Owning racehorses is like shovelling money down a hole, says Ronnie Wood
ROCKER Ronnie Wood admits he has been bitten by the bug to buy expensive racehorses.
But the Rolling Stone, worth an estimated £ 95million, does not advise it as a pastime.
Ronnie, 73, said: “It costs a lot of money to keep them in training and a lot of patience. They’re very fragile.
“If I had to recommend dos and don’ts, it would be, ‘ Don’t start buying racehorses, it’s very infectious, you can’t stop, and it eats up the money’. Talk about shovelling money down a hole.”
Sadly, Ronnie lost his champion racehorse Sandymount Duke, who died in December, aged 10, from a heart attack after winning 15 races.
Winners
He started keeping horses when he bought a canalside house in Ireland 30 years ago, and is now having a foal – Sandymount Baby – trained. Ronnie, whose wealth is only a third of fellow Stones Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, said: “It’s great to have winners – the sport of kings.”
A less- expensive hobby for him is, surprisingly, knitting “endless” scarves, something he became fond of doing as a child. “My mum was great at crochet and knitting,” he told the Tea with Twiggy podcast. “I used to hold the ball of wool for her, and she taught me plain stitch. It’s really relaxing.” Painting has always been a talent of Ronnie’s and he recently showcased his work, with horses being his favourite subject. He spent lockdown with wife Sally, 42, and their four- year- old twins Alice and Gracie, adding: “I’m making the most of seeing them change every day.”