Among followers of football there is a belief that England's Michael Owen, once of Liverpool, Real Madrid and Newcastle, now of Manchester United, is at his most prolific as a striker when partnered with a substantial target man. On this sunny May afternoon, he certainly has that. At well over six foot and with the bulk to trouble even the most imposing defender, Andrew Black boasts the required dimensions. Except, in this partnership's case, the game is racing.

Owen and Black, who is best known for co-founding Betfair, the internet betting exchange, share a passion for the turf and have teamed up to bankroll Manor House Stables in Cheshire to the tune of £10m. It's a significant investment, even when you consider that Black's net worth is valued by the Sunday Times Rich List at £185m, while Owen comes in at £40m.

And it's far from a safe bet. For all the value of races such as the Dubai World Cup, with prize money of US$10m this year, and further possible riches at stud, racing has claimed many a fortune. "What's the best way to make a million?" the late Robert Sangster was fond of quipping. Answer: start with two million and invest in horse racing.

Of course, Sangster was twice an Epsom Derby winner and played a key role in establishing the mighty Coolmore Stud that today is owned by Irish businessman John Magnier.

With a variety of partners over the years — currently the financial muscle of, among others, Michael Tabor and Joe Lewis — Magnier has come to dominate racing and successfully profit from the game, with Coolmore supplying homegrown talent to his Ballydoyle stables, complemented by some shrewd deals at the sales.

In terms of quality, Ballydoyle is the horseracing equivalent of Old Trafford, where Owen attends to his day job. He shrugs when the comparison is made: "We're not comparing ourselves," he says. "But our aim is to become major players." "We want Manor House to be special," adds Black.

This part of northwest England has a racing heritage. Donald McCain, whose father Ginger trained Red Rum to three successes in the Grand National, is based at a neighbouring yard. Manor House used to be an arable and dairy farm, and Owen has respected one of racing's superstitions by not renaming the property, other than adding the word "stables".

It's now a 160-acre complex including a new £1m all-weather gallop, a facility housing offices and an owners' lounge, and stables for 90 horses, of which Black and Owen own around a quarter either in partnership or outright, with others housed at nearby satellite grounds while they mature or recuperate from setbacks. To follow is an equine swimming pool.

When seated in their owners' lounge — a bespoke facility superior to anything you would find in more established, historic yards — Black and Owen are seemingly on a level. Standing up, the pair are a greater contrast than even the 1970s Keegan and Toshack double act of Owen's old football stamping ground, Anfield, which lies about 30 miles north of the yard.

Owen was the original owner of Manor House, which he formally opened in 2007 with the intention of running it as a relatively low-key concern. Black, who has over 50 horses in training nationwide, placed one at Manor House, which, with some shrewd bets, effectively underwrote a season's gambling. Owen's invitation last year to Tom Dascombe, a highly promising trainer who counted Black as a patron at his old base in Lambourn, Berkshire, to take on the Manor House project, was grounds for a partnership.

Having a Baptist grandfather — the late Sir Cyril Black — who was an outspoken opponent of legalising betting shops did not tame Black's early interest in racing. Like Owen, he was drawn initially to gambling, though in his case because his mathematical gifts gave him an edge.

Following university at Bristol he had spells as a golf caddy, a professional bridge player and a computer programmer for the Ministry of Defence, before eventually arriving at Skillion Business Park, South Wimbledon. There, in a cramped single room, he and Ed Wray, the brother of his best friend, Jeremy, created Betfair. The company now boasts more than three million clients and handles in excess of six million bets daily.

According to Black, the trick at Manor House, short-term, will be to concentrate on Dascombe's growing reputation for developing horses so that they can be sold for profit — sterling six-figure amounts — to other racing domains such as Hong Kong and the US.

"Finding and developing talent is what we are currently looking to do," he explains. "A business like this goes through stages and in time we can evolve the strategy. This year we have a lot of younger horses, the sort who could deliver a quick return with the potential to be sold for good money. Pick carefully, then Tom does the rest."

British racing, while the world's most prestigious, offers poor rewards for stakeholders. Indeed the Racehorse Owners' Association warns patrons to expect heavy losses on their investment and racing syndicates offering shared ownership must by law advise potential clients that it is highly speculative.

"Collectively racehorses are all depreciating assets," Black concedes. "But if you are finding and isolating talent and are good at what you do, you can make money and beat the average returns. Racing may collectively make losses, but at the same time we hope otherwise."

Known universally as Bert, reputedly after a teacher at King's College, Wimbledon, mistakenly called him by that name, Black admits that his own sporting prowess did not extend beyond being a "very mediocre" schoolboy goalkeeper. "Unless you are a player, it is difficult to make money in sport, full stop," he notes. As a director of Swindon Town FC, he can talk from experience. "Michael may make a living as a footballer but it is harder for me to make money out of a football club," he adds. "Swindon are doing very well but it is still tough."

Owen dreams of an "endgame" where his homebred horses are trained at Manor House. "Before Bert joined in, at Manor House I would never have been in a position financially to make the stable a superpower in racing," Owen reflects. "Now we also have his brains to pick."

Racing, like Formula One, football and tennis, is a truly global sport and boasts some of the world's deepest pockets: the Niarchos family, the Aga Khan, the Maktoum ruling family of Dubai, the Queen, plus many others from America, Australia, Ireland and, increasingly, China. All seek the status that comes with success at the track, prize money that hits seven figures for the most prestigious races, riches at stud, where the best stallion can carry a worth of many millions, and returns from bloodstock sales. A few make a profit.

The belief that Manor House Stables may succeed where others have failed in making the racing game pay is based on the corporate approach Owen and Black have adopted to what often descends, despite best intentions, into an expensive hobby. A sponsorship deal with Eddie Stobart, the leading haulage company, is testimony to Manor House's credibility.

Already in place is a business structure that Black and Owen believe makes Manor House feel more like a company than many traditionally run yards. In these the trainer is the owner or tenant, and self-styled Guv'nor. By contrast, a more appropriate title for Dascombe would be chief executive, suggests Black.

"We have regular formal board meetings, and informal discussions around those," he says. "Most stables don't have a situation where the owners are actively involved. In our model, the trainer can be 100 per cent focused on the horses."

For all the seriousness of their intentions, the fun Black and Owen draw from their investment is not to be overlooked.

"Foremost, I am an enthusiast," Owen confides. "I love the racing side. So does Bert. All winners are great for different reasons. A race at Chester, which is our local track here and the one where all my family and friends go, is special."

Owen also happily acknowledges that he likes a bet. He first met Black through his enthusiasm for Betfair. On the day we meet, his mobile phone constantly vibrates to a steady flow of text messages with gossip and tips for the afternoon's action, and Dascombe reckons his patron knows the racing form book better than he does. The key to betting is discipline, Owen maintains. By which he means not chasing losses.

Riding lessons, aged nine, and donkey races during caravan holidays with his family gave Owen an early exposure to horses, along with mucking out stables as a teenager on Sunday afternoons. Of course, as far as the saddle was concerned, football grounded him. Equally, a fellow professional, the former England captain David Platt, persuaded him in 1989 to buy his first horses. The result was Etienne Lady (the year before, Owen had scored in the World Cup against Argentina at St Etienne), and Talk to Mojo, which is an acronym of the names of his mother, father and four brothers and sisters.

Owen's family are all involved at Manor House. His wife, Louise, has ridden all her life and her father is the stable's project manager. His sister, Karen, is the Manor House estate manager. His mother, Janette, has always handled his books and she keeps a watchful eye over the Manor House ledger.

"The atmosphere at Manor House is different to anywhere else I have been or had horses trained," Owen maintains. "Racing has had its problems with both staff recruitment and retention — pay is poor, work extends into the weekend — but we have very few leave us."

Owen's day job means he can bring a whole new world of football knowledge for Dascombe and the Manor House team to consider as ways of improving the fitness levels of the stable's talent.

"Practically, certain things wouldn't work," he says. "You would scare the horses, or they would panic. Instead you apply the principles. I love trying to work out what makes a good racehorse."

Black sees something special in Owen's understanding of athletic movement, which makes this an area where his partner contributes uniquely to the yard.

For his part, Black hopes his business portfolio will yield further advantages. His current investments include a company developing 3D equine photography (to entice prospective buyers, especially overseas), research into genetics (with racing pedigrees in mind) and computer programs that assess racecourse performance.

Black began working in earnest on launching Betfair in 1998. That same year, John Magnier offered Owen, fresh from the World Cup in France, a horse. He would experience ownership, for which he was even at 18 showing an appetite, while for Magnier there would be good publicity. Owen said, thanks, but no thanks.

At Chester races this May, Magnier's Ballydoyle operation was as usual the dominant force. At the same time, Tom Dascombe managed to keep the meeting's first race in Cheshire, saddling the winner.

Magnier himself will have noted this success, not least for the feat of winning back the prize money. Manor House sponsored the race and the Racing Post newspaper captured Owen's demonstrative celebrations at Chester's showcase seasonal occasion.

"People know I am competitive," Owen smiles. "It's there to see on television." Black admits to the same deep-set desire to succeed. And he has a further confession to make. "I was always going to jump at the chance of being involved with Manor House. For me, half of the game is trying to run a profitable business. Not because I am a massively money-minded person, but because this is one of the measures of whether you are successful. You have got to keep the score."

Owen understands the sentiment. "We have a will to win here," he maintains. "This is already a great place. We can make it fabulous."

Colin Cameron is the author of You Bet: The Betfair Story (Harper Collins)