Local landlord takes a punt on England glory at Newton Abbot

A long-standing Newton Abbot sponsor has taken the plunge to name a race at Monday’s meeting the Well Done England Euro Champions 2024 Handicap Chase.

The brave call has come from Matt Bailey, landlord of the Par Inn, Cornwall, who is also sponsoring a race in the pub’s name on the card.

Bailey, a keen racing fan, wanted to conjure up some “good vibes” for Gareth Southgate’s men ahead of their semi-final with Netherlands and potential final, and is pinning his colours to the mast early in predicting Harry Kane will lift the trophy in Berlin on Sunday.

Bailey’s Nostradamus act has already garnered interest in the world of racing and the landlord is hoping the Three Lions can use his confidence as inspiration to bring home the Euro 2024 trophy.

He said: “We’ve also got the Par Inn race before this and then the England race. Normally all the races I sponsor will have Par Inn in them, but I thought let’s push the boat out and see how we go.

“I wanted people to know after Wednesday really, but we obviously had to put the race name in before then and it’s a case of fingers crossed now.

“It will be lovely if Gareth Southgate does his team talk on Wednesday, or even Sunday and says Matt from the Par Inn has sponsored a race in our name and we’ve got to go prove him right.

“I wouldn’t say it’s home and hosed but I’m keen for us to have some good vibes – we’ve not played well so far and hopefully this is something good to think about.”

He went on: “If it comes in then I’m a genius and if it doesn’t, it’s something we can all have a laugh about.

“We just wanted to have a bit of fun and it’s a bit of publicity for the pub, it shows we’re out there and it’s just fun.”

Racing mad Bailey is in his 15th year of sponsoring races at Newton Abbot, building up a fine association with his local racecourse.

He added: “I’ve been in the pub 15 years and we’ve sponsored at least one race a year in that time. This is the fourth race I have sponsored at Newton Abbot this year and I have a great relationship with the racecourse.

“There aren’t many pubs nowadays that follow racing like we do and they support us and we support them and we just have a good time basically.

“I would argue, as pubs in Cornwall go, we’re the most dedicated racing pub. We have racing on everyday, we have people in watching everyday and Cheltenham week is my biggest week in the pub every year.

“Perhaps if England win, Gareth and the lads can join me at Newton Abbot to present the trophy with their trophy!”