‘Never been so up for it’ – Michael Owen plots £850,000 payday for five Liverpool stars thanks to wonderhorse

MICHAEL OWEN is dreaming of landing five Liverpool stars an £850,000 payday with their superstar horse.

Owen has his sights set on a run in the Epsom Derby for three-year-old Mr McCann.

The Hugo Palmer-trained runner is owned by Jordan Henderson, Trent Alexander-Arnold, James Milner, Andy Robertson and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, as well as former Red Adam Lallana.

Victory at 22-1 at Haydock last July gave Owen the ‘most embarrassing moment’ of his life when he did the Hendo shuffle collecting the trophy.

The former Anfield and England hero pocketed a cheque for £5,400 on their behalf that day.

But now much, much greater riches await this season – and especially if he gets to run in front of The Queen in the Derby on June 4, where first place is worth £850,000.

Mr McCann has an entry for the season’s key Flat race and a strong showing in a warm-up race at Chester next week could convince connections to try their luck.

Owen, who operates out of his Manor House Stables, said he got the lads involved after a flurry of texts with Milner.

He told The Mirror: “A horse called Mrs Milner won at Cheltenham and I remember texting James Milner straight after the race with some form of remark.

“Anyway a few exchanges later and I managed to sell them a horse.

“James Milner was the leader of the gang, he went back into the dressing room the next day and rounded another five of them up.

“So there’s six of the guys that own the horse (and Milner), I keep trying to tell them how lucky they are – to win three times last season as a two-year-old.

“We went to the breeze-ups (sales), Ed Sackville bought him for £65,000 and he has been an absolute star.

“Every time we step him up in trip he tends to get better so we are very excited about him.

“He’s pencilled in for the Dee Stakes, if all goes well then we have the heady heights and grand plans of maybe him running in the Derby which would be the most incredible story.”

Dubawi Legend would kick-start Owen’s season with victory in the 2000 Guineas on Saturday.

The three-year-old, trained at Manor House, was a two-length second to hot fav Native Trail last October and is a general 16-1 shot for the Newmarket showpiece.

Owen, who once raced as an amateur at Ascot in 2017, has always had a huge love for racing but it appears to have gone to the next level with the arrival of top trainer Palmer at his Cheshire base.

The ex-Real Madrid striker, 42, told the Racing Post: “I’ve never been so up for it. I’m getting in early every morning and I’m loving it.

“I set up here 18 years ago and racing has always been my passion – I was owning horses with John Gosden when I was 18 – and the business side of things drives me on as well.

“My passion is to win the big races and Manor House has proven it can train at the top level as we’ve won a Group 1 Classic.

“You need to have top horses to show big owners you can do it here.”

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