Old gold racing - the shocking cost of syndicated racing - 3250 annual shares @ £60

Someone is making a lot of money, I wonder who are the persons behind this scheme, only name on the website appears to be Francesca Cumani

Spadestep was bought for 50k, website says value of racehorse £16.15 x 3250 =52487

Training and vet bills 11.69 x 3250 = 37992.  Excessive, Lucinda Russell does not charge that sort of money

Management fee 18 x 3250 =58500   The management fee is more than the training fees

Insurance and contingency make up the rest of your 60, 14.16 x 3250  = 46020

These people make Rory Stewart seem like a saint

Celtic, management fee is actually £58,500 per year, these sharks should be exposed as do a lot of these 'syndicates' which rinse their 'members'.

they get 3250 folk to pay £60 a year for a horse ?

where do they dreg the 3250 from ?

do they stand outside Ibrox after they've just gubbed Celtic ?

They probably advertise in the Sun, own a racehorse fot £60
Ownersgroup do something similar

In my view it provides an excellent Birthday or Christmas present for people who have everything. This present can then be renewed at about £40 p/a.

if you have 'everything' then go buy your own horse.

1.What is a racing syndicate?
A racing syndicate where two or more people pool together their money to purchase shares in a single racehorse. Syndicate members also make a financial contribution to training fees, travelling costs and veterinary care. With Old Gold Racing, all these costs are covered in a single, one-off payment for the year, with no hidden charges.

2.Is Old Gold Racing a racing club?
No, Old Gold Racing is a racing syndicate management business, meaning that it facilitates co-ownership of racehorses. A racing club involves some of the perks of ownership, without its members actually owning any of the horses. Old Gold Racing does however share more characteristics with racing clubs than most of its competitors. We provide a consistent stream of high quality content including interviews with jockeys, trainers and stablehands, as well as exclusive on and off course events.

3.What happens at the end of the syndicate term?
At the end of the syndicate term, members will be asked to renew their membership at, or just before, the end of the term. The amount charged will be less than the original fee as it will not include the initial cost of the horse. Should less than 51% of members of the syndicate choose not to renew by the end of term date, the horse will be sent to the sales and the proceeds split up among syndicate members (less any sales fees). In the event that more than 51% choose to renew, but less than 100%, the Company agrees to find buyers of the outstanding shares at a price of its choosing.

4.Will I receive prize money if my horse wins or places?
Yes. It is customary for the jockey and trainer to take 10% of the prize money won. After that, Old Gold Racing distributes ALL of the remaining prize money equally among syndicate members, depending on the number of shares they own. Prize money is distributed to owners' wallets in their MyStables accounts where it can either be withdrawn or used for future purchases.

Owners group must have 20 plus in training, 3000 shares at around £50 per year,

You don't get much for fifty quid, so I get the birthday, Xmas present stuff and when it runs, it's their horse that's running but the people running it are sick turpins without the mask

Dick Turpins ××

Fodder.

Raceshare backed by oli bell and lydia hislop are similarly expensive.

Would have thought in a competitive market some company would come up with decent pricing , but none so far.

Do they treat all racing fans as low IQ Idiots i wonder?

Another rip off to go with all the rest of the capers got up by the con merchants infesting the game.

What was the one that owned Marsha that sold for 5million, someone on here was a member and never saw a penny, simalar thing happened when Authorized won the derby turned out it was only 'Leased' to the club,was a big mess at the time.

Middleham Park have had a few group winners and big handicaps,prize money and stud must have given the members a good pay day….

Probably goes back to the sales ring…..

Oh yes cropsick, clearly remember those two

MP you buy a % and pay a monthly training fee, get tickets for racing and get your % shard of prize money it was elite racing CS

Clement Freud was a member of the Authorised club and complained bitterly about the experience.

They get all these mugs to chip in 60/70 quid to pay for their hobby and pick up a nice fat salary for themselves while swanning around on 'expenses' 90% are just a pack of grifters.

Celtic Warrior....

i'd 'back' one of these things if they gave me some cash...

means absolutely NOWT.

I believe elite racing has something to do with the owners group

if Elon Musk gave me 100 grand to say on here every day that he is a wonderful human being i'd do it...

as i say it means absolutely NOWT.

A badge and scarf,and a handshake with the rider if invited…..

Middlham Park seems to be one of the better ones, also have heard Rebecca Menzies has been put in a precarious position by one club owing her thousands in fees.

I remember getting banned for asking a syndicate if they got the lot……hot fav stuffed with second choice gambled which duly won….

Even Ross chapman from racing post advertises raceshare. Shame on him

There is a massive difference between syndicates like M Park, Ursa Major etc than these micro share clubs like old gold racing, owners group etc

i thought Nick Bradley was at MP ?

how come he went his own way ?

Either way 50k per year running costs requires 2 listed or a group race win to recoup costs. Tall order indeed

For Slainte Mhath, (Katie Scott Racing Syndicate)

I paid £300 for my 10% share and pay £140 a month training fees.
I get at least 1 owners and trainer badge when she runs, get 10% prize money yearly, 10% of any money if she is sold on. Regular stable visits, a whats app group with pictures, gallop videos etc

Absolutely tremendous value imho

In the business world this would not happen. Either race prizes would rise or horse population would fall to equalise. Not in uk racing though!

Great value that Dealer unfortunatly there are lot (too many) that are scamming people.

I once came across a syndicate example so egregious that I emailed a complaint to the BHA.  I didn't receive a reply.  It seems the horse racing industry prefers to let scandals fester in the hope they never see the light of day rather than police them properly.  I can't begin to imagine the sort of collusion bloodstock agents and trainers get up to that would never be tolerated in the outside world.

And even sadder the mug that paid £60 will be down the pub saying he owns a racehorse called spadestep!

It seems the horse racing industry prefers to let scandals fester in the hope they never see the light of day rather than police them properly.

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well actually it ain't just horse racing you can throw that at tbh Davros.

And spadestep is also owned by all big bookies one share each

100% CS

The problem is these micro share companies and the volume of shares they are selling. They advertise stable visits, days at the races but you would need to be very lucky in the ballot to get anywhere near those days.

Apples Away was pretty successful for them last season, I think the 3500 got under a tenner at the end of the year

you see these members on tv getting all excited in parade ring.stands/on tv horse 1st beat cheering away,beat half a length in photo,think they've won etc
seen that rouge millen outfit on ruk advert never been to races when they didnt think their horse had a decent chance ,going skint if their betting them, big neon sign on top of their heads,OPEN TO BE FLEECED IF ANYONES INTERESTED

The Derby winner was Motivator not Authorised. Royal Ascot Racing Club.

Met a couple who were in Owners group,they were retired and took it seriously,went on stable visits etc. They explained it to me,Elite and Owners and Axiom are all the same firm,Elite the cheapest then Owners,then Axiom I think?
Remember when Pentland Hills won the Triumph got back to the Hotel and an old boy who worked there said "we've just had the owners of the winner of the first race in"

Pop  into any Coral shop ask to join there racing club 15 horses 10 lucky members will get tickets for the races and keep ALL price money
Had a winner at Sedgefield a few weeks ago.
How much does it cost.
FREE.

Hope you are all well.
Ronnie.

Back in the day I overheard my local trainer talking with a mate in the pub , gatecrashed and ended up in a 6 person syndicate at a cost of 5 grand each up front . Two foals by good NH sires were bought at one of the sales and one of the syndicate did the young horse stuff at his farm . Aim was that one would be sold and paid for the training costs of the other . Result was one went for 10 grand as a maiden pointer . The other won four races for us and provided entertainment galore . He might have been decent , but breathing issues surfaced .

i think if you were chipping in only  50 or 60 quid to be an ' owner ' you would need a lot of luck in the ballot to get much fun . however , a friend of a friend spread  a few hundred on old gold shares and another lot . has been very lucky with the horses ( apple away for one  ) and copping badges on a fairly regular basis . probably spent no more than you would going to your local pub twice a week .

Motivator,won over a million on the track & also was the sire of Treve.Members must've
got something back from being in that syndicate?

I mistakenly mentioned Clement Freud for Authorized when it was actually Motivator.


https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2005/sep/16/horseracing.sport21


This article is more than 19 years old
Motivator's many owners face up to end of the affair
This article is more than 19 years old
Derby winner set for a busy time at stud, while racing club members must make the most of last two dates
Greg Wood
Fri 16 Sep 2005 02.27 BST
Share
Less than 24 hours after the announcement that Motivator, this year's brilliant Derby winner, will retire to stud after two more races abroad, the 230 members of the Royal Ascot Racing Club, the colt's owners during his racing career, digested the news yesterday that their wild ride through the top floor of Flat racing is almost at an end.

The RARC was conceived as a social club, offering its members access to the finest facilities that Ascot could offer - to non-Royals - in return for £6,000 a year. It bought horses simply to give the members something to talk about at Club events. When it paid just £75,000 for a son of the first-season sire Montjeu, it succeeded in that aim beyond anyone's wildest dreams.

The talk among members yesterday, though, is likely to have revolved around the decision to pack Motivator off to the Queen's Royal Studs at Sandringham at the end of his three-year-old season.

Had the members been polled, the vote in favour of another year of racing for Motivator would almost certainly have been close to unanimous. Instead, a five-strong committee, which included only two Club members, has opted to cash in now, although it is Ascot, which actually owns the horse and leases it to the RARC while he is racing, which will reap the benefit.

"I'm sad that he won't race as a four-year-old," Sir Clement Freud, a member of the RARC and a Racing Post columnist, said yesterday. "Even though after reading the small print it turned out that the 230 people [in the RARC] don't own the horse, it was bought for our enjoyment, and unless we get invitations to see [Motivator] coupling, there won't be much enjoyment in knowing that our horse is getting it off with other horses so that Ascot can become very rich.

"I'm particularly sad because I would have loved to have seen Motivator run at Royal Ascot, which surely should be a big priority for a horse owned by the Royal Ascot Racing Club. But there are only two of our members on the committee, which also has three of them."

John Warren, the bloodstock agent who bought Motivator and who is also the Queen's bloodstock advisor, conceded after the announcement of Motivator's retirement that "there are always pros and cons with any decision like this."

However, Warren was also "delighted that this exceptional Derby winner will be standing at stud in Britain, unlike so many other winners of that race in recent years."

"The Club members were represented in the decision-making process and I think they will understand why it was made. Now we can look forward to seeing Motivator's offspring running on our courses for many years to come."

That, at least, will be a consolation to the RARC's members as they face up to life without the colt who has come to mean so much to them. Certainly, the winner's enclosure at Epsom may never again see the like of the massed invasion after his Classic victory in June, when Motivator became the first syndicate-owned winner of the Derby in the race's long history.

The winner's enclosure at Longchamp is many times the size of the tight little circle at Epsom, and many of the RARC's members can be expected to travel to Paris on the first weekend in October to see him contest the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. A few dozen, at least, will also be at Belmont Park for Motivator's final race, in the Breeders' Cup Turf on October 29.

Victory in either race, or both, would ratchet up Motivator's stud value still further, but the RARC's members will have to be satisfied with a 230th share of the prize money. Having been to places that most owners can only fantasise about, though, most of them will be more than happy with that.

230 members = 4,350 quid less ex,s for every million quid won

Is not Ascot owned by The King or would of been The Queen at the time as part of the Crown Estates.

If your expectations are realistic this sort of ownership can be fun. My wife and myself have a share in four horses with Owners Group, costing £35 or £40 per year each. We're under no illusion that we own more than a whisker of each but there's no other way my wife would have been in the parade ring at Ascot prior to watching 'our' horse run; seeing a winner in which you have a share, however small, is a thrill and there are updates on the horses' preparation for their campaigns, stable visits, ballots for cheap tickets and owners' passes. It's a taste of 'real' ownership which, like most, we could never afford.

The real issue is the amount they syndicate horses for, there is absolutely no need to sell anywhere near 3000 shares and still make a decent profit.
You might well enjoy the experience reo but there is only one winner financially.

£40 a year seems reasonable, particularly if you're told when your horse is going to the racetrack just for an exercise gallop.

can lay it here to win £41.

its a bit like saying I own a bit of BT and can go to yearly shareholders meeting and demand CEO stands down and hold a party if share price rises or BT increases its profits, everyone no,s I,d be a mug to think that

Whatever happened to All About Sunday and Darren Mcgrath, he used to be on the Final Furlong pod giving it large, went to ground though after one of the syndicate horses Watch House Cross won and the ownership was taken away from the syndicate members and all social media shutdown with members wondering what was going on....did that get resolved?

The Dealer is right, there is no issue with these micro shares giving people  a lot of fun for next to nothing it is the management/agents/staff/training costs that are a rip off and the more horses they syndicate the more it all racks up.

cant see the difference between been one side of the paddock fence than been inside with 500 people that invade paddocks these days for the full experience by yourself a OWNERS CLUB purple and mauve scarf for a few quid if you must

no harm in it but to me seems more about people wanting to flounce around the hoy poli in paddock and owners lounge etc ,like RUK days,evenings,ruk lounge GE etc,etc boredom soon sets in,

when carribean hols 1st became popular 40 yrs ago mights out consisted of going round the great plantation house for dinner pretending you were someone you weren't for a few hrs, same thing really

I’ve had 3 horses with Middleham Park and they are a good outfit. Monthly fees are quite high but they cover all vet bills so you are either disappointed if you have a sound horse but happy enough if they require their services. I’ve had between 8 to 16 owners per horse which makes it social as well.

My mate has had all the micro shares outfits 4000,5000 and 6000 owners. Madness.
They had horse called Getaway Trump which I believe sold out for multiple years with 7000 owners. You do the maths.

a few folk will be saying Getaway Trump on Monday afternoon imv.

I'd buy some shares in Getin Trump

And me for getstuffedtrump.

Apple Away...

Corals horse enterd  Saturday  at Ascot  10 lucky owners 60k race.
Ronnie.

https://www.facebook.com/share/18QZztiJqh/

Ignore that the link doesn't work

It was another syndicates offering 1% share for £100 in a 9 year old chaser they advertise as a dual gold cup winner.
Actually won the grand military gold cup lol

Join us on an exciting journey with Farceur Du Large, the dual Gold Cup winner. Get in on the action and own a share of racing excellence!
Shares are up for grabs at £1000 each, and you can be part of this unforgettable season until August 31st, 2025! You will also enjoy exclusive benefits such as ballots to secure owner badges and stable visits plus access to hospitality boxes at premier venues like Newbury Racecourse, Wembley Stadium, O2 Arena London, various football stadiums, and much more!   ✨

I was bought as a gift 2 shares in John Barbour(runs on Wednesday). It won first time out for Old Gold then came 4th next time after pulling too hrd.

I have amassed £1.60 in prizemoney for the 2 runs!

OP, that's outrageous. The syndicate is basically run not for the benefit of the small owners but the administrators of the horse. Can a trainer run a horseracing syndicate? This ought to be the way forward for true horseracing racing fans/supporters. To me the administrators are blood suckers.

What was the outcome of one of the early syndicates,that won the derby,but surprise surprise,they didn’t really own it.

Nothing is sacred.

DG... Re your above post^^^^

I was introduced to a couple in the pub yesterday evening who also have shares in your horse... They are off to Ludlow today to watch him (John Barbour) in the first
I said to them it looks like a typical bad ew race for the bookie chaps
If he jumps OK on hurdles debut and doesn't pull too hard like last time, can't see it being out of the frame and may even give the long odds on shot a fright

Feb 18, 2025 -- 5:19PM, impossible123 wrote:

OP, that's outrageous. The syndicate is basically run not for the benefit of the small owners but the administrators of the horse. Can a trainer run a horseracing syndicate? This ought to be the way forward for true horseracing racing fans/supporters. To me the administrators are blood suckers.

I was saying this to anyone who would listen 6/7 years back. These syndicates were only being run for the benefit of the 'manager' and his/their 'fees'. Complete con job. Real syndicates are 4/5 friends cubbing together to cover all costs, not these ventures. Just knew when I saw the characters behind them, this would be the result.

https://youtu.be/B8allEow8Xw

No bet for me Reg

A old friend was with mark johnson 10k a year all in, small number of them and started punting it and he nearly went skint, he learned his lesson and now happier with a few of these cheaper £50-100 syndicates, so I think it’s the way forward for small money to say I own it, but don’t mention you are one of 3000

A old friend was with mark johnson 10k a year all in, small number of them and started punting it and he nearly went skint, he learned his lesson and now happier with a few of these cheaper £50-100 syndicates, so I think it’s the way forward for small money to say I own it, but don’t mention you are one of 3000

John Barbour 3.50N

Today should be interesting, 2nd fav and trainer has said he would like it to remain a novice for next season!

Is it a bluff or double bluff?

Old Gold Racing 23 won £15k with Kingston James at Kelso yesterday.

£15,609 / 4500 =£3.46

Well done to the shareholders on their big win

Pretty obvious the vast majority of shareholders arent in it for the money.

I think belonging to a syndicate could work out a lot cheaper if the "trainer" is also a syndicated stakeholder-come-trainer (possibly semi-retired) with adequate facility eg a farmer/permit holder. This is akin to eating and staying in a b&b rather than a swanky hotel in the middle of town.

But, with a professional syndicate facilitator or manager the costs will be too punitive and not ordinary stakeholder friendly.

£1.78 prizemoney added to the pot

These people take advantage of poor ordinary punters. Nowt wrong with small syndicates of 12-20 max but these group shares are just taking the mickey and top trainers encourage it by training their horses.

Top trainers tend not to rock the applecart. They tend to milk it instead.

They're a racket. Who really wants to own barely a tooth, nonsense.

you can be in at least 4 syndicates for a tenner,just buy the scarves and stand by the parade ring,no one no,s any different from the 1000 other members

I own it , no I do, I'm Spartacus.

are the syndicate that 100,s paid in to have a national runner,that even ruk.lucky ,newesboy and co  rubbished a few yrs back,still on the go ?

Is being a shareholder of a horse in a syndicate no matter how smidgeon tax deductible? Or will I need to ask Mr Dettori? I might be charged a fee for this info from Mr Dettori. TIA.