A TRIO of horses are being banked on to give a York-based racing club a slice of the American dream.

Wildcard Racing are hoping Julius Geezer, Marford Missile and Marchwood can help them win big money at Florida’s GulfStream Park over the next few months.

The threesome, trained by Amy Weaver, have been installed at the track training centre at Palm Meadows and will be overseen by American handler Niall Saville while being campaigned over the next three months.

The racing club, run by York resident Andrew Bonarius, is targeting US glory in an effort to cash in on the better prize pots available for horses who can land races across the pond.

Last year, Bonarius sent Deerslayer to Aqueduct, in New York, and he subsequently won a race at Belmont, staged just after the prestigious Triple Crown race in June at the famous Big Apple racecourse.

That landed Wildcard Racing just over $20,000 for victory and the horse was subsequently claimed for $20,000.

Bonarius is now hoping to repeat the trick with a new triumvirate.

Julius Geezer, a winner at York in July, finished fifth in a five furlong $54,000 race a couple of weeks ago on his first run in Florida, while Marford Missile will be the next in the starting stalls on Boxing Day.

“All three horses were bought in UK claiming races for no more than £10,000 each and we gave owners the chance to own a share in all three for one price,” Bonarius said. “The aim is to provide something different for our owners.

“The cost is more to get a horse to America but the prize money is unreal. A claimer in England would win you a maximum of £1,800 whereas in America you’re looking at $30,000 to $75,000. We did it in June with Deerslayer and have taken these three out there to really put Wildcard Racing on the map.

“We are again in partnership with Newmarket-based trainer Amy Weaver, who has just come back from Florida after making sure the horses settled in okay. The plan with all three horses is to sell them out in America after they win and they are expected to run until March.”

Anyone wanting to grab a piece of the action should email wildcard.racing@btinternet.com