2014 Syndicate AGM

I thought the proposal to enter Change as a claimer had merit but Geoff Small didn't display any interest so I thought there may have been other issues on his mind.  It is apparent that Change's immediate future now lies with Michelle and Bernie so maybe that was why he was non committal in that respect.

Like myself, I believe that most syndicate members are in it for the racing experience and I agree that retaining competitive horses in New Zealand is the best way to ensure that good quality racing survives in the north. Figures like $60,000 plus sound enticing but when broken down on a per share basis can be frittered away easily. However when attractive offers are made for a horse which has plateaued here then I might view it differently. For example Awesome Armbro was sold to America as a 7 year old and continued a successful career there .

I was actually the person who raised the topic of racing Change as a claimer and it wasn't until after the meeting that I realised that I hadn't been clear enough with my suggestion.

What I had really meant was that we put a claiming price tag on him for his final two races and if nobody claims him then we still give him away as a hack. I didn't mean for it to come across as a suggestion to continue racing him for longer as a claimer, which is possibly how some people interpreted it.

With regards to the suggestion of trying to sell Jack and Posie while they're in their prime, I simply can't support this. There is a certain amount of irony in complaining about there not being a big enough pool of horses in your grade, so you decide to sell up like everyone else.
I understand that this could afford some people the opportunity to buy into a new ATC syndicate, but at what point do you become part of the problem

Major Change now with Wallis and Hackett I see from the Cambridge fields.

That was the implication from the words "  Beach training" I gather.

They previously trained Toddy for an earlier syndicate with some success.

Notes from today’s syndicate AGM held at Alexandra Park:

• (Bettors Pocket) as advised by Tony Herlihy, Posie is now off for a 6 week spell and will be back up racing by Christmas. Tony confirmed what we already knew that he has improved this season, but the attitude from Tony still seemed a bit lukewarm on his ability – but he did think another couple of wins were likely next year. The syndicate members are, I believe, more optimistic than the trainer in this horses abilities especially after last Fridays career-best run.
• (The Faithful) as advised by stable assistant lady (sorry cannot remember her name - no not Katrina) Jack is doing very nicely and is currently scheduled to attend the workouts on 20th August and to race on 26th August.
• (Major Change) referred to by Geoff Small as the handbrake of the syndicate. In Geoff’s opinion the horse is sick of racing and has got to go. They are making one last attempt to get some form on the board in the hope of attracting a buyer with a short period of beach training and races scheduled for Thu 4th and 18th August at Cambridge. His future as a racehorse will be reassessed after these races but it looks as though he will be given away as a hack. A show of hands was taken on the possibility of entering him as a claimer but Geoff Small is not interested as he would still be racing the same horses as he has been racing in the recent amateurs races – informal show-of-hands vote was 7 for and 8 against.

There was one syndicate member (previously unknown to me) that had a rather lengthy opinionated rant about selling all 3 syndicate horses as they were all only average and that it would be better to cash up now and to reinvest in a new syndicate next year. He conveniently forgets that Jack has raced in Group One races. On his next orbit past earth he needs to have another look at the race video and time run by Posie last Friday evening - average – bollocks!! Some peoples expectations are unrealistic.

Rob Carr went on to mention that offers are occasionally received for syndicate horses but these are only ever passed on to syndicate members when the trainers consider them to be realistic and when the offers are received in writing. Rob advised that there is always the possibility of selling Jack and Posie but until a firm written offer is received then it is not considered anything more than talk.

Another little statistic from Rob Carr – only 4 previous syndicate horses have raced as 6 year olds.