General / Wayne Bailey / 23 June 2009 / Leave a comment Free £25 Bet

Wayne Bailey has finally taken the plunge and is now the proud (part!) owner of a fine looking three-year-old National Hunt gelding. Here, he talks us thorough the process of buying and recounts a day at the sales...

If you spend most of your waking day watching other people's horses running around, you'll eventually want to buy one for yourself! I've finally taken a chance, coughed up some hard earned cash, and bought a share in a horse. We purchased the as yet unnamed Lot 161 (pictured) at Goffs Land Rover Sales earlier this month for €24,000 and needless to say, all involved are hugely excited. There are seven of us in total and we will be known as the 'Dream Syndicate' which is run by the Winning Ways group.

Background
It was my late father who gave me my love of racing and our trip to the bookies every Saturday with 50p in my pocket was hugely exciting for me as a kid. That was well before the plasma TV days and I'd watch in wonder and confusion as the men chalked up numbers on boards and then proceeded to rub them out again! I could go on all day, but to summarise, I've loved racing from an early age and a trip to my local track (Leopardstown) still gives me immense joy. Years later, my father was very ill and I placed what would be his last ever bet for him on Brave Inca in the 2006 AIG Champion Hurdle - so it's great to be involved with connections of that great horse in the new syndicate.
Between Betfair, The Irish Independent, Let's Bet and the rest, I spend a hell of a lot of time writing about the sport so I guess I felt that ownership was the next step and it would also give me an insight into life on the other side of the laptop, so to speak.

Deciding to buy
The process started about two years ago and my first plan was to buy a lease in a horse, and ease in gently with a racing club. I done some basic searching on the web and realised that it's not quite as easy to get involved with racing clubs in Ireland as it is in the UK. Eventually, I found a group that were looking for members but with the gloomy economic clouds looming, they found it hard to get the numbers together. In the meantime, I was throwing a few quid each week into an account and also had some success when turning €1,000 into €30,000 by backing in NH handicaps in a thread some of you may have read on the Win2Win forum. While that bank dropped down quite a bit, it still left me with some money to buy, and more importantly - it was money I had earned from racing so I don't feel too guilty about splashing out in these tough times! With a few quid in my pocket, I decided that buying rather than leasing was now the way to go.
Eventually, I got in touch with Oran Crean who runs Winning Ways (he was also involved with Brave Inca and a few other horses from Colm Murphy's yard). We met up at Fairyhouse and I knew straight off that he was a genuine guy. He explained how his syndicates work, what it costs exactly, and answered a load of my questions! Transparency with costs is definitely something you should look for so you don't end up with a load of unexpected bills. I've heard some horror stories on that front so I was glad when Oran produced a comprehensive breakdown of all costs involved. A month or two later, I went on a tour of Colm Murphy's stable and was happy to get involved after viewing the excellent set-up he has. Interestingly, Murphy actually worked with Aidan O'Brien's yard but decided to set up himself when O'Brien went flat only. Colm Murphy is a genuine guy and tells you out straight what he thinks, which is a big plus.

A day at the sales
Normally, each Winning Ways syndicate will have roughly ten members and that's how we started out. Unfortunately, some people had to pull out due to the economic downturn so the syndicate was left with seven members. We still wanted to go ahead and buy - and while this meant it would cost us all more, it also means we own just more than an eyelash each! The money had to be lodged into the bank account by late May, just in time for the Goffs Land Rover Sales in June.
My wife and I drove down to the sales and it was a first for both of us. There were simply horses everywhere and the sales ring was exactly like on TV with the auctioneer talking a mile a minute. We met up with Oran and Colm Murphy and started to look at some horses (there were 250 lots for sale on day one, 270 on day two). The minimum bid on day one was €5,000 and €2,000 on day two. I'll admit that I wouldn't know the first thing about picking out a horse so I left it all to the guys. It can actually get quite tiring watching horses walking around in circles all day and patience is definitely required. Colm had bid for a few and bought one or two for his yard already, but eventually, the lads put their eye on Lot 161, a beautiful looking chestnut gelding (aged three). He came from Definite Article and is related to some black type in Megan's Joy, Tropical Lake and Tropical Lady so Colm decided to bid. The hammer came down at €24,000, and while it is expensive in these times, there was no point in buying a no-hoper either. Colm knows the horse's family well from training Megans Joy (cousin). A lot of luck is involved but in general, you get what you pay for. The average price paid at the sales over the two days was €12,000 but another Definite Article gelding actually topped the day two sales so that's a good sign for us in some ways.

The next steps
The horse will be broken in over the summer and will do some light training over the winter. Depending on how things go, he may be entered in a bumper in the new year. It's really up to Colm and we are glad to trust his judgement. With National Hunt racing, you have to play the waiting game quite a lot so patience is required. You just can't rush, but Colm says he may look like a hurdler. Anyway, we'll wait and see. Most of my family and friends are hugely excited for me but I've also got the odd comment telling me I'm mad buying in this economic climate. But as I say, I earned the money through racing so I don't feel too bad about spending it in that arena. It's exciting to know that he's eligible for the €100,000 Land Rover bumper at Punchestown, a race won by Hardy Eustace in the past. Of course, we all dream of Punchestown and Cheltenham glory but I'm very realistic about this and know deep down that most horses cost a hell of a lot more than they earn. Still, it's the beginning of an interesting journey and I'm delighted to be a part of it.

I'll keep you all updated, so watch this space!

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