OFF THE RECORD #56

Harnessing the Power of Many:
The Rise of Racehorse Syndication

South Africa is embracing the growing trend of racehorse syndication—a model that has thrived in Australia and the United States by bringing together enthusiasts from diverse backgrounds to share in the excitement of racehorse ownership, all while minimising the financial strain.

Locally, the journey is still unfolding. Trainers and syndicators are experimenting with various models and fine-tuning approaches to create a system that works for local markets. While some strides have been made, questions remain: What works? What doesn’t? And how can syndication unlock its full potential to grow South African racing?

In the Western Cape, where there are bonus incentives for syndicates and syndicate managers, a number of stables have bought runners at auction sales specifically for syndication. So far, they’ve all had good measures of success.

Bass Racing (Centenary Syndicate) have 13 syndicates ranging from 200 members to 20 members which represents 10% of Candice Bass-Robinson’s stable. Mark Bass, who manages the syndicates for his sister, said that roughly 10% of syndicate members have taken a step further by registering as individual colour-holders.

The Centenary Syndicate’s best runner so far is three-year-old filly Scarlett Macaw, second to Fatal Flaw in last Saturday’s Grade 1 Cape Fillies Guineas at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth.

Above: Scarlett Macaw with members of Centenary Syndicate (photo: Chase Liebenberg)

Scarlet Macaw was bought from the 2023 Bloodstock SA Cape Yearling Sale and Bass said: “We wanted to support the stallion, Horizon, who is by Dynasty out of a sister to Silvano and is one of the best-bred stallions in the land. We trained him and he was a top racehorse. But Horizon, despite his pedigree and performance, hasn’t enjoyed the support he deserves at stud, so we paid only R50,000 for Scarlett Macaw. She was very well-made, athletic, a magnificent walker at the sale and we’d also trained her dam’s sire, Tobeornottobe.

“We bought a Horizon colt Red Dawn for R200,000 at the same sale. People were a little sceptical about Horizon, so our shares weren’t fully subscribed, but we did well, still. We syndicated 100 shares between 42 individuals. There were 14 new owners, some owners from other parts of the world, and 10 bought more than one share. Scarlett Macaw’s breeder, David Hepburn-Brown, kept a few shares and Soetendal Estate’s Julia Pilbeam took a share and sponsored their breaking in and spelling fees. Candice and I kept the 29 shares we were unable to sell.”

Scarlet Macaw earned a whopping R237,500 in the Guineas, pushing her career earnings to almost R470,000 from just eight runs. Bass said: “We thought she was a good cheapie and would win a few races for the shareholders, but we didn’t expect her to go on like this. We told the syndicate that if she finished in the first five, we’d be over the moon. I was quietly confident she would. She broke the class record in her run on 9 November, so we knew there was more to come. She hasn’t missed the money yet and now also has residual value. We’re not sure where to go with her yet, but perhaps the Majorca Stakes could be an option now. She has the heart of a lion and is all guts. That, coupled with her turn of foot, is what makes her special.”

Bass said that their syndicate members are an exceptionally passionate bunch of people. They’ve had T-shirts and fridge magnets made with Scarlet Macaw ‘s image on it. They are always visiting their horses with treats and carrots. He predicted that Red Dawn will also win soon. “I think Red Dawn will win over 1800m in his next start with blinkers fitted. He looks like a handy staying type in the making.”

Another R50,000 cheapie, All Is Green (Captain Of All) finished third to Berry’s Boogie in a 1200m contest on Saturday, adding R12,500 to her earnings of R189,000 for Greg Ennion’s Genuine Ennion Syndicate. She’s also earned sales bonuses of R140,000, which puts her career earnings near R350,000 and represents a fabulous return from just seven starts. “We bought her at Cape Racing’s Winter Sale, nobody else was interested in her. We advertised the opportunity on social media and via a mailing list and found seven new owners for this Syndicate. Two have dropped off, but those who remained have become friends. We often race together and three members have re-invested in other runners,” said Ennion.

Vaughan Marshall’s One World Racing Syndicate started with leading owner, Ken Truter, but the stable welcomed several new patrons via social media and word of mouth. The 11 members are invested in the progeny of star stallion One World, their first three being All Out For Six, Gnarly and Timeline, who have all earned stake cheques. All Out For Six is a 112-rated three-year-old and Cape Guineas contender on Saturday, 14 December. “We’ve had plenty of fun with our syndicates. We’ve had enquiries from other centres and new partnerships have been formed,” said Marshall.

Cape Racing’s Tammy Gilmour is a member of the One World Syndicate and also manages the Social Squad Syndicate (www.socialsquad.co.za). They offer flexible lease packages at a small cost, and have a unique rotation system (a choice of three roving horses and five roving horses), which allows members to experience a bigger variety and have more runners, more often.

Gilmour said: “We’re focused on racing thrills for all people via leasing, and members get the perks and benefits which go with racehorse ownership at a fraction of the cost.” The Social Squad have already raced horses like Noon Day Gun, Gravity and Go It Alone. They have a pop-up stand, on the racecourse, where interested people can join the syndicate or obtain information.

Piet Botha’s Dare 2 Dream Syndicate has raced five prospects, with solid handicapper Tyrion Lannister among them. Botha and wife Nicole are truly passionate about horses and people and they’re always trackside with friends and clients. “Our members are mostly existing owners from the stable, but we welcomed a brand new owner just last week who will have his very first runner soon. We’d like to see more new blood in racing. There is much potential. We customise the racing experience. There are clients who prefer to pay monthly and others pay an all-inclusive fee for a period of two years, with a renewal option,” said Botha.

Grant Knowles formed the Turf Talk Syndicate, sourced from readers of the popular South African e-magazine. Turf Talk also has members from foreign countries and Knowles commented: “Our belief is that we’re selling a dream. People want a Guineas winner, or a Durban July winner, and we’re in the business of trying to make those dreams come true. Their aspirations are to own champions and this is why we concentrate on getting them involved in unraced horses, who offer more possibilities than horses with exposed form.”

Above: Garden Of Eden with members of Turf Talk Syndicate (photo: Wayne Marks)

Knowles runs six separate syndicates under the Turf Talk banner, and they offer customised buy-in and lease options, with a 5% minimum shareholding. “We aim at 20 shareholders per horse, owning or leasing at least 5% each.” Their runners include debut winner Garden Of Eden and Heritage Ridge, who is knocking at the door for trainer Paul Reeves. Turf Talk also has two smart colts by Rafeef, in training with Brett and James Crawford.

Ricky Maingard’s Wolf Power Syndicate, named after his great galloper of the 1980s, offers a boutique-style concept where members have the luxury of being involved in all the horses in the syndicate. They have seven in training, among them promising Billy Cool, Diablo and Set To Music.

Syndication drives have not yet taken off in KwaZulu-Natal, but the general feeling among trainers is that racing is in Durban is ‘in limbo’ ahead of the takeover of Gold Circle by the Hollywood Sportsbook Group.

“I’m all for syndication and I think we’ll see it growing here in KZN soon, we certainly have a fertile market of racing enthusiasts,” commented Summerveld trainer, Paul Lafferty. He has long syndicated horses privately among his existing clients and said: “There are some issues with the syndication concept aimed at the general public that will need to be addressed. There is a perception among some rookie owners, that buying into a horse entitles the buyer to phone the trainer at any time of day, to ask for information or ‘tips’, or to arrive at stables or at gallops without prior notice or invitation. They start making a nuisance of themselves and things can get unpleasant. A racing yard is a business with rules and regulations, like any other. We, the trainers, don’t mind socialising with clients on race days or planned promotional events, but otherwise we deserve respect and privacy. We have jobs to do, we work with expensive horses who demand our full attention, most of the time.”

Lafferty’s views will undoubtedly be shared by Snaith Racing, who formed the King’s Club, aimed at newbie owners, but said they are worse off for the experience. Their syndicates have been dissolved. Jono Snaith revealed that the stable was unlucky in their acquisition of certain newcomers, who overstepped the mark. He explained: “We had owners who paid R3,500 for a 1% share of The Grey King and made R7,000. They did incredibly well, but we encountered some incredibly difficult 1% owners. We had a code of conduct for the members and that saved us. We will not get involved in syndication again!”

Above: Calantha with Agnes Mohanoe, member of Ladies Onamission Syndicate (photo: JC Photos)

In Gauteng, Diane de Kock’s Ladies Onamission Syndicate enjoyed a most promising victory by their filly Calantha (Querari) at Turffontein last Saturday. Calantha was an expensive purchase, a R300,000 buy from the BSA National Yearling Sale. She won early, but was injured and had to undergo knee surgery, which set her career back by the best part of seven months. She’s returned in style and trainer Mike de Kock believes she has a black-type win to come.

“The ladies have been patient with Calantha and their patience has been rewarded. She won so well, in good company,” said Diane. “There are 51 ladies in the syndicate and they come from around the world, places like Australia, the UK and Canada. The sad part is that Jane Thomas, who passed away recently, was one of our members and she didn’t get to see this lovely filly win again.”

There are some well-known names in this group of ladies and they include former trainer Dorrie Sham, the TBA’s Heather Morkel, Jessica Slack of Mauritzfontein Stud and Karen Render of Bush Hill Stud. Also involved is 2022 ‘Queens With A Purpose’ finalist, Agnes Mahonoe, who runs the groom’s hostel at Randjesfontein and Turffontein’s mobile kitchen. Agnes has been on course for all Calantha’s runs.

Mathew de Kock, who recently announced that he will be returning to South Africa from Australia, said that he will be reviving his original Onamission Syndicate, which had over 50 members in 2017 and 2018. Their first purchase, Puget Sound, won five races in 2017 and 2018 before being exported to Mauritius.

Gauteng’s Racehorse Owners Association (ROA) have syndication promotion plans in place for 2025 and CEO Natalie Turner commented: “There are some initiatives that are being fleshed out at the moment as to how the ROA will begin to structure memberships to fit the different ownership models, including companies, syndicates, partnerships and fractional owners. In the past there has been a bias to individual colour holders and we are working to change that, both from a governance perspective and operationally to create much more of a balance in terms of what we offer bigger groups of owners. 

We are also working collaboratively with 4Racing on this in order to elevate the owner/member experience as well as grow the number of owners participating in the sport. With this collective effort, I hope we can make some real changes by leveraging our strengths and resources and avoiding inefficiencies and duplication. We are looking forward to announcing more on these early in 2025.”

For trainers planning to syndicate horses, here are the most common guidelines offered by experienced syndicators:

-Do not offer shares with lesser value than 5%.
-Ensure that every member is vetted, this doesn’t have to be a cumbersome process, a quick meeting or phone call is enough to lay down rules.
-Ensure that members sign a basic shareholding contract, including a code of conduct.
-Use social media to market to racing fans overseas, there is a lot of interest in SA racing.
-Consider employing a dedicated syndicate manager to deal with queries. Make sure this person is adept at using social media platforms.
-Consider communication via e-mail only, as WhatsApp groups become a cauldron for off-the-cuff nastiness. Bad apples spoil the basket.