know, it’s a £62,000 horse which has already won three races and is improving all the time, and is about to race for the second biggest horse racing prize pot in the world.
“And for a small syndicate in Worcester, that’s not bad at all.”
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