OTI Ready to Whip Up a Storm at Ascot

When it comes to Cup hunting, OTI Racing has had its fair share of success, with an Australian Cup, a Geelong Cup and even La Coupe de Maisons-Laffitte among the trophies in the cabinet.

This week, the enterprising dual-hemisphere syndicate will be represented on the most coveted stage in world racing when Fastnet Tempest (Ire) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) takes his chance in the hustle and bustle of the Royal Hunt Cup. The 4-year-old, who is currently vying for favouritism in tomorrow's contest down Ascot's straight mile, won at the course in mid-May before showing his versatility with another victory around the tight curves of Chester. That win on May 27 exemplified the truly international aspect of OTI Racing, which also celebrated success that day with Renew (Ire) (Dansili {GB}) in Australia and Araaja (Ire) (Iffraaj {GB}) in France.

“It's exciting to be able to look forward to a runner at Royal Ascot,” says OTI principal Terry Henderson. “I'm very happy with the horse and [trainer] William Haggas has done a great job with him. He thinks he'll be hard to beat.”

Henderson founded the Melbourne-based syndicate with Simon O'Donnell back in 1999 and through the early years of this century has seen it spread its wings from Australia to incorporate a significant team of runners in Europe. The OTI string now numbers nearly 90 thoroughbreds across Australia, Britain and France.

“The attraction of what we do in the two hemispheres is that it's almost a unique set up. Highclere does it up to a point but not really on the same scale,” says Henderson. “When Simon and I first set up OTI, I didn't envisage buying European horses but it has been a natural progression. We have come to know the quality of the European stock.”

Indeed, some of the team's most notable successes have been with horses that started their racing careers in either Britain or France. Top of the list is the well-travelled Aga Khan-bred Manighar (Fr) (Linamix {Fr}), who switched from Alain de Royer Dupre to Luca Cumani after his purchase by OTI Racing and the Hon. Earle Mack before changing countries again to be trained in Victoria by Peter Moody, for whom he won three consecutive Group 1 races.

“You look at our best races in Australia and it's an embarrassment for Australian breeders. Really anything above 1600 metres the races are dominated by European and New Zealand horses,” Henderson notes. “I love European racing generally, but I've found that the horses below the Cup level are easier to assess in France. Their tracks are flatter and they tend to go slower earlier in their races before sprinting home, which is what we do in Australia. Also the prize-money is much better there than in England.”

With 35 horses in Europe, the French roster of trainers now stretches to Andre Fabre, Mikel Delzangles, John Hammond, Antoine de Watrigant, Simone Brogi, Nicolas Clement and Corinne Barande-Barbe, while OTI is also represented in Newmarket via the stables of William Haggas, Luca Cumani and Michael Bell.
It is perhaps Cumani with whom OTI Racing is most readily associated in Europe and he came closest to delivering the team the most sought-after Australian prize of all when Bauer (Ire) (Halling)–another horse owned in partnership, this time with his breeder Aston House Stud–went down by just a nose to Viewed (Aus) (Scenic {Ire}) in his quest to lift the G1 Melbourne Cup. While for any Australian owner winning the Melbourne Cup would be high on the wish list, OTI does not restricted its business solely to locating top-class stayers.

“When we started to do this in England we were very much focused on Cup races,” Henderson explains. “Once you get to 1600 metres the breed is just so much better in Europe–we're not relying on Europe solely for supplying staying horses In the UK in particular, we've found people are happy to partner with us and race the horse in Britain until his 4-year-old year, but then stay in the horse to continue racing in Australia. It's so much simpler now moving horses around the world than it used to be.”
He continues, “We try to find different ways to source horses and we like to leave them with their original trainer. We've developed relationships with those trainers and have sent them more horses. What's happened over the years is that I've found that other buyers have had deeper pockets for the horses we're trying to buy so we sometimes enter into arrangements when we buy half the horse. Buying a certain type of horse is very competitive now but it's a healthy situation for the game.”

And it's not just horses that move from one side of the world to the other for OTI Racing. The team has played a key role in the fledgling careers of two young British trainers who have set up businesses in Australia in recent years.

“It's been great to see the intelligence spread around the world,” says Henderson, who persuaded Archie Alexander and Matt Cumani to start training in Ballarat, Victoria. “When you cross-fertilise training styles from different parts of the world, different ways of doing things start to emerge and it's really interesting. The increasing internationalisation of training talent can only be a positive thing. Archie had a sensational season this year and we're starting to add some decent stock to his stable. He'll be one of our top trainers in years to come.”

The Group 1 successes on OTI Racing's roll of honour have all taken place in Australia, with Frenchman Antoine de Watrigant producing Gailo Chop (Fr) (Deportivo {GB}) to win the Mackinnon S., while the locally-trained Kibbutz (NZ) (Golan {Ire}) and Brambles (NZ) (Savabeel {Aus}) were both Derby winners, in Victoria and Queensland, respectively.

All forward-thinking operators within the racing and breeding industry are looking at ways to lure younger participants in the sport and, with this aim in mind, OTI Racing has recently added a new dimension to its ownership portfolio with the launch of the GEN X Partnership in Australia.

“I'm not eligible to join it sadly,” jokes Henderson of the project which specifically targets potential racehorse owners under the age of 45. “It's focusing on giving an entry point to younger people into ownership. We decided to do it with a slightly different flavour to what we've previously done with OTI.  We bought some more precocious fillies and hopefully they can have some success over the next few seasons.”

The four fillies–three recently purchased yearlings and a 2-year-old–will be in training with Ciaron Maher, Amy Johnston, Archie Alexander and Matt Cumani. The latter's sister, Francesca, a former European representative for OTI and now established racing broadcaster with Channel 7 in Australia and ITV Racing in Britain, is also involved in the GEN X Partnership, which will focus heavily on the social aspects of racing along with the usual stable visits and racedays.

Whatever the eventual achievements of GEN X, they'll have a long way to go to emulate the many high days enjoyed by the baby boomers of the original OTI syndicates, a number of whom will be hoping the success story continues at Royal Ascot this week.