Buying a share in a racehorse is best viewed as the cost of an experience - the involvement, the access, the yard visits, the race days, the journey, the dreams. There are no guarantees of any financial return.

There are two ways you may receive money back:

1. Prize money. If your horse wins any prize money during the Syndicate Period, you receive your pro-rata share. OLBG Racing makes no deductions from prize money — no entry fees, declaration fees, jockey fees, travel costs, staffing charges, or management percentage. All those costs are already covered in your Costs Per Share. Many other syndicate operators take a slice of the prize money; we don't.

2. Sale proceeds. If your horse is sold during the syndicate term Members will receive their percentage share of net sale proceeds pro-rata to Shares held. The deductions then would be the costs of sale such as auction house commission, consigning costs (where applicable), and OLBG's 5% sale commission (this is normal, many other syndicates charge the same or more).

Prize money is distributed to Members at the end of the syndicate term 

A note on the figures: when prize money is listed in racing publications, it's typically the gross prize fund. Before it reaches the owner there are deductions for shares paid to the trainer, the jockey and stable staff. The owner's share - what reaches the Syndicate - is typically around 78–80% of the published figure. 

Whatever the Syndicate receives as owner's share is distributed in full to Members pro-rata to Shares held, with no OLBG deduction. Some syndicates will take a slice, we don't.

Many syndicates will also deduct entry fees, declaration fees, sometimes jockey fees and other race day costs such as travel and stable staff costs. Again, OLBG doesn't - that is all allowed for within your cost per share.

If you purchase your share or shares by 31 August we will reserve a space for you on a yard visit and send you an invitation to attend. 

Otherwise, we will arrange at least one visit per syndicate term where you can enter a ballot to attend.

There is unlikely to be any spaces for guests on our visits - we recommend they buy a share too. 

Your commitment is the initial purchase price for the first syndicate term. This includes all costs for the full syndicate term. You do not have to spend any more after that. 

Should the horse stay in training for another syndicate term/s then you will be able to extend your involvement for that syndicate term subject to the payment of the fee/s for that term/s. 

• Perishable prizes (eg. food hampers) - balloted among those present in the winners room after the race, at the racecourse that day.
• Non-perishable prizes (eg. trophies) - held either at Harry Derham Racing or with OLBG Racing

The number of owners badges allocated to the owners of each runner in a race varies by racecourse and by race day and even by race. Racecourses are limited by their facilities for hosting owners in their restaurants and by safety regulations for how many they can allow in the parade ring area.

Sometimes the allocation can be as low as 6 badges, sometimes as high as 20 badges (sometimes without food or parade ring access), but typically the usual allocation is around 10 badges.

The fairest way we believe to allocate badges is using this process

1) We will notify everyone of any race entries and invite you to apply for a badge

2) We will request our allocation from the racecourse

3) If applications exceed the allocation, we will run a ballot - one entry per share owned

4) We will use our contacts within the industry as yard sponsors, sponsors of jockeys, great relationships developed with racecourses through sponsorships and partnerships and sometimes just by asking nicely to secure more badges where possible.

5) We will then allocate these additional badges through drawing from the ballot entries

When there is a choice between fewer owners badges with a meal and more badges without a meal but with parade ring access, we will weigh up the amount of applications for badges and make a decision based on what is best for the syndicate members as a whole.

With a micro share syndicate it is highly likely we will choose the option of more badges on most occasions. 

We have found in the past that many micro share owners try to attend race days whether they get a free badge or not  - it is a fantastic experience to be at the races when a horse you have a share in is running. 

Members must not contact the racecourse directly to request additional badges or attempt to purchase owners’ badges at the course. OLBG will explore all opportunities for additional badges, whether free or paid, and communicate the opportunities to all members.

Attempts to bypass these arrangements may jeopardise future badge allocations and will therefore be treated seriously. We must apply this rule consistently to protect opportunities for all members.

Only members who have been allocated an owners’ badge with a parade ring pass by OLBG may enter, or attempt to enter, the parade ring.

A provision for veterinary care is included in the payments for the syndicate terms. Members are never asked for additional payments, whatever happens - any shortfall will be covered by OLBG.

For a temporary injury (a few weeks or months out): your horse will rest and rehabilitate either at Harry's yard or at Ed Bailey's farm. The Syndicate continues and your horse will rejoin the training schedule when ready to do so. 

For a career-ending injury: We close the Syndicate at an appropriate point. OLBG will fund ongoing welfare and rehoming. 

This horse will not insured by the Syndicate for All Risks of Mortality. Members who want mortality cover over their Share can seek to arrange this independently at their own cost. In the event of death, the syndicate would be closed.

If the syndicate is closed without the horse being sold, then there will be no return due to shareholders, aside from any prize money won during the syndicate term.

The Syndicate is managed jointly by Richard Moffat (registered Sole Owner with the BHA; individual licence to Manage Syndicates and Racing Clubs) and Invendium Limited T/A OLBG (registered Owner Company), with Antony Portno (Director of Invendium Limited) separately holding an individual BHA licence to Manage Syndicates and Racing Clubs.

Richard Moffat bought his first share in a racehorse over 22 years ago. He has managed the OLBG Racing Club since 2024 and been involved in the management of a one horse club, a micro share syndicate and a larger 1%-5% share syndicate. Richard is the CEO of Invendium Ltd T/as OLBG, a member of the Racehorse Owners Association and the Racehorse Syndicates Association. Richard became one of the first people to be issued by the BHA with a Licence to Manage Syndicates & Racing Clubs when the new licensing came into force from January 1st 2025.  

Operational support - Molly White (ex-Highclere; currently runs syndicates for Philip Hobbs/Johnson White); James Banting (full-time Invendium employee, works on OLBG Racing Club and OLBG member services); supporting in-house OLBG group teams covering accounting, banking, social media, PR, design and development.

You do not pay VAT on these contributions and therefore have no VAT to claim back. VAT is all taken care of within the syndicate.

All costs for accounting and processing VAT are included as part of your monthly payments

Ultimately the syndicator will make any final decisions

Race plans, jockey bookings, welfare decisions etc. will all be made in consultation with the trainer, vets and any other professionals whose opinion we seek.

All communication with the trainer, the authorities, race day officials, jockeys is via the syndicator only

At the end of the first syndicate term it will be decided if the horse stays in training.

If so members will be informed of the new syndicate term period and the cost of renewing.

The renewal fee will be lower than the fee for the initial syndicate term because it will not include the initial purchase cost. It will be decided at the time but it is likely to be approximately £50-£60 per share 

If a new syndicate term is announced and you do not wish to renew, you may request that we sell your share. Full details about this process will be included in the syndicate terms.

Sourcing a racehorse is something OLBG, Ed Bailey and Harry Derham take extremely seriously.

The process starts long before the sale itself. Together, we discuss the type of horse we are looking for and the profile that we believe offers the best opportunity for our syndicate owners.

OLBG carries out extensive research and data analysis, studying sales catalogues, form, pedigrees and performance trends to help identify suitable targets.

Ed’s work often starts even earlier. He regularly visits horses at their home yards, watches them in schooling races, follows their point-to-point form and often sees them at multiple sales throughout their development. By the time a horse appears on our shortlist, Ed will frequently have known and monitored it for many months.

As a sale approaches, a shortlist is created. Ed will inspect the horses again to assess how they have developed since he last saw them. Harry will also inspect potential purchases personally. Harry knows the type of horse that suits his training methods and the type of horse he believes can thrive within his system.

Potential purchases are then vetted. This is an extremely important part of the process. We are not looking to take unnecessary risks with horses bought for our syndicates. Not every horse passes. Over the years, we have removed horses from our shortlist following vetting, only to see them purchased by other buyers. They may have been comfortable with the risk, or they may not have arranged a vetting at all. We prefer to be cautious.

Vetting is also a significant cost. For every horse we purchase, it is common for several others to have been vetted and ruled out before we find the right one. And then we dont always get to buy everyone we like who passes a vetting. 

Once we have identified the horses we like and that have passed vetting, we establish our budgets and enter the bidding process. Even then, success is not guaranteed. Sometimes another buyer values a horse more highly than we do and we have to walk away. We believe discipline is important and do not want to overpay simply to secure a purchase.

When a horse is successfully bought, OLBG assumes responsibility for the horse immediately. From that point onwards, the purchase price, associated costs and ongoing commitments are funded before the syndicate is fully sold.

This means OLBG carries both the upfront costs and the capital risk associated with the purchase. The sourcing fee included within the syndicate reflects not only the work involved in identifying, assessing and securing the horse, the significant vetting costs on horses not purchased, but also the financial commitment and risk undertaken before ownership shares are sold.

Our objective throughout the process is to source the best horse we can within budget, at a fair price, while giving syndicate owners confidence that every reasonable step has been taken before a purchase is made.