The businessman who’s put his heart into horse racing

DEEP sea diver turned entrepreneur, Charlie Hill, has proved himself a winner both in business and as a racehorse owner.

And the founder of The Sekura Group – one of Michael Dods’ most loyal supporters – has revealed the unlikely reason for naming his promising two-year-old Northern Ticker. (pictured below)

(Image: Michael Dods Racing)

A debut third has been followed by impressive wins at Newcastle and Carlisle, leading jockey Paul Mulrennan to describe the imposing bay son of Mehmas as “one of the best I’ve ridden for a long time”.

Charlie, who has owned plenty of winners for Michael, including the admirable Northern Express, is trying not to get over-excited but admits that ‘Ticker’ is “definitely a good ‘un”.

So, what’s behind the gelding’s quirky name? Charlie chuckles as he tells the story, which started when he felt short of breath a couple of years ago.

He went to see a doctor and was sent for an ultrasound scan on his heart at Newcastle’s Freeman Hospital.

“The lad doing the scan was called Barry and, while we were chatting, he asked me what my hobby was,” Charlie recalls.

“I told him I loved racing, owned some horses, and that I’d just bought a new one but didn’t have a name for it. I said I liked ‘Northern’ because I’m from the north, but didn’t have a second name.”

Barry, the ultrasound scanner, came up with the answer with hardly a second thought: “What about Northern Ticker?” he asked, pointing out that he was in the middle of scanning Charlie’s ‘ticker’.

“That was it,” says Charlie. “That’s how the horse was named Northern Ticker – because I was having a heart scan.”

Charlie went on to have an operation to have a new heart valve inserted but it initially became dislodged and ended up in his throat. There was no choice but to have open heart surgery to fit another valve, while the first valve was removed from his neck.

“When I came round in intensive care, I’d had the double!” laughs Charlie.

Michael Dods has confirmed that Northern Ticker is now being aimed at Redcar’s richest race, the listed William Hill Two-Year-Old Trophy on October 5, with Charlie admitting he’s loving owning horses alongside still running his business, 40 years after it was launched from humble beginnings.

He was raised in Houghton-le-Spring, on Wearside, and still lives there. In the early days, he made a living as a diver on the oil rigs but “got lucky” when he started working for a man called Jim Clark who had a window business.

Jim took a liking to his apprentice, taught him everything he knew, and when he passed away, Charlie said goodbye to diving and took the plunge into running the windows business.

Since then, he’s gone from £5,000-a-week in sales to £15m-a-year, with The Sekura Group brand created in 1996, specialising in the manufacture and installation of PCVu windows and composite doors for the new-build market and social housing. The company now employs 120 and is going from strength to strength.

“We’re by far the biggest in the north,” declares Charlie, proudly.

His involvement in racing began at Lanchester with Brian Ellison, with his first horse, Hakuna Matata, winning under Paul Hanagan at Newcastle in 2010 before switching to the Michael Dods yard a couple of seasons later and ending up with five victories.

“I thought I’d have a dabble and found out that I loved it,” Charlie recalls.

He went with trainer John Hellens for a while but the Sekura Group has been firmly associated with the Michael Dods stable at Denton, in County Durham, for several seasons.

Northern Express has been the most successful, winning seven times, most recently the class 2 Moet & Chandon International Stakes at Ascot. The six-year-old has earned more than a quarter of a million pounds in prize money and is entered in the Ayr Gold Cup on September 21, with Dods on record as saying it’s the race he’d most like to win.

The other Sekura Group horses currently trained at Denton are the enigmatic but talented six-year-old Diamondonthehill – a five-time winner – and three-year-old Cuban Storm, a winner at Redcar in May.

Charlie Hill with Diamondonthehill after winning at Redcar in 2022 (Image: Michael Dods Racing)

It’s clearly a strong partnership between the owner and trainer, with the banter flying thick and fast between the pair.

“It’s still just a hobby but me and Michael get on well,” says Charlie. “He knows the job inside out and you know what you get with him. He’s a lovely lad and we’re both the same – if you like us, fine, if you don’t, you can bugger off.”

As for the trainer, he’s thrilled to see the continued success for the Sekura Group’s green and red silks.

“Charlie’s been a great owner for the yard and he and his wife, Christine, just love going racing,” says Dods.

“He’s a cracking fella and has also shown that having horses is a great way to promote your business, so long may it continue.”

Dods is never one to get carried away, but he clearly shares the view that, in Northern Ticker, Charlie has another “nice horse in the making”.

With Redcar’s richest race less than a month away, and scope for significant improvement as a three-year-old when he fills out his big frame, it’s enough to get the heart racing.