'Choice' Shines Light on Syndicates

Australian racing nowadays benefits from significant overseas investment in ownership, which has proved a great boon to the country's bloodstock scene. Equally significant, though, is the strength of syndicate ownership, which draws upon the rich seam of passion for the sport which permeates the full breadth of Australian society. Consequently, every season sees umpteen high-class horses racing for syndicates.

The importance of syndication to Australian racing cannot be over-emphasised–which makes the current Lil Caesar case (which is due to be heard by the stewards of Racing NSW on 10th Mar.) particularly unfortunate. The adverse publicity which this debacle is giving to the syndication business is colossal, with Richard Callander, 5% owner and syndicate manager of Little Caesar, having been charged with dishonest and/or fraudulent actions after allegedly arranging the sale of the horse to Hong Kong trainer Danny Shum for A$200,000 (plus a 5% commission for the agent, jockey Glyn Schofield) but telling his co-owners that the deal had been done at a figure of A$140,000.

This case would be bad enough were it viewed merely in isolation, but Callander has engineered a double whammy by claiming, seemingly in attempted mitigation, that this type of deception by syndicators and agents is standard practice, describing it as “racing's dirty little secret.” Callander's allegations have been denied and condemned by Federation of Bloodstock Agents Australia President Adrian Hancock, who has described them as “a slur on the participants in the industry who operate professionally and honestly.” Even so, Callander could hardly have done more damage to the good name of the syndication business if he had tried.

Happily, the G1 Blue Diamond S. at Caulfield, the premier juvenile race in Melbourne, has turned the spotlight onto the other side of the coin, providing a glowing testament to the potential for success, pleasure and profit of syndication.

The Blue Diamond was dominated by local trainer Mick Price, who has consistently been one of the most successful Caulfield-based trainers since moving his team there in the 1990s when the Epsom training centre down the coast at Mordialloc was closed. Price saddled the first and second favourites in the Blue Diamond: Extreme Choice (Aus) (Not A Single Doubt {Aus}) and Flying Artie (Aus) (Artie Schiller). Each had won in stakes company last time out, and they clearly held strong chances on form–but, even so, their superiority over the rest was remarkable. The pair drew clear of their rivals in a private battle up the straight, passing the post more than four lengths ahead of third-placed Zamzam (Aus) (Redoute's Choice {Aus}).

Both of Price's charges drew wide, with Extreme Choice coming out of barrier 11 and Flying Artie out of barrier 15 in a 16-horse field. While Extreme Choice was not significantly inconvenienced by his draw, Flying Artie endured a terrible passage through the race. Whether he would have come out on top with better luck is impossible to know, but it is safe to say that both he and Extreme Choice are top-class juveniles.

Together, Extreme Choice and Flying Artie provide a welcome reaffirmation of the benefits of syndicate ownership. With A$900,000 to the winner of the Blue Diamond and A$270,000 to the runner-up, both have already guaranteed that their ownership groups will show a profit: Extreme Choice was bought by Price for A$100,000 as a yearling at Inglis' Classic Yearling Sale, while Flying Artie cost A$50,000 in Session Two of the same firm's Australian Easter Yearling Sale. Fourth-placed Power Trip (Aus) (Hard Spun) also looks to have been very well bought, having been picked up for A$42,000 at Inglis' Premier Yearling Sale.

Third-placed Zamzam represents the other principal aspect of the top end of Australian ownership. The daughter of Redoute's Choice (Aus) (Danehill) is raced by Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid al Maktoum, who picked her up for A$920,000 at Inglis' Easter Yearling Sale, her price tag no doubt influenced by the fact that his dam Fleur De'here (NZ) (Dehere) is a Group 1-placed half-sister to G1 Australasian Oaks victrix Tully Thunder (Aus) (Thunder Gulch).

Even by the standards of Australian syndicates, the ownership group which races Extreme Choice is both a large and a happy one. There looked to be dozens of smiling faces in the post-race photo-calls, and their extremely impressive colt looks set not only to bring them further joy, but also to provide further endorsements for the merit of syndicate ownership.

While the syndicate which races Extreme Choice is largely made up of smaller investors, it now also contains one big player: Newgate Stud had bought into the colt earlier in the week, no doubt with an eye on his eventual retirement to stud.

It is easy to see why Extreme Choice had appealed to Newgate: not only is he an imposing colt who had already shown form good enough to send him off hot favourite for a Group 1 race, but he also comes from a very respectable family. He is the fourth foal and fourth winner for his dam Extremely (Aus) (Hussonet). Furthermore, Extremely's US-bred dam Going To Extremes (Nasty And Bold) was a very good filly, including the G2 Woodbine Royal North H. among her 11 wins in Canada.

Extreme Choice's victory was instrumental in taking his excellent young sire Not A Single Doubt–a dual Group 3 winner from the family of the top-class racehorse and sire Snippets (Aus) (Lunchtime {GB})–to the head of Australia's General Sires' Table, overtaking Street Cry (Ire) (Machiavellian). The 14-year-old son of Redoute's Choice enjoyed a memorable weekend: not only was Not A Single Doubt represented by Extreme Choice, but his other earners included G1 Oakleigh Plate runner-up Fell Swoop (Aus), G2 Surround S. runner-up Single Gaze (Aus) and Group 3 place-getters Good Project (Aus) and Secret Agenda (Aus).