What Is Syndication

Syndication, or multiple ownership, has made racehorse ownership much more accessible to the masses and not just a pursuit of the rich and famous at a fraction of the cost and with the minimum of hassle.

At Lance Noble Racing we like to divide the ownership of each horse into 5% and 10% shares. By restricting the numbers to 10 or 15 people for example it is still possible to retain the element of personal contact between owner and trainer. The benefits you would expect from joining one of our syndicates include:

• professional syndicate management leaving you to enjoy the racing rather than stressing with the financials and the mandatory paperwork involved in racing,

• simultaneous emails (or faxes if requested) detailing your horses progress, both good and bad, including photos and short videos and info on approaching trials and races

• dividends paid out at the end of each racing year as long as that the horse has enough funds in it’s bank account to cover it’s on going costs

• Communications detailing the financial statement and income and expenditure spread sheets

Costs

Typically the purchase price for a share in one of our yearlings is between $4,000 - $6,000 per 10%. This will include the purchase price of the horse (plus GST), vetting, reading of joint & bone x-rays carried out by a Vet (if the vendor has supplied x-rays), endoscopic examination (to check the respiratory system is intact and healthy), 1 year’s insurance, transport to the farm where it will spell (or agist), allowance for 2 months agistment and a new set of covers for the horse.

A disclosure statement is issued for each yearling itemizing how these costs are built into the purchase price, these can be obtained upon request. Monthly payments of $220 per 10% share commence in the 3rd month to cover the horse’s ongoing costs and this is paid into the horse’s own bank account. It is important to maintain a surplus in the account to cover any unforeseen vet expenses for example but it will be divided amongst the members of the syndicate at the end of the horse’s racing career.

To avoid interrupting the horses training we find paying the monthly contribution by automatic payment works very well. If the horse proves itself to be a talented galloper and competes at Group level the nomination fees can be quite high however by this stage the horse will have built up significant stakes earning to cover these.

A good example of this would be the Easdon No:1 Racing Syndicates horse Geeza who won enough stakes earnings during the autumn of 2009 in New Zealand to pay for his trip and take the whole syndicate to Australia for the Brisbane Carnival. He had a successful campaign in Brisbane and was able to provide the syndicate members with a second dividend payout later in the year whilst leaving sufficient funds for the Group races that he would be targeting the following campaign.

The horse’s monthly costs will most probably include training, track fees, farrier work, veterinary work, chiropractor and possibly transport and racing expenses.