By Bill Finley
When Well Humored (Distorted Humor) captured last Saturday's Wayward Lass S. at Tampa Bay Downs some may have looked down at the name of the winning owner and assumed this was just one more stakes victory from the loaded WinStar operation. It was. And it wasn't.
Well Humored is indeed officially owned by WinStar Farm, but she races for WinStar Stablemates Racing LLC. The racing stable represents the next step in the WinStar Stablemates program, which was launched some seven years ago. Winstar Stablemates is a club that allows members inside access to the farm and all things WinStar.
“Stablemates has always been a fan initiative to help align fans with the farm and give them exposure to the daily goings on at the farm and what the farm is like,” said WinStar CEO and President Elliott Walden. “What we've been trying to do is help educate fans and to create enthusiasm for the business.”
While the club members enjoyed the experience, they kept telling Walden they wanted more. It was one thing to get the inside story on WinStar horses and root for them when they raced, but it would be a lot better if they could actually own a piece of some of the farm's horses. The WinStar team liked the idea and thought it would make the Stablemate program that much more attractive. The problem was coming up with an affordable way to allow fans to invest in WinStar horses that would encompass the thrill of ownership and, if the horses produced on the racetrack, put a few extra dollars in the pockets of the members.
They came up with the idea of taking 10 WinStar-owned fillies and placing them in the new WinStar Stablemates Racing LLC stable, which was open to all fans. The fans don't own the horses. Instead, they have leased them for racing purposes for 2018. At the end of the year, the fillies will either join the WinStar broodmare band, return to WinStar's regular stable or be part of next year's Stablemates stable.
“The concept is to let these fans see what it's like to own a race horse without the buy-in being exorbitant,” Walden said. “And to give them a taste of what ownership is like…to understand what training bills are like, to experience what winning is like and to do so without having to go to the sales and spend $200,000.
“I think this could really grow. The purpose of it is to fulfill the mission of the Stablemates program and to continue to offer value to fans and raise awareness of our beloved sport. We want to give people the opportunity to see what it's like to own a horse.”
Trying to make this as exciting a proposition as possible, WinStar made sure that it put some high-quality horses in the new stable. The list includes a filly by Speightstown who is a half-sister to GI Breeders' Cup Mile winner Tourist (Tiznow), a Pioneerof the Nile filly that WinStar bought for $300,000 at the 2017 Keeneland September sale and a half-sister to 2016 GI Travers S. winner Golden Ticket (Speightstown).
“What's exciting about it is these fans have a chance of having a taste of what it's like to own a really good horse,” Walden said.
WinStar had planned on selling 100 slots. Each person would have to put up $5,000 to cover training costs plus a $1,000 administrative fee. That would give WinStar $500,000, or $50,000 per horse, to cover training bills. The members, who share in the racing rights of all 10 horses, also had to pay a $1 fee to lease the fillies. The cumulative amount earned by the stable's horses, after jockey and trainer fees, goes into a pool and will be divided up by the members at the end of the year. If the total amount earned by the stable, less fees, exceeds $500,000, the lessees will be looking at a profit on their investment.
WinStar found out that SEC regulations make it virtually impossible to market such a venture, so they had to rely on word of mouth. They sold 38 slots and bought up the other 62 themselves, but expect to attract more investors next year.
Well Humored was the first horse to race for WinStar Stablemates Racing LLC, and it could not have gone better. The 4-year-old set a new stakes record in the $50,000 Tampa race while winning by three-quarters of a length. Trainer Arnaud Delacour said afterward he will look for a graded stakes spot for her next start.
The only thing that did not go perfectly was the jockey Daniel Centento wore the traditional WinStar silks. The syndicate members were given the opportunity to choose from among a set of new silks and voted for black and gold colors with the WinStar logo. They're ready to go for future starters from the stable.
The silks aside, Walden is optimistic about the future of the program and believes the initial members have signed up for something that will be exciting and, potentially, lucrative.
“I think it is a great deal,” he said. “Here they won a stakes with a filly that is undefeated on the dirt and is going to run in a graded stakes in her next start. She ran a 93 Beyer and they got her racing rights for $1.”
Not a subscriber? Click here to sign up for the daily PDF or alerts.
