According to horseman Anthony MacDonald of thestable.ca, bringing new owners into horse racing is the biggest hurdle the industry faces.
Finding investment can be difficult for every trainer. So when MacDonald signed up Ron Burke of Burke Racing LLC, two of Burkes clients – Mark Weaver and Mike Bruscemi of Weaver/Bruscemi LLC – and Adriano Sorella to buy 75 per cent of his Sweet Lou colt Springbridge Proud, even MacDonald''s wife was surprised.
"Im a good talker, but Ron Burke doesn't need to own horses with thestable.ca," Macdonald said.
"We were working on the deal as he was celebrating Breeders Crown victories of his own last weekend, and his partner Mark Weaver said the decision to invest was simple," Macdonald explained.
"Ronnie and I love what the MacDonalds are doing with thestable.ca and we also are big fans of the Sweet Lou’s," remarked Weaver. "This was an opportunity to support both and we are thrilled to be part of the team."
Sorella echoed Weaver's reasoning for climbing aboard.
“I joined thestable.ca because I believe our industry really needs to get back to the grass roots of getting new ownership into the business," the majority owner of 2013 Little Brown Jug winner Vegas Vacation said.
"We need more people who see this as a form of entertainment, and can enjoy an entry-level investment opportunity. Even though I am heavily invested into the business, I believe thestable.ca is perfect for new investors and I wanted to join and give my support.”
MacDonald said that it is a huge feather in the cap of thestable.ca that owners of this calibre are interested in doing business with the fractional ownership stable. The support is greatly appreciated and the message is loud and clear according to Macdonald.
"The simple fact is, this industry needs to change." MacDonald said. "The people joining us are the forward thinking people of this industry that know we can't continue to allow the establishment to double down on failures of the past with no tangible direction for the future. To these people, thestable.ca is something that is different and that scares them."
"What scares me is continuing to watch my industry decay and my friends struggle in front of me," Macdonald continued. "I said we'd bring horse racing industry into the 21st century, bring new people from the general public into our industry and thestable.ca delivered. 358 owners from nine countries now call thestable.ca home, and 98 horses are in our care presently. We have over 25 employees, many of who were laid off from other stables."
"I think we are making positive gains and people are starting to take notice."
Thestable.ca is poised to go over 100 horses with both the Harrisburg and Deleware sales fast approaching.
(With files from thestable.ca)
Sometime in 2016 I read about
Sometime in 2016 I read about The Stable 's fractional ownership concept on the Standardbred.ca website. I look at the website every day. I was once involved in Standardbred racing as an Owner, trainer and a driver and worked as a second trainer for several stables. I also ran and still run a business and eventually I had to devote more of my time on building the business.
The point is, I got out of racing horses but my interest in it never left me.
Last year I followed Anthony and Amy's, thestable.ca , and I liked their ideas. I looked at it as if I was a new owner with limited experience. I thought Anthony kept shareholders up to date on the progress of their yearling, two year old or racehorse and I really liked the drone coverage.
As I had mentioned, I follow Standardbred.ca every day. I go to the races at times and I get all this entertainment at little or no cost whereas those still involved are paying for my entertainment. It didn't seem fair so I bought shares in a yearling Ontario bred trotting colt as a small way in contributing to Anthony's plan to help get new owners involved and thereby doing his part to help rebuild the industry.
My biggest memory of Anthony
My biggest memory of Anthony was in Belleville - fined in a qualifier. I think it was $50. LOL . The judges used to call him before the race. He stuck to it, and it's paid off.
This is exciting for our
This is exciting for our industry... today I became partners with Ron Burke, Mark Weaver, Mike Bruscemi and Adriano Sorello... who would have thought that driving into work today? It's like having game 7 tickets behind home plate for tonight's ball game.
Amy and you have come a long
Amy and you have come a long way, I am thrilled for both of you, keep up the good work. Hard workers will succeed. Good luck and keep up the hard work.