Original subtitles

This is Owen,

taking it in his stride.

Without sounding like a big head,

I was always exceptionally talented at football.

And it's still Michael Owen.

I was breaking every record at every level.

He's scored a wonderful goal.

Is there nothing beyond this 18-year-old?

But my family…

are not arsed.

This better be a bloody good kick.

Oh, [bleep].

- After all of that-- - I could have done a better job than that.

Oh, it looks like a horror film.

Family underpins everything.

My wife, Louise.

We were childhood sweethearts.

We went to the same Primary school together.

He was just naughty.

A little shit, basically.

We had Gemma just before we got married.

She's a name in her own right and a female version of me.

True.

And if she's not in a good mood, you know about it.

The communication needs to be better than… I hate him sometimes.

Emily is the academic one.

Being a sports psychologist, you need to have qualifications.

That's six years.

Little Jessica.

She dreams of being a showjumper one day.

Mum.

- Sorry. - Stop messing up my hair.

And James is my only son.

Love him dearly.

There he is.

- James piss off into the kitchen will you. - Hmm.

Football was my life,

but now it is Manor House Stables.

Go on, boy. Look at that for a horse.

He's now gone into horse racing.

Get in there!

You're a good lad.

It's a way of life. It's not a job.

That business has to stand on its own two feet.

273 grand spent.

How to turn a happy day into a… Look at the eyes.

♪ I need you to tell me ♪

♪ Baby, oh-hoo, Where the hell is my husband? ♪

We appreciate what he did.

Give me my whip, give me my whip.

At the same time, he's just Dad.

When we're all getting on, we're all having a go at each other.

That's quite good.

- Quite good. That's Incredible. - Quite good. I'll take that.

Oh yeah, she's a miserable cow don't worry about her.

Oh, I'm so rough.

What have I missed?

Dad got in at half two, bouncing off the walls.

Yeah, I don't know if he's still drunk.

You're a husband with four kids, Dad.

Don't start annoying me 'cause I do not have the patience for you.

Go annoy your dad.

He just snotted on my face,

oh, and then just burped.

All I remember is leaving there.

There was a chippy on the left.

I was starving, I literally had one chip.

I was like,

oh my God, I feel sick, I can't eat any more

I don't know where I put the chips.

You left them at the top of the stairs.

Did I?

What do you think is the real Michael?

'Cause you've obviously got a reputation as a--

Boring prick.

Is that what you were gonna say?

These,

from Marksies,

they are world class.

- Yeah? - And then…

creamy coconut bars. World class.

Even my kids say, Dad, everyone sees you as dead boring.

This is a telephone that I use to ring my parents every evening.

Tell me about that helicopter ride in Dubai?

Oh, God.

Welcome on board.

I'm Michael, and I'm the pilot for your tour.

Type in, Michael Owen on to a Google search.

There's a few things that come out like this helicopter trip.

This is no ordinary chopper.

It's got special powers.

And once we're airborne, you'll see just what I mean.

It was like, oh, vile.

I'm throwing on the afterburners. So, hold on.

I come back from the World Cup at 18,

and I was thrust into like, being in front of a camera.

I had no practice, I'm a footballer.

My agent signed me on a soccer skills video.

That's gone viral as well.

They put a kid in goal, and I score a few goals past him

and they're like,

stop being so wooden, you've got to like try to celebrate.

So I did.

Get in there.

Well done. He's 13.

Oh, well done beating a kid that's 13 years. I was like, oh.

Bear in mind,

I was only a baby myself.

Brands were throwing me in front of a camera

and say this, do that or whatever.

I always celebrate my wins with Spey whisky.

My dad is certainly not boring.

Keep the secret.

But he is quite embarrassing sometimes.

I'm going to have some toast with Dairylea on it.

That sounds minging.

How many of these do you have on

- a slice, like, a toast? - One.

- One. - One per…

like, you need more than one of these things per slice.

No, you don't.

This is like the hardest thing ever to eat. I can't even swallow it.

There you go.

He kind of can play the role of an embarrassing dad.

But there's a lot of things that not everyone sees.

Dad's had his career in football.

Now he's got a new passion in Manor House.

Looks like a llama.

At the age of 18, bought my first couple of horses.

Look at him!

How good's that.

- Sorry. He's a proud man. - He's a proud man.

I'd be the same if mine was like that.

And that was it.

Hooked!

Box To Box gets up to hit the back of the net again at Chester.

Roman Dragon flexes his core and wins.

We bought an old arable farm

and we've turned it into one of the most spectacular racing stables

in the country.

I wake up in the morning and if I'm going to the stables,

I bounce out of bed.

My aim is to have Manor House Stables

as the number one yard in the country.

The only way I can do that is to find owners, find investors,

find people that want to come on that journey.

All right.

All right, son. Pretty impressive, innit?

- Okay. All good? - All good. Yeah.

- So how long have you had this? - 23 years.

Ten members of staff live in there.

We got above us is the owners' room.

All our admin side of things down here.

How can you afford the Lamborghini?

What after spending it all on this?

- Oh, my God. - Tell me about it.

- The upkeep must be off the scale. - I know.

Are you winning?

Yeah. We had 75 winners last year.

We're Premier League.

We'd be like Brighton.

Like we've come from nowhere and obviously with the young--

Clever with your money and all that?

But we're not like seventh in the league we're sort of like bottom half but rising.

Okay. So the business works like this.

Every autumn I invest millions buying new horses.

I then need to sell these horses onto new or existing owners.

I do that at cost.

And make my margin through a monthly training fee, so training,

housing, feeding these horses.

So that means I'm under constant pressure to find new clients

and to keep existing owners happy.

The easiest way of doing that is by winning races,

and we've got one coming up in a week's time.

Our last big race of the season,

Chester Autumn Festival.

Sir Alex's horse.

Always bullying the referees?

Shouting at the jockeys.

Er, he won three last year.

Come on, girl.

She's beautiful.

Hey.

She's a nice filly as well.

So I mean, in footballing terms, I'd be like the chairman.

Who's your Jamie Carragher?

What? Like shouts at everyone, barks at everyone, bites everyone.

Probably Box To Box is a little bit like you.

He's owned by Scholsey, Macca, Ian Wright,

Owen Hargreaves.

So all the lads on the telly with us.

So he'd probably be a bit like you.

Screaming for the food.

Don't even think of pushing me in.

You've got that in your locker.

- How many horses have you got? - About 140 plus.

- Like, live here? - Yeah.

Isn't that a permanent stress?

Constant yeah. But I love that.

You don't like that, do you?

If it's about football, not [bleep] horses.

[bleep]

I've stuck 12, 13 million quid into this place.

The vast majority of my wealth.

And I've never taken a penny out for my effort, for anything.

Must be good, you're out in the fresh air everyday aren't you.

We love it.

No, it's impressive lad.

You're gonna get your cheque book out, then?

[bleep] hell.

I dreamt of being a footballer all my life,

and then when I was 20 odd, dreamt of being in the racing game

for the rest of my life.

I look at Manor House and I think it's amazing for our family.

I always saw it as my venture,

but in recent years the family have got more and more keen.

My dad is really passionate about Manor House.

I mean, all of us family are really passionate about horses.

Good girl.

Is it gonna be up to your standards?

Jessica works all the hours

God sends when she's not in school up at those stables.

Emily. She's about to leave for university.

He's a group two winner, isn't he?

Yeah. He's run in group ones, though.

James has taken a huge interest in Manor House.

And Gemma, who knows where her career is gonna turn.

Are you gonna be good or naughty?

But it will be something to do with horses.

He's like, "Let me smell."

I've had horses for as long as I can remember.

And at home we have.

I'll try and remember all of them.

Ronnie. Lucy.

Jigsaw. Lenny.

Flash. Daphne.

Splash. Bomber. Effingham.

A few foals

and then Bert.

Look at that.

Look at it.

[bleep] sake.

Dad pretends he doesn't like Bert,

but I don't think anyone can meet Bert and not love him.

Who's paying for Bert Michael?

Me.

Well, I'm a patron for world horse welfare.

I fell in love with Bert.

And then they said,

would you like to rehome Bert?

And I said, yeah.

You've just given him to me.

Yeah.

The only ongoing cost is really getting his feet done.

Dentist, feet,

- Yeah. - bedding, bit of feed.

- Flu jabs. - Land,

jabs, any veterinary costs,

- he will get old. - Just stop being miserable.

- I'm not being miserable. - We've done a good deed.

We have done a good deed. Oh!

See if you can take him to there and back and I bet you he doesn't do it.

He won't do it 'cause he's stubborn.

Ah, look.

Told ya.

How could you not love him?

My favourite horse.

It was sarcastic.

I definitely know how to push Dad's buttons.

And we do butt heads a bit.

Make sure you lock it.

But I think with mum, it's the opposite.

So we're on our way down to Cheltenham.

We do mother-daughter days pretty much every day.

- Everyday is a mother-daughter day. - Yeah. Every day is mother-daughter day.

Look at him.

Oh, no he's gonna have a wee.

- Don't have a wee. - He's gonna.

Get a video of him having a wee. Zoom in.

He didn't even shake.

It's not the suit to not shake either.

- Thank you very much. - Perfect.

I know your dad loves his racing. Has he given you any tips for today?

I've not asked him to be honest. He gave me a few tips for Wednesday.

- Did they come in? - Er, no.

Who's more famous out of you and Gemma then?

Thanks.

Yeah there have been a handful of occasions whereby people have said,

that's Gemma Owen's dad over there. And I've been like… ooh!

I was on a well-known television programme.

Such a big show with such a big audience.

It was a brilliant platform.

But now I wanna do something else.

Who are you working with at the moment?

- A lot of horse, like, equestrian brands. - Yeah.

I'd love to do more in the racing space.

But my background is dressage.

I've competed internationally for Great Britain in the Under 16's

and Under 18's.

You should see the video of their dad,

going round, pretending to do a dressage test.

Oh, it was so funny. Honestly.

People reacting to that,

- they loved it - It was hilarious.

It was so funny. He was pretending to be a horse,

but he was just like, running round basically the garden.

Now do a canter pirouette.

No wrong leg, he's doing a counter canter pirouette.

She's now a name in her own right,

with millions and millions of followers on social media.

- That comes with the attention. - Gemma. Gemma.

- Can we get a photo please? - Yeah.

Can I get a photo?

The good thing is that Gemma's nails.

Don't worry about her.

- Congratulations to your parents. - Oi, oi Gemma.

- Oi, do you want my Snapchat? - No. [bleep]

Do you want my Snapchat?

I deleted Snapchat about seven years ago.

There's a lot of amazing opportunities, and I'm trying to juggle everything.

Basically, I want to do it all,

if I can.

I think Gemma is at a bit of a career crossroads.

She's got lots of options,

but probably just figuring out what she wants to do next.

You've seen the biscuits, Gem?

Yeah. There's loads of selection, which I'm really happy about and…

Appletiser from last time I was here.

What you getting your knickers in a twist for next week?

Next week I am doing a bit of like,

co-presenting for Channel 4, Horse of the Year show.

It'll be nice to like, do a new, like, learn a new skill, I guess.

Yeah. Imagine the day all your family and friends watching on television,

- and that'd be a right buzz. - Aw.

What do you mean, "Aw"?

- That's the best bit about it. - Yeah.

I mean, when I first went into television,

I was thrown straight behind the camera

so no one could see me. And they just heard my voice doing co-commentary

and I loved it. But I used to get so much stick.

Not about what I said. But just like

how I said it, with no ups and downs and no coaching and just

- flatlining. - To be fair, I'm pretty monotone as well.

- Yeah? - I always, always it's like,

oh, speak, you know, like this with your voice.

I did that.

So if West Ham score against Burnley.

All due respect, I'm not that arsed,

do you know what I mean? And it was like,

it was my job to go, "Oh, my God

West ham have just scored,"

and I was having to hit high pitches, I'm like, "I don't really care".

I reckon it'd be really good for you but you'll be fine.

I've got a horrible feeling I've left the room key.

Your memory is gone. - It's called brain fog.

It's called menopause.

Presenting is something that I'm curious about.

I've not done much of it. I've done bits on

social media but not sort of true presenting.

I have found something that I wasn't expecting to see,

American miniature horses.

Absolutely gorgeous.

He's got a lot of personality, hasn't he?

- That was good. - How was I?

- No it was good, dead natural, no it was. - No, no, no.

- Do you think? - Really natural.

So we've got Wayne and Carol.

So Wayne and Carol.

Yes, Wayne and Carol.

So I am here with Carol and Wayne. How did you find that?

My name is Fiona.

Is it Fiona?

- No, er… - What?

This is why we don't do it live.

No, I apologise.

Hey, it's fine, you're doing a great job.

- Thank you. - We're just so thrilled you're here.

- What happened? - Got her bloody name wrong.

Oh, no.

Gemma's doing her own thing

and is busy with work commitments.

Tell me a little bit about the class that you were just in?

It's for very old menopausal women.

- And you won? - I did.

- Congratulations. - Thank you very much.

So I don't necessarily spend as much time with her.

I still spend a lot of time with her.

But I can honestly say she's my best friend.

That's a wrap

- as they say in the business! - Is it?

- Is it okay for me to take your number? - Yes.

- Do you want me to give it to you now? - Yeah.

Does Welsh people have the same number as us?

- Do I have to put plus four-four? - Oh, my God, Gemma,

- I can't believe you just said that. - I love her a little bit more now.

I think that plus four-four is gonna be the best shout of my life today.

Gemma!

What the hell?

What? I mean, she's Welsh.

Louise being there helps Gemma and gives her that comfort as well,

because it's quite a…

a scary prospect in many ways.

Trying to, like, get somewhere in a new career and trying to do well.

That's a very vulnerable stage of life.

Have a wee-wees.

Good girl. Come on, old girl.

Come on.

Definitely, there was a wobble with me when I retired.

Dad's taking you. Nana's picking you up.

Car keys.

Thanks.

Right. See you later, guys.

All of a sudden, you're now living under your wife's feet

and you're settling into a new life.

So go and get ready, showered and shaved and whatever.

You're gonna need to look half smart.

Jess?

- Yeah. - Are you ready?

Retiring from football,

you no longer feel so valued.

Loved.

Jesus. We're early. 15 minutes early.

- Well, no. Ten. - No we're not.

- We leave at this time every day. - We always leave at this time.

Those feelings of adulation constantly is like a drug.

And you wanna make people happy.

When you're winning trophies all the time

and actually scaring the shit out of defenders.

That's what gave me my buzz.

Beckham to Michael Owen, away goes Owen.

And Owen scores.

When Owen scores Real Madrid win.

So I absolutely loved

being seven years old to being 25 and then the rest of it was a struggle.

It's a sad end to the season for Michael Owen.

A season that has mustered only three and a bit games.

Injuries made me 50% of the player that I was.

I was almost embarrassed walking out with my name on the back.

So I was desperate to retire.

And that's pretty sad.

When you just don't enjoy your job.

I've come to realise that I need a purpose in life.

Have we all got drinks?

Rum with lemonade and just ice please. None of the fruit stuff.

Don't eat fruit.

You all right?

The film crew seem nice.

No, I think they're knobs.

Here we are.

He'll get my humour soon.

Having the racing, the yard, probably did keep me sane.

- Balon d'Or is where? On the right? - On the right.

Funny thing with Balon d'Or,

I thought I'd save the name, wait for a good horse,

only until someone pointed out I've only spelt it wrong.

I put one L in the Balon.

I think it's lovely that he's got something

that he feels so passionately about.

Blink and you miss it, he's so quick.

But he's not earning footballers' wages any more.

It has to work as a business.

I mean, the biggest challenge is the financial side.

It's a bloody hard industry.

All the small guys going out of business.

And I can't keep haemorrhaging money.

I've got responsibilities now in life. You know, I've got children.

I've got a vested interest in Manor House having winners.

I want us to be successful.

To achieve the aim of being the best in the business,

I need to employ the best in the business,

and that's what I believe

we've got…

I'm Hugo Palmer, I'm the head trainer at Manor House Stables.

The day-to-day running of it all dances to my tune.

They are fabulous animals

and winning a good race for nice people is a, is a real buzz.

See that filly in the middle, see her ears back,

you can't teach that, you can't train that.

Hugo has shown it at the very, very top level.

Nice winner here for Hugo Palmer.

And it's a double for Hugo Palmer.

Hugo Palmer, the winning trainer.

We want to get bigger and better.

- Well done today. - Thank you very much.

We only do that by having more good horses that win more good races.

So, Chester's important for us.

Box To Box here who's another Chester specialist.

He's won five times at Chester.

Any day at Chester races is

important for Manor House. It's our local track.

We invite all our owners.

They all know what's expected.

We need winners.

So, the pressure's on.

How do you think Dad's feeling today?

It's hard to know with him, isn't it?

I mean, Chester is a big deal.

There's gonna be some degree of pressure for us

- to get results today, but… - Yeah.

- he would never let that show. - No.

But I don't know whether that's because he genuinely doesn't feel it or--

Or he's just good at masking it.

Or he just realises that both you and him can't be

- outwardly stressed. - Probably.

You've probably hit the nail on the head there.

Ladies and gentlemen,

welcome to another beautiful day at Chester Races.

- Hey, mate. - Hey, mate.

How are you?

Watch the poo.

Stand in horse shit.

Right now we're in the final stretch of the racing season,

and Chester is a massive deal.

We've got 11 runners today with Box To Box,

what we would consider our best bet of success.

Having winners is the ultimate advert for Manor House Stables.

And attracting new owners means more money coming into the business

during the off season, and that means keeping the lights on.

So, we're full throttle. It's win, win, win.

And they're off.

We're going.

Geez, no one's beating that one.

Come on. Hang on for second.

- Is that third? - Yeah.

No one was beating that first one were they?

Don't know, you know, he's not stopping.

Ah, here comes the favourite.

There's a huge amount of people…

putting a huge amount of effort and time

into getting these horses to be at their peak.

Is that third again?

Third, yeah.

Third again.

I want my horses to win.

I think we're banking on Box To Box now aren't we?

Yeah.

I'm er, gonna go and see some of these owners upstairs now.

Okay.

Still smiling.

Seconds. Thirds. Seconds. Thirds.

No, it's good.

I mean, you're doing well.

Try saying that to Hugo.

Bear with a sore head.

Yeah.

Well, next one Box To Box,

we're pinning all our hopes.

When it comes to Manor House, he will feel stressed.

He never would offload that to us, though.

Save me a banoffee pie.

Oh, there's one left. There was two a minute ago. Where's that other one gone?

- James. - James.

James that little prick.

I don't like that chocolate stuff though.

He does mask that really well.

Racing has replaced football in many ways.

Right, let's go and see our horse.

I love almost putting myself under that extreme pressure again in this business.

We think this is our best chance of the day.

Yeah.

But you know what?

You're backing the right person, mate, because don't worry, I'll score.

Just be aware of horses coming round.

What do we think, mate? What do we think?

- Very hopeful. - Very hopeful today.

- Very hopeful. - Yeah.

- He knows his way round here, don't he? - Yeah.

You're in front. Don't dive in and try and pick a fresh bit.

- I didn't know you were coming. - Snuck in.

You feel sick, don't you?

I feel sick.

Box To Box continues to be the favourite at 11 to four.

The pressure, eh?

I know.

- The pressure. - There's always pressure, innit.

They're set…

and that's it. They're away.

Box To Box broke out very well at the start.

We're on the inside leading.

Er, ones got past us though.

We're into third.

Oh, shit, we're shuffled back to fourth.

All right, he's moving into third.

Box To Box now in the clear,

now beginning to storm down the middle of the course.

Go on, Boxy.

Box To Box has hit the front below the distance.

- Go on, boy. - Chasing third, Crack Shot.

Spioradalta is fighting back, Box To Box, it's Spioradalta.

Ah, he's been beat.

Second. Second.

Outfought.

I thought he had it. I thought he had it.

I thought he had a chance.

You're more diplomatic than Hugo anyway. He's fuming.

It's raw emotion at the end for a trainer

when you're that close to a winner though, isn't it.

- Agonising. - I've never been so angry.

That was our race, we should've won it. [bleep]

Never mind.

- We go again. - We go again.

Was Hugo right to be fuming?

Probably.

I don't know the racing industry well enough.

Michael probably doesn't tell me everything.

Well I… Well, there's no probably.

He definitely doesn't tell me everything.

And so I have to trust…

that he's in control.

11 runners and no winners is really annoying.

We're good at coming second today.

A bad day at Chester.

It's the worst feeling.

Now there's different type of pressure.

We need to buy some fast horses for the start of next season.

In racing, if you're very, very successful,

you probably win about 15% of the time. If you have a really good season.

So eight or nine times out of ten.

It's disappointment.

You going back up?

But when the horse wins,

that hope,

that's what keeps you going. And that's what you do it for.

When I entered racing 23 years ago, they all would have laughed.

Oh, a footballer that's got a few quid and whatever.

Now I'm part of it.

Thanks for the season. You've been mega.

- I really like this box. - Thank you.

- The service is average. - Aw, don't.

He's our favourite this one.

He knows I'm a bastard.

It might go like that, but it'll still go on.

It might go like that again. But it's…

and eventually, we are on the right path.

We're on the up.

We're on the up.

It's a very sweet snack options.

I feel like we need a salty version.

Ah, buzzing.

Buzzing. This is always left to last because no one likes it

and that's why I get it on my own.

Right in the lounge.

I don't really bring work home.

You always got hopes and dreams for yourself,

for your business, for your family.

Erm, but I think…

you just want what's best for your kids, don't you?

Here we go.

Gemma's on.

Don't be mean.

Choco, come and sit next to me.

So I bumped into this gentleman who--

Right can I just say, how small do I look?

- Yeah. - Oh, my God. Yeah.

Dressage is a true test of partnership, precision and performance.

That's good.

Yeah you were just so much more relaxed and talking about that.

You spoke there with a bit of insight.

Ugh…

Stop.

Incredible Kaiser--

James, shut up.

You come home and and you see your kids

and you see your dogs.

Sit and rub your knob on me, thanks.

How can you be sad?

Two old men, letting it all hang out.

I'm either really happy or just happy.

Do you know what I mean?

James, can I throw some pops in your mouth?

- No, let's not throw. - You can try.

That was the shittest throw.

- I think I've ever seen. - Wait. Do it again, do it again.

- Oh! - Right gone down there. You got to get it.

Wee.

James!

Right.

Let's go and buy some horses.

We've been assembling our new stock for next season.

Boom.

I don't wanna be spotted doing this.

I've been asked to do a charity race.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

I am out with my depth slightly.

Your first day, and you're running a gallop.

You're like, months and months off.

Honestly, I hate him sometimes.