With the Racing Post so not much about football but seeing as it's rare for him to give interviews I thought I'd post it, link is below but the full interview may only be available to members. Won't post the full article for copyright reasons but picked out a few bits of it that are below:
https://www.racingpost.com/news/mem...i-would-love-to-win-the-national-again/482013
"I took the dogs out at 6.15am, then had my Weetabix and walked the mile to work," he says. "I was in the office at 8am, as normal. I'll take less than an hour for lunch and then I'll be in here until teatime.
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"My days off are for Cheltenham and Aintree. Those have always been my holidays. I do go to Ireland a lot, but when I'm there I'm dealing with horses or animals or people. I went to Spain for a week 15 years ago. That was my last holiday. Really, you see, I have a holiday every day because I'm doing things I like doing. I'm very lucky. I live every day and I love every day."
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"We have 350 pubs throughout the UK, a dozen hotels and ten million square feet of industrial property and offices," he says. "On top of that I've got some other investments, four farms, a football club with no debts, a holiday centre in Cork and some more interests in Ireland. It's a fair size of empire – and if a screw drops off a door, I want to know about it.
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"I'll back both mine on the day. It's just pleasure betting, though. It won't make anybody rich, but I do always give all of the winnings to charity."
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For the sake of humans, Hemmings last year decided to give up some horses. The 2007 banking crisis hit his world hard. The coronavirus threatened to do the same. Jobs were at risk. Hemmings concluded he had to take strong, but painful action.
"It got to a point when we were thinking people might possibly end up unemployed," he admits. "I had to make a decision about whether I should keep horses and feed them, or continue to pay people's wages for a bit longer. I chose to pay those wages, providing I could find good homes for my horses. I said to Kathryn we had to sell the horses and the money had to look after the businesses. Racing is my hobby. It had to take second place.
"I managed to pay those people and we managed to get through the crisis. Things have improved for us, but only because we ensured they did improve. Even after the sale we have 30 horses in training and 24 youngsters in Ireland, so we've still got plenty in the team.
"I feel so sorry for all those people who have lost loved ones. I feel sorry for all those people who have suffered hardship as a result of the pandemic. I know I'm very fortunate."
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One for those on here that are into the stock market/investing:
"Batteries will be a big thing in the future," he says. "In time, if you have the right technology you'll be able to plug a battery into your house and it will run the electric for 12 months. That's not bad thinking for a brickie, is it?"
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"I've only just bought two foals in Ireland," he says, laughing again. "You're a long time dead. You can't anticipate death. Death happens. You have to live your life every day. Don't plan to die or you will die. Plan to live. And get the vaccine!"
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Paying the right price
Most of my horses cost between £60,000 to £80,000. I never pay sums like £300,000 or £400,000, although many do. The maximum I've paid for a horse is £190,000 – and that nearly made me choke.
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Avoiding racing politics
Politics is for those people who are unemployable in industry.
---------------
https://www.racingpost.com/news/mem...i-would-love-to-win-the-national-again/482013
"I took the dogs out at 6.15am, then had my Weetabix and walked the mile to work," he says. "I was in the office at 8am, as normal. I'll take less than an hour for lunch and then I'll be in here until teatime.
------------------
"My days off are for Cheltenham and Aintree. Those have always been my holidays. I do go to Ireland a lot, but when I'm there I'm dealing with horses or animals or people. I went to Spain for a week 15 years ago. That was my last holiday. Really, you see, I have a holiday every day because I'm doing things I like doing. I'm very lucky. I live every day and I love every day."
------------------
"We have 350 pubs throughout the UK, a dozen hotels and ten million square feet of industrial property and offices," he says. "On top of that I've got some other investments, four farms, a football club with no debts, a holiday centre in Cork and some more interests in Ireland. It's a fair size of empire – and if a screw drops off a door, I want to know about it.
------------------
"I'll back both mine on the day. It's just pleasure betting, though. It won't make anybody rich, but I do always give all of the winnings to charity."
------------------
For the sake of humans, Hemmings last year decided to give up some horses. The 2007 banking crisis hit his world hard. The coronavirus threatened to do the same. Jobs were at risk. Hemmings concluded he had to take strong, but painful action.
"It got to a point when we were thinking people might possibly end up unemployed," he admits. "I had to make a decision about whether I should keep horses and feed them, or continue to pay people's wages for a bit longer. I chose to pay those wages, providing I could find good homes for my horses. I said to Kathryn we had to sell the horses and the money had to look after the businesses. Racing is my hobby. It had to take second place.
"I managed to pay those people and we managed to get through the crisis. Things have improved for us, but only because we ensured they did improve. Even after the sale we have 30 horses in training and 24 youngsters in Ireland, so we've still got plenty in the team.
"I feel so sorry for all those people who have lost loved ones. I feel sorry for all those people who have suffered hardship as a result of the pandemic. I know I'm very fortunate."
----------------
One for those on here that are into the stock market/investing:
"Batteries will be a big thing in the future," he says. "In time, if you have the right technology you'll be able to plug a battery into your house and it will run the electric for 12 months. That's not bad thinking for a brickie, is it?"
---------------
"I've only just bought two foals in Ireland," he says, laughing again. "You're a long time dead. You can't anticipate death. Death happens. You have to live your life every day. Don't plan to die or you will die. Plan to live. And get the vaccine!"
---------------
Paying the right price
Most of my horses cost between £60,000 to £80,000. I never pay sums like £300,000 or £400,000, although many do. The maximum I've paid for a horse is £190,000 – and that nearly made me choke.
---------------
Avoiding racing politics
Politics is for those people who are unemployable in industry.
---------------
