A changing harness racing ownership model means the road to the National Yearling Sales is a much different one than the Kentuckiana Lodge crew took ten or twenty years ago.
Crunch time is on the horizon as Cran and Chrissie Dalgety work their way through inspecting dozens of yearlings all across the country as the 2023 sales approach.
Preparations for the sales are similar to the sales of the early to mid-2000s in many ways.
Cran will again be attempting to bring next year’s best two-year-olds and the Derby and Oaks winners of the future home.
But as far as ownership goes, things have totally changed.
And that has opened up more exciting opportunities for more people.
“In the early years we were going to the sales to secure horses for individual clients,” Cran said.
“We would also be buying for ourselves and bringing owners into horses later on.”
“As time went on, quarter and half shares were pretty much standard for us.”
“But in the age of fractional ownership these days, it is a completely different beast.”
“We still have those half and quarter shares but they are mixed in with your 2.5, 5 and 10% shares.”
The change in the way Kentuckiana Lodge approaches ownership might sound a lot more complicated but it has a lot more upside for the stable and its owners as well.
“With the percentages that are in play these days there are a million ways a horse’s ownership can be divided up.”
“It has worked well for us bringing new owners into the stable in recent years.”
“For those new to racing a horse with us or new to harness racing in general, they can take a smaller share and see what it is all about.”
“They get all the fun of racing the horse without the big outlay that was commonplace years ago.”
“Republican Party is a great example.”
“His shares range from bigger fractions right down to 2.5% splits.”
“When he won his Group One this year we were all yelling and screaming as loud as each other regardless of who owned what.”
“What we have found is that the smaller shares give owners a good taste of what we are about and they can take it from there.”
“We have had owners that have taken those smaller shares come back the next year and spread their interest across two or more horses or taken a larger share.”
The Kentuckiana Lodge crew hope that the industry can further promote fractional ownership to help quash any hesitancy about buying a share in a yearling.
“We welcome anyone interested in joining our crew, just come forward and contact us.”
“We have a great group of owners and just with the enjoyment that some of our newer owners have had in recent seasons, it is important to put the message out there.”
“When it comes to the sales there is no blueprint for bringing owners into the fold, that is probably something for those in charge of the game to consider.”
“So with that in mind, through our own channels – our website and our social media – we'd just like to put it out there that anyone can join in the fun with us.”
“With the tailored percentages it can be very affordable.”
New and existing owners interested in taking a share in a yearling with Kentuckiana Lodge can feel free to contact Cran and Chrissie Dalgety
For more information, email c.dalgety@xtra.co.nz or call Cran (027-436-0667) or Chrissie (027-278-9466).
