He may be long retired, but Shearer was back on the scoresheet at Cheltenham Racecourse last weekend and his Rovers-mad owner has vowed to name his next horse after the man who can fire his beloved club back to the Premier League.

Max McNeill’s blue, white and burgundy silks are a subtle nod to Blackburn Rovers and are something of a staple at jump racecourses across Britain and Ireland, even being represented in this year’s Randox Grand National at Aintree with Escaria Ten – a horse who finished the race in a very credible ninth place.

The owner, who hails from Pleasington, has previous for honouring Rovers’ history with his horses and also has the seven-year-old Ewood Park in training with Stratford-based Olly Murphy.

The equine Shearer certainly looks to have a bright future and McNeill admitted that he had been saving the name for a good one.

He explained: “We thought a lot of him when he was bought and he was out of a mare called Crown Jewel and seeing as Shearer was Rovers’ crown jewel it felt like a good fit! I was surprised we got the name to be honest, because we tried for Sutton and couldn’t get it.

“My Racing Manager Iain Turner is a Sunderland supporter and it was him who suggested the name – and he hates Alan Shearer! Paul Nicholls had the horse for the year and we said that we were planning on calling him Shearer and he said he wasn’t going to put us off, so it’s worked well.

“I was really impressed with Shearer at Cheltenham and it wasn’t just the fact that he won but the way he did it. I bumped into the man himself once in a restaurant in London and he said he knew the horse and would look out for him and hopefully now he’s starting to pay a bit more attention.”

Striker Shearer was part of Rovers’ title-winning side in 1994/1995 and was later inducted into the club’s hall of fame after scoring 112 times during his four-year stay in England.

And while Shearer and Ewood Park firmly demonstrate Mr McNeill’s love for his football club, the businessman hopes that going forward he’ll be able to continue the theme – already reserving the name ‘Brereton Diaz’ in honour of superstar Chilean international, Ben Brereton Diaz.

However his true wish is for Rovers to end their current decade-long exile from the Premier League, and to honour whoever achieves that by naming a horse after them.

He added: “We’ve got another Rovers-inspired horse in Ewood Park, while we’ve got Arte Et Labore, Championsninetyfive and Brereton Diaz reserved – though we won’t bother with him if he leaves! If someone can score that goal to take us up I’ll definitely have a look.”

Mr McNeill, whose father Ted was a former golf professional at Pleasington Golf Club, has a strong squad of horses for the new jump racing season across the UK and Ireland.

It’s no surprise therefore that he’s looking forward to the coming months and picked out two horses to look out for.

He said: “It’s good to be back jumping and we’ve had a good start to the season, we’ve had four winners and two seconds so far.

“I couldn’t pick one horse out, but we’ve got a horse called Three Called Brag with Gordon Elliott, who beat a 1/5 hot pot from Willie Mullins’ yard in March. He looks one to keep an eye on but we’ve got a good exciting young team for the season.

“I’d love to win the Triumph Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival and we have a horse called Spartan Army who we’re hoping can be a contender for that. We’ve had a second and a third with Walkon and Grumeti respectively so I’d love to win it - but winning any race at the Festival would be special.”