Choosing The Right Ownership for you

If you are interested in being involved in racehorse ownership, there are many ways to get involved at levels to suit all kinds of different purchases and different budgets.

The 2 main ways of owning racehorses are as a Sole Owner or as part of a Racing Partnership or Syndicate, but you can also lease a horse for as little as a single race day, perhaps for a corporate day out or as a special family treat to mark a special event. All of these options are available through Micky Hammond Racing.

Sole Ownership
For some people, this is the only way they want to be involved. Sole ownership can give you the complete involvement in racehorse ownership without the need to discuss / agree your horse’s plans with anyone else (except your trainer, of course!). It also means that the jockey will wear your racing colours, and your horse will carry your name as the owner in racecards and racing publications, and (if it’s an unraced horse) you can name your horse. In addition, you won’t have to share prize money with other owners.

It gives you a deep and personal involvement with your horse, its training and its racing career. Obviously, however, you will also have to be able to afford 100% of the costs associated with your pursuit. As well as the cost of purchasing your horse, you will need to be ready to spend about £12,500 per annum on running costs, including training fees. Full details of costs and a likely budget can be found here.

If you are interested in Sole Ownership, please either Contact Us or read on in our Buying Your Horse section. More information can also be found at the welcometoracehorseownership.co.uk

Partnerships or Syndicates
If would like to be involved in racehorse ownership, but feel that you don’t want to or cannot afford to be a Sole Owner, then being a member of a Partnership or Syndicate can give nearly all of the passionate involvement and excitement without the same level of risk.

There are some subtle differences between a Partnership and a Syndicate (you can read about the differences at welcometoracehorseownership.co.uk), but essentially they each refer to a group of people who come together and share the costs of buying and maintaining a racehorse. It can be from as few as 2 people up to several hundred, though most partnerships tend to involve 8-12 like-minded people or friends.

With a partnership of 10 people, as well as 10% of the cost of purchasing your horse, you will need to be ready to spend about £100 per month on running costs, including training fees. Full details of costs and a likely budget can be found here.

If you are part of a group of people interested in a partnership, please either Contact Us or read on in our Buying Your Horse section. If you are not part of an established group of people, but would be interested in joining others organised into a partnership by Micky Hammond Racing, please Contact Us as we can also help with this.

Be a racehorse owner for a day
Perhaps you are planning a Corporate day out or a family treat to mark a special occasion. Micky Hammond Racing can lease you a racehorse for the day as part of a package which would include:

• Horse will run in your name or group’s name, and carry your selected colours (both will appear in the racecard)
• Visit the stables in advance of your raceday to see the horse being prepared
• Free Owners’ tickets for the raceday (Hospitality can be arranged upon request), with access to the Owners and Trainers Bar and Restaurant
• Join the trainer and jockey in the Parade Ring for the pre-race tactics discussion, and see your horse being “saddled up”
• If you are lucky enough that your horse wins, receive your prize as part of a racecourse presentation
• Keep any owners’ prize money your ‘horse for the day’ wins
• Video recording of the race as a souvenir of the day

These packages vary depending on the number of people you would like to attend, the day you want to race and the quality of the horse involved. However, if you are interested in more details or a quote, please Contact Us.

Costs of Ownership
This short section will cover the costs of ownership referred to above.

Purchase Price
The purchase price of a racehorse can vary from as little as a few hundred pounds to several million pounds. Many of the horses Micky Hammond Racing manages or purchases on behalf of our owners are in the range from £5,000 to £40,000, though we do have several more expensive animals. Multiple winning horses such as George The Best (£7,500) and Snows Ride (23,000 guineas) are in the usual range. You obviously need to be able to cover the purchase price, or your share in it depending which ownership route you choose.

Running Costs
Here are the regular costs items involved in keeping a horse in training, and the likely cash amounts:-

Approximate Annual Cost (exc VAT)
Training Fees and Stabling  £10,000
Race Entries   £300
Jockey Fees   £1000
Gallops Fees   £600
Transportation to Races  £400
Trainer / groom raceday expenses £200
Total   £12,500 per annum 

These estimated figures are based on a horse being in full training for 10 months of the year, with 2 months break (but including cost of the care of the horse during that break). They also assume a horse will run 8 times a year, and have average travel costs and veterinary requirements. The costs are quoted excluding VAT, but owners can take advantage of the VAT scheme operated by HM Treasury for racehorse owners, which allows all VAT to be reclaimed providing certain conditions are followed. See welcometoracehorseownership.co.uk for more details.

Obviously, you can offset any prize money against these costs. An average race in the North will bring in about £3,000 to £6,000 for a winner, and also some small prize money for a placed horse. An owner can expect to recover about 30% of his outlay in prize money on average, though this can obviously vary from zero to a large profit.