Horse racing syndicates have been around for decades. Cot Campbell’s Dogwood Stable in Kentucky was a pioneer in group ownership, offering shares in horses, or groups of horses, beginning in the early 1970s. Team Valor, West Point Thoroughbreds and more recently, Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Starlight Racing, are other big-name American syndicates. Those partnerships are made for prospective owners with a bit more cash in their pockets than the everyday racing fan.
In the last few years, racing ‘clubs’ and fractional ownership opportunities have both exploded in popularity developed to allow you, your neighbours and your work mates a more affordable entry into owning that first racehorse. The long-term goal of these partnerships is to bring new participants into a sport that desperately needs new owners.
As Terry Finley of West Point Thoroughbreds says on his website, “partnerships are today the backbone of Thoroughbred racing”, noting that the lower the risk for newcomers to horse ownership, the more appealing these first experiences can be.