Koepka and McDowell lining up Kempton trip

Adam Morgan
February 9, 2024 5:39 am

High-profile golfing owners hoping to watch Givemefive in Adonis.

Major champions Brooks Koepka and Graeme McDowell are poised to swap their golf clubs for the racecourse later this month to watch their Cheltenham prospect Givemefive run in Kempton’s Coral Adonis Juvenile Hurdle.

Trained by Harry Derham, the four-year-old has made a flying start to his juvenile hurdling career, impressing at Warwick when an 18-length winner last time.

Givemefive carries the colours of Smash Racing, a syndicate that includes Northern Ireland’s 2010 US Open hero McDowell and his American colleague Koepka, who claimed back-to-back victories in the same event in 2017 and 2018 and has also won three PGA Championships.

They became owners in Derham’s yard after McDowell challenged the young handler to a nearest the pin shoot-out during a Pro-Am golf tournament, promising to put together a syndicate to own a horse if Derham came out on top.

Givemefive in action at Warwick (David Davies/PA)

Koepka’s good friend Daniel Gambill is also involved with the gelded son of Holy Roman Emperor and a break in the golfing calendar means both Koepka and McDowell are hoping to pay a visit to the Sunbury venue on February 24 before carrying on to their next assignments.

Derham said: “They are going to come because they are flying from Florida to the Middle East and are going to stop over, hopefully watch ‘Five’ run really well and then carry on to the Middle East.

“I don’t think Brooks has ever been racing, but he’s a first-time owner who has had a horse who has won two races so is obviously enjoying it.

“He’s really enthusiastic about it and he and one of his best mates, Daniel, own the horse with Graeme. They are obviously loving it because they have a really exciting horse and it will be good to give them a nice day out at Kempton – and hopefully ‘Five’ will read the script.”

Trainer Harry Derham won a golfing bet with Greame McDowell — Trainer Harry Derham won a golfing bet with Graeme McDowell (Joe Giddens/PA)

Givemefive’s run in the Adonis could tee-up a shot at the Cheltenham Festival for the big-name owners and after winning his first two outings with ease, the Grade Two event will determine if they have a genuine Triumph Hurdle contender on their hands, or if they should aim at the Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle.

“Givemefive is going to run in the Adonis and depending on how he gets on there, he could run at Cheltenham,” continued Derham.

“The Adonis will tell us more (about him). He was really impressive last time out, but that form didn’t work out yesterday (when Orchestra was beaten at Ludlow).

“I don’t think he has done enough to run in the Triumph straight away and officially on ratings he has a stone to find with the favourite, which sounds quite a lot, and the Adonis will tell us.

“I’m not using the Adonis as a stepping stone though, and for a trainer who has only been training a year, it is an enormous deal to have a runner in that race and we will go there all guns blazing.”