Owning a Racehorse

Ever dreamed of owning a racehorse?

Have you ever watched the Melbourne Cup or Perth Cup, seen the winning connections celebrating after the race and thought I wish that was me?

Well we can’t guarantee that you will ever own a Cup winner, but anyone that has ever owned a thoroughbred will tell you watching them race is one of the biggest thrills you will ever experience.

Being an active part of the thoroughbred racing scene is surprisingly easy to become involved with, and with different forms of ownership including joint ownership and syndication, it caters to nearly every budget.

Owning a thoroughbred can be done as an individual, in a partnership or with a group of people (friends/workmates/sporting team mates) in a syndicate, or you can lease a horse.

Making the right initial decisions and having a touch of good fortune are important so below is some helpful advice to get you started on the right path.

Types of Ownerships and their descriptions:
Racehorse

Own a
Racehorse

Find out more

Sole Ownership

Being a sole owner means you reap all the rewards, but also carry all the costs. You have total control over the key decisions and will generally deal one on one with your trainer. As an outright owner you have the opportunity to register your own personalised set of race colours too.

Joint Ownership / Partnerships

Joint Ownership / Partnerships

Partnerships allow you to share in the excitement of horse ownership with work colleagues or friends and split the costs. Up to 20 people can jointly race a horse and each have their name listed in the ownership and racebook on raceday. Morton Racing will have availability in horses, especially after a yearling sale and they would welcome you to join in with many of their current or regular owners in ownership. This can prove to be a great way to meet some new people and share in the excitement of ownership with them.

Syndicates

If ownership sounds exciting but you’d rather reduce your cost outlay, then syndication may be the answer for you. Syndication will give you a lesser percentage share in a horse, (or horses) and the selection of the horse, trainer, jockey etc can be left up to the professionals (either the Syndicator or the Manager of the syndicate).

Being involved with a thoroughbred syndicate can be a nice way to get a feel for the racing industry giving you a share in a race horse without having to bear the full cost of all the bills.

Syndication also presents the opportunity to make some great new friends while following your thoroughbred. Many syndication groups co-ordinate social events for their members and encourage the large groups of syndicate members to meet up and cheer on their representatives on race day.

Many syndicates are enjoyed together by workmates, team mates, family members and friends. Syndicates normally have 10 –20 members and need to be registered with the principal body (Racing and Wagering Western Australia) in the state with a representative or Manager appointed.

The Syndicate Manager is responsible for overseeing the finances of the syndicate and is expected to report to the fellow members on a regular basis. Any prize money earned by your racehorse is sent to the Syndicate manager to be distributed to the syndicate members.

For further information regarding syndication, please visit the RWWA website: http://www.rwwa.com.au/home/thoroughbreds-public-syndication.html