Things with GRS1 (Fizzy Pop) have been solid. The group has kept it's head pretty much above water, has three winner's circle photos and a horse that has a shot to win each and every time out. The only way things could be better is if he was a stakes caliber horse. All in all, for a claiming group, it's been a good one.
The same model has not quite worked out as well for subsequent groups. The model being a small number of partners and a higher dollar amount partnership. The claiming model itself: buy low and move the horse up; has worked exceedingly well. Right now our next claiming group is about 50% there - and it's taken a while to get there! It looks as though things may be picking up a bit now and that would be great, but I'm also getting a bit pro-active and shaking things up with a newly styled offering - potentially.
I have always said that I do not want to get into micro-fractional ownership. It's a bear to manage three or four dozen partners at a time and I was not sure that was something I wanted to handle. The economic realities of the age we're in right now, however, has made that option a little less onerous as it was in the past. Thus far, response has been good, though I'm not diving in with 100% ownership with 100 1% owners either.
The basics, without giving it all away since I have not finalized the purchase yet, is that we have the possibility of buying part of a very nicely bred 2-year old filly that will be racing in California. Through a series of circumstances I have the possibility of picking up a bit of her and will be offering shares at 1% or $300 a share. My plan is to only own as high as 30% and I hope that some folks will come in for a couple of points rather than just one, though one is absolutely welcome.
I think this has the possibility of being a little bit of a tester for all of us. Some folks that may not want to jump in too deeply will be able to take a low cost entry point into racing and see how they enjoy it. On the other hand, I'll be able to test the waters a bit on a larger volume, smaller dollar partnership and see how it is to manage without being totally besieged. In addition, we can watch a filly that has already shown a lot of potential stretch out over her three year old season and enjoy California racing.
I am happy to share more specific information with anyone privately. You can stay tuned to this space as I will, of course, announce the newest addition to the stable and specifics when it's finalized.
So now we have three in the works, which I think, suit three separate temperaments.
1.) New Claiming Group - $1,000 for a 5% share when the group hits $20,000 it is full and we claim with Bernell Rhone in Oklahoma or Tampa Bay;
2.) Two Year Old Group - $2,000 a unit and we will team with a couple of other owners and purchase a nice two year old in training to campaign with Richie Scherer in New Orleans and Chicago;
3.) Northern California - $300 for a 1% share in a two year old filly that has shown some promise in which we (GRS) will be a minority owner.
The claiming group will be ready for action when loaded. The two year old group will be focused on developing a strong runner for hopefully an upper level three year old season. The NoCal group will be a low entry point, small position group in a nice horse to get a feel for ownership.
That's more than enough for now and we'll see how each does. Though the summer may be winding down, it looks like things are just starting to heat up here.
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