Worthless horse wins a fortune in prize money

Mrs Danvers the horse is an inquisitive animal, named after a character in a Daphne DuMaurier novel, and her story is just as dramatic.

Her mother was an average racehorse with failing health and both mother and daughter cost their owners nothing.

The two horses are owned by Mark Burton, a joiner in Portsmouth, and his wife Connie, a hospital administrator.

When Mrs Danvers was taken to the sales no one would buy her, not even for £1,000.

Mark said: "It's mad now, if people had seen what she had done then we would have had loads of bids for her. But we're quite glad because we've still got her and we're happy."

So the couple decided to keep Mrs Danvers and things have only gone up since then and the horse has become a star.

She has won five races in a row, amassing £200,000 in prize money.

The horse which no one would bid on is now worth an estimated £500,000, but she's not being sold.

Connie said: "We put everything into our horses and I don't think at this present time we'd be tempted to sell her."

So, does this heartwarming tale prove that you don't have to be flush with cash to have a prize winning pony?

Jonathan Portman, a trainer, said: "That's the big thing about this story of Mrs Danvers, that people need to know you don't have to be a millionaire to have a very successful racehorse and people shouldn't be deterred thinking it's a millionaire's game, because it's not."