Sir George Somers and Castle Harbour are the latest Bermuda-themed horses to be purchased by Bermuda Thoroughbred Racing (BTR).

They have joined Johnny Barnes, BTR’s flagship horse, and, Horseshoe Bay, who made his debut at Lingfield last week, in the private venture’s growing stable of thoroughbreds.

Interest in the scheme that enables people with Bermuda connections to become part owners in some of the most promising racehorses has swelled since the success of Johnny Barnes, who enjoyed a scintillating maiden season.

The two-year-old miler shed his maiden tag on his debut at Yarmouth in August and finished a hugely impressive second in his first group one race at the Critérium International in Paris last week.

It is hoped that with their equally-evocative names, Sir George Somers and Castle Harbour can also capture the imagination of the Bermuda public in the same way as Johnny Barnes, named after the Island’s much-loved morning well-wisher.

Simon Scupham, the local businessman and racing enthusiast behind BTR, firmly believes that both new additions have the pedigree to do so.

“I think Johnny Barnes has convinced a few people to get involved, although we more or less have the same people on board with Sir George Somers and Castle Harbour, who are both very impressive horses,” said Scupham, referring to BTR’s second syndicate, the Pink Sands account, as opposed to the Longtail account that launched with the purchases of Johnny Barnes and Horseshoe Bay.

“We want to keep the Bermuda-theme going and you have to think of a strong name for when the horse is called out by the track announcer.

“We thought of Tobacco Bay but then you think of a horse coughing. Another name suggestion was Clyde Best but Clydesdale horses are known for being the slowest things on four legs.

“It was the same thing with Shaun Goater — a goat doesn’t exactly move that fast, so you have your limitations.”

Sir George Somers, named after the founder of Bermuda, is the son of Cape Blanco, who won the Irish Derby and Irish Champion Stakes, and the grandson of Galileo, a prolific sire of racehorses best known for winning the Epsom Derby and King George VI and the Queen Elizabeth Stakes.

The impeccably-bred chestnut colt, costing 340,000 guineas, also has strong breeding on his mother’s side, whose father, Fusaichi Pegasus, triumphed in the Kentucky Derby in 2000.

Tasked with harnessing Sir George’s Somers’s natural gifts is Sir Michael Stoute, arguably the most successful trainer in British history, who also trains Horseshoe Bay.

“The pedigree of Sir George Somers is amazing,” said Scupham, who is the chairman of Shoreline Insurance Managers in Hamilton.

“I don’t know of another syndicate that buys horses at this [price] level.

“The cost of the horse doesn’t necessarily mean success, but if the horse has success on top of having good breeding — well, that makes for a very valuable horse.

“There’s a lot involved in the racing game but breeding is absolutely everything — good breeding, good horse, good value.”

Smaller in stature and slightly cheaper at 200,000 guineas, Castle Harbour, also a yearling, will be trained by the venerable John Gosden, who has masterminded Johnny Barnes’s ever-so promising start.

Neither Castle Harbour, the son of Kyllachy whose father Pivotal has been a prolific sire of stallions, or Sir George Somers will race until next year.

All four of BTR’s horses were chosen by John Warren, who is regarded as one of the world’s leading bloodstock advisers and is the bloodstock agent to the Queen.

Scupham has lofty plans to extend BTR by adding four horses with two syndicates each year, providing there is sufficient interest from people keen to be part of the action.

“It would be great to have 16 or 20 horses in a stable because it would maintain the interest,” said Scupham, who teamed up with Highclere, the leading horse syndicate management firm in Britain, to establish BTR.

“There would always be a horse running in the colours of Bermuda pink and dark blue, which would be fantastic.

This is not a business, I’ve incurred a lot of costs, but it’s something I have a passion to develop with Bermuda.”