Thoroughbred Owners Conference Starts With a 'Bing'

Once upon a time, the circus movie “The Greatest Show on Earth” won the Academy Award in 1952 and starred Bing Crosby and a 7-year-old Joe Harper, President and CEO of Del Mar Thoroughbred Club. Harper welcomed OwnerView Conference attendees at the Del Mar Hilton Monday, through telling them stories from Hollywood's yesteryear, and how his relationship with Bing Crosby got started by the two appearing in Harper's grandfather's, Cecil B DeMille, Oscar-winning classic.

“Bing was not only a great actor and singer, he was a brilliant marketing guy,” Harper told the crowd about Crosby, who “got the Del Mar party rolling.”

Harper added, “He had a lot of power in Hollywood and brought his friends to Del Mar.”

Harper told the story of Red Skelton, who, when asked if he was making any money when visiting Del Mar one day, proceeded to unbutton his suit jacket to reveal he was wearing only a necktie underneath. “Well, I lost my shirt,” Skelton ribbed.

The conference's master of ceremonies, Tom Durkin, dressed as Bing Crosby, piggybacked off that Skelton story and implored the crowd, gathering for OwnerView's fourth annual Thoroughbred Owner Conference, “not to lose one's shirt” in the horse business by developing good tax and accounting practices, and heeding expert advice, and not, as Durkin jokingly warned, to say, “'Hey, let's own a racehorse!' while sitting at a bar with your friends.”

And with that, day one of the conference, which focused on business considerations for horse ownership, officially began.

Jen Shah, equine accountant and Shannon Arvin, an equine attorney, walked through, as Shah put it, “the most important implications” of being a horse owner. Discussion included choosing an accounting method when starting out as a horse owner. For most in the business, Shah recommended, the cash method of accounting is best.

“This allows me, as a horse owner, to deduct expenses up front,” Shah said.

Another important consideration during the accounting and legal panel, sponsored by Gainesway Farm, was about the importance of keeping good documentation when becoming a horse owner.

“People in the horse business hate documentation,” Arvin said. “They like to practice business on a handshake–that works just fine, but it's pretty easy to have simple documentation that puts you on much stronger footing.”

The panel discussed the importance of developing a multi-year financial projection, the ins-and-outs of tax reporting of horse ownership and how to keep good records, including providing a brief narrative of accomplishments of that particular horse business during the year.

Arvin impressed upon the gathering, which comprised longtime, new and prospective Thoroughbred owners alike, that the overarching theme of day one of the conference was to be that horse racing is “a great business.”

“And it's most fun when you surround yourself with the right people,” Arvin continued.

The right people for Thoroughbred owner George Bolton are Stonestreet Stable's Barbara Banke and Peter Leidel, with whom he owns multiple graded stakes winner and GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint hopeful Lady Aurelia (Scat Daddy). Bolton was part of a second panel about partnerships, syndicates, and racing clubs, sponsored by WinStar Farm and moderated by Horse Racing Radio Network's Mike Penna. Bolton told conference attendees the story of when he met Leidel at a similar owner's conference in New York and the winning-ways of owning horses through partnerships.

“This is such a unique seat you're sitting in right now,” said Bolton, who encouraged the audience to mix and mingle and connect with their fellow Thoroughbred cohorts at the OwnerView conference. “When I own a horse with a group, it always seems to work out.”

Bolton relayed his experience taking Lady Aurelia to Royal Ascot two years in a row–and winning.

“It was surreal for me,” Bolton said. “Here I am in the winners' circle with the Duchess of Cambridge and Prince William about to receive the trophy. 'Are you keen on racing?' I asked Prince William, to which he responded, 'Granny and I love it.' Wow, I thought this guy is cool.”

Added Bolton, “I would never have been in a circle like that if I hadn't owned a really special horse with good people. This sport can bring you there and that's exciting.”

Bolton then offered conference attendees some advice: he insures his valuable horses.

Gary Fenton, representing Little Red Feather Racing, also part for the panel, talked about the correlation between horse ownership and real estate.

“I love real estate — I've always wanted to own a building, so I asked my childhood friend [Little Red Feather Racing's] Joe Rosen, if I could invest in his apartment business,” Fenton said.

Added Fenton, “I write him a check, get some consistent returns, get emails on updates about the business–and because I have invested with this really nice guy, in something I knew nothing about at the start, 10 years later, I know a little bit more [about real estate]. That's what it is like being in a racing syndicate.”

For those not ready to get involved in a big racing syndicate like Little Red Feather Racing, Gary Palmisano, of Churchill Downs Racing Club, talked about the comfort of getting involved with a racing club. Palmisano expounded on the newly created Churchill Downs Racing Club, which is designed to provide a low cost, low risk educational glimpse into the world of Thoroughbred ownership. For just $500, club participants learn all about racing through owning a horse with a group with the whole intention to get the thrill of getting into the winner's circle.

“It's not for profit,” Palmisano said of the Churchill Downs Racing Club. “It's for experience and education–to know what exactly you're getting into before jumping into the bigger world of partnerships.”

Churchill Downs Racing Club, which comprises everyone from retirees to corporate vice presidents to doctors to the casual racing fan, now has over 900 members. From the original 400 club participants, 20 people have gone on to join other syndicate groups. The conference panel then showed the audience a video of Warrior's Club (Warrior's Reward), a 3-year-old colt owned by a Churchill Downs Racing Club group, winning the inaugural Spendthrift Stallion S. at Churchill Downs.

“People spilled out onto the winners' circle; there were about 250 people,” Palmisano recalls of that day. “We had a good ole' time. And for Wayne Lukas, who trains the horse, it was really meaningful for him to give so many people this thrilling experience. The sheer excitement, hugs, tears, kisses–it really clicked for a lot of people involved with the club just how great this sport is.”

Panel discussions at the fourth annual Thoroughbred OwnerView National Owners Conference resumes at the Del Mar Hilton Tuesday morning with a panel on “The Influence of Women in Racing.”