Pastures new for iconic horse in Warwick pub's £1million revamp

The iconic horse outside a pub in Warwick has been replaced and gone out to pasture after the pub went under a £1million refurbishment.
The newly refurbished Racehorse Pub on Stratford Road.The newly refurbished Racehorse Pub on Stratford Road.
The newly refurbished Racehorse Pub on Stratford Road.

The horse was removed from outside the Racehorse pub in Stratford Road as part of the final touches to the refurbishment work at the pub. The statue has now made a new home in the pub gardens and a new art installation of a wire horse has been put in its place.

The £1million worth of work at the site ‘has seen a new cellar, bar, flooring, windows and doors installed as well as a front and rear extension.

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Daniel Wiles, who is 31, took over leasing the pub in June last year and operated the pub up until January when it closed for the refurbishment.

The pub before refurbishment. Photo by Google Street View.The pub before refurbishment. Photo by Google Street View.
The pub before refurbishment. Photo by Google Street View.

He said: “The pub hadn’t been invested in for over 24 years. I saw an advert for the pub and went to look at it. I knew that Warwick was very nice and saw that the pub was between the Castle and the Racecourse.

“I saw the opportunity was massive and I knew it was going to be expensive but worth it.

“We expect to be here forever more and we are not going to rip people off to try and get the money back. We want to be part of the community and become a hub of the community.”

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Daniel also posted a video on the Racehorse pub Facebook page of the iconic horse being removed from outside the pub.

The new horse.The new horse.
The new horse.

He said: “We also posted a video of the horse being taken down on Facebook and the response was phenomenal. It was mainly positive comments but there were a few negative ones. We had more than 8,000 people watch the video and more than 200 comments.

“The horse has gone out to pasture and has been placed in the pub gardens. We had a piece of artwork specially commissioned for the pedestal and we now have a wire horse outside.”

The pub officially reopened last Thursday (March 29) with a VIP launch event that saw hundreds of people attend.

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Daniel said: “Our VIP launch event was great. We had 284 people at the pub during peak capacity. We had jockey David Crosse compèring at the event, we had live music from Leamington-based band Quest and Church Farm Brewery who did drink tasting. It all went really well and the customers loved it and we had really good feedback.

The pub before refurbishment. Photo by Google Street View.The pub before refurbishment. Photo by Google Street View.
The pub before refurbishment. Photo by Google Street View.

“The Easter bank holiday was also busy.

“Over Saturday, Sunday and Monday we served over 1,000 meals, which was really great. I really wanted to showcase the pub to the locals this weekend and they seemed very happy.”

The Racehorse Pub is now open Sunday to Thursday 9am to 11pm and Friday to Saturday 9am to midnight.

As well as a new look there is also a new menu and a new drinks range which includes 30 varieties of gin, 10 vodkas, 10 rums, 10 single malts, 15 different draft ales, lagers and ciders and 30 different wines.

For more information about the pub click here

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