Spears Wealth Management

Zain Alatas - 14/07/2010

IT'S HIGHCLERE: BUY A NOSE!

Zain Alatas discovers that buying a share in a horse needn't be like burning £50 notes - in fact, it's worth putting a bet on a Highclere syndicate.

As hobbies go, owning racehorses is up there with crashing E-type Jaguars when it comes to value for money. Put £100,000 down for an untrained beast, spend £30,000 a year on training it, and three years later you could end up with nothing more than a heavy heart and a few tubs of glue.

Most syndicates are not much fun either: muck in with nineteen complete strangers, write a cheque for £5,000, then hear nothing about the horse's progress or when it is running - and that without any owner privileges. In fact, syndicate managers have been fleecing racing enthusiasts and newbies alike ever since the model was thought up.

Back in 1992, The Hon. Harry Herbert saw the opportunity to make syndicates that actually worked. He set out to combine good horses and great trainers with an attention to detail and a level of customer care that would define it is a luxury brand. Herbert, whose racing pedigree stretches back for generations (his father and grandfather, the 6th and 7th Earls of Carnarvon, were racing managers to the Queen), clearly understands the thrill: "Seeing the CEO of a blue-chip company with tears streaming down his face as his horse comes in first place, you can see the extraordinary emotional effect a horse has on people. And people form a close attachment to their horses. Even in a recession, the horse is the last thing to go."

Leaving his own business in thoroughbred management, Herbert took his racing background and savoir-faire and put together a dream team of trainers for Highclere Thoroughbred Racing. These include trainer to the Queen's horses Sir Michael Stoute, Richard Hannon and Michael Bell. The task of choosing the future winners is left to Herbert's brother-in-law John Warren, who separately runs Highclere Stud in Berkshire, and is bloodstock advisor to the Queen.

Highclere is now one of the most successful in the business, and this season it has made £369,000 in prize money with an astonishing 29% runner-to-winner strike rate. It had three winners in a week at Ascot. These are results that would make even Sheikh Mohammed's eyes water.

This calibre of racing genius costs more than your average laissez-faire syndicate, and there is still one fundamental problem - the other nineteen owners. The last thing you want when you horse wins is to look round and see the same look of elation on other people's faces. Herbert disagrees: "A horse is a great bonding agent and people make friends very quickly," he insists. Unconvinced, I made a trip to Newmarket to find out.

One of the grander perks of being a Highclere owner are the regular visits to see the horses train, including a night at the swanky Jockey Club Rooms in Newmarket. Usually for members only, the rooms are filled with old silks and Regency furniture, and the walls are lined with replicas of equestrian masterworks, including a copy of a Stubbs by Stubbs himself. As we sit down to a suitably retro and delightful dinner - tian of crab and beef Wellington - it certainly seems that all the owners are getting on well. I later discover that none of them has shares in the same horse, which is rather convenient, and likely a bit of clever organisation on the part of Herbert and his team, further to elaborate the illusion and make the shareholders feel more like full owners.

The guests range from die-hard racegoers who have always dreamt of owning a racehorse to those who have been drawn in by Herbert's persuasive charm, plus the odd celebrity (today, Ben Fogle). The real excitement comes in the morning, as everyone heads off to meet the trainers and see their horses run.

Hearing the full history of a horse and comparing it to its performance on race day makes sure you are fully involved. The level of service continues throughout the year, as the Highclere team constantly phones up shareholders to let them know their horse's progress. One owner, a top private client lawyer at a City firm calls it "a lesson in client care".

Naturally, Highclere has become very popular: Sir Alex Ferguson, Jodie Kidd and Elizabeth Hurley have all bought into some of the 25 syndicates and are delighted to be snapped in their team sweatshirts. This year's syndicates are now ready for perusal, and the yearlings will walk out at the parades at Highclere Castle this September. If the success of the past year years is anything to go by, now's the time to buy in.