The Winning Line

An Introduction to Racing Clubs and Syndicates

There is simply nothing like standing in the paddock before a race with your horse’s trainer, meeting your jockey for the occasion and seeing him legged up into the plate wearing your colours. Your eyes remain glued to these oblivious to all around you as you follow the progress of your horse to the post – and back again – hopefully with some degree of involvement in the finish. The ultimate joy of course, being to greet your winner as it is lead back to the winner’s enclosure – and should this incredible occurrence take place at Cheltenham for instance, accompanied by tumultuous applause …
Well we can all dream can’t we? However you may be ready to test the water a little seriously but venturing into racehorse ownership can be a daunting business. Just purchasing the horse in the first place for example – will you go to Tattersall’s and trust your judgement, or ask a trainer or agent to make a purchase for you.		Dreams are made of this... Teeton Mill on his way to victory in the Horse & Hound Cup at Stratford
And just how do you choose your trainer and how can you be sure he (or she) will be a) doing the very best for your horse b) doing the very best for you?   Without the necessary background experience and good contacts it is all potentially a minefield and your chances of success are slim. The ideal way to make your initial entry in the racing circle may well be through joining a racing club or syndicate. There are many in operation now and the better run operations have been extremely successful, bringing their members all the rewards that racing has to offer. To choose the right one for you – the first decision must be to what degree of financial commitment you are willing to make, and over what period? Then you must decide whether you are looking for horses running only on the flat, only National Hunt or under both codes. Are you interested in following horses through a stud career too? This is another consideration and may involve longer term investment on your behalf. Any club you join will almost certainly bring you social rewards, possibly a regular newsletter, (either printed or on the internet) plus opportunities to visit racing stables and of course, a chance to meet some of the personalities in the sport.    In this issue we would like to introduce The Winning Line and hope that what they have to offer will appeal to you, the would-be racehorse owner………!