Luke Littler and his fellow darts star and friend Stephen Bunting have purchased a racehorse from the stable of former England footballer Michael Owen. The horse has been named 'Bunting Mental,' a phrase that Bunting has popularised during his darting career.
Training and Ownership Details
The horse will be trained by Hugo Palmer at Owen's Manor House Stables. Palmer has experience handling horses owned by sports personalities, having previously trained Seagulls Eleven, a horse owned by a group of Brighton footballers including James Milner and Danny Welbeck.
Littler and Bunting have developed a close friendship since Littler turned professional and faced Bunting in the semi-finals of the 2025 World Darts Championship. Bunting has faced some criticism for his overly friendly behaviour towards Littler on stage, but he has dismissed such remarks.
Bunting's Response to Criticism
Speaking after the Dutch Darts Masters last year, Bunting said: 'It does annoy me a bit that people pick up upon that sort of thing. That shows how well I'm playing, that they have got to pick up on a fist bump rather than a bad performance.' He added: 'Luke is a lad who has the world at his feet and he is still learning the game. I'm very respectful for what he is doing for our game. I hope he continues for a lot of years because he is bringing in a lot more money to our sport.'
Littler, who earned £1 million for winning the World Darts Championship for the second consecutive year in January, attended three of the four days of the Cheltenham Festival earlier this year.
Trainer's Comments
Hugo Palmer expressed his enthusiasm about the partnership: 'It's great having people from all different sides of the sporting arena as owners with us and it will certainly add some interest when the horses run. It's not going to make them run any faster, but it's all good fun. He's named Bunting Mental keeping on the darts theme.'
Palmer continued: 'He's by Ardad, but quite big and is a nice horse. We've liked everything we have done with him so far, but I don't think we'll see him until summer. I've only spoken to them via WhatsApp, but they seem very enthusiastic and up for it. They are very excited about the whole journey.'
