Trilogy Racing joins forces with BTX in breeding and selling venture
Five-strong mare portfolio to allow owners to invest in mircroshares of mares whose progeny are destined for auction
Victoria’s Blue Gum Farm is offering microshares in a portfolio of broodmares and their expectant offspring after partnering with a relatively new syndication business which is harnessing blockchain technology.
Trilogy Racing’s Jason and Mel Stenning and Sean and Cathy Dingwall, who bought Blue Gum Farm last year, have partnered with BTX Racing to offer small percentage ownership of five broodmares in foal to a string of Australia’s most commercial stallions for two seasons.
The resultant foals will be offered at the 2025 and 2026 yearling sales across Australia with profits to be shared among the investors.
Trilogy recently combined with BTX Racing to offer short-term ownership of Chaillot (Testa Rossa), the Sunshine Coast Cup (Listed, 1400m) winner, who rounded out her racing career with a third in last Saturday’s Tattersall’s Tiara (Gr 1, 1400m) at Eagle Farm.
Four hundred buyers jumped at the chance to be in the ownership of the Steve O’Dea and Matt Hoysted-trained mare, with shares selling out within 48 hours.
The five mares made available under this new scheme include multiple Group-placed Don’ttelltheboss (Street Boss), a $400,000 purchase at last year’s Inglis Chairman’s Sale, who is in foal to Golden Slipper (Gr 1, 1200m)-winning first season sire Stay Inside (Extreme Choice); the $180,000 sister to stakes winner Religify in Prosecution (Choisir), who is also in foal to Newgate Farm-based stallion Stay Inside; and the stakes-placed Flandersrain (Manhattan Rain), a $200,000 purchase from the 2022 Chairman’s sale, who is in foal to Arrowfield shuttler Maurice (Screen Hero).
Behaviourism (Kermadec), an $80,000 Inglis Digital purchase who is from the family of Godolphin’s stakes winner Ingratiating (Frosted), is in foal to reigning first and soon-to-be champion second season sire Russian Revolution (Snitzel); and stakes-placed juvenile Deserved (Dundeel), a $145,000 buy on Inglis Digital in 2021, who is also in foal to Russian Revolution, round out the Blue Gum-BTX group.
Anyone involved in the commercial breeding of racehorses is well aware of the pitfalls involved, but BTX Racing founder and chief executive Steve Piek believes their model mitigates against the risk.
“That is why, rather than going with one mare and one stallion, we thought a portfolio for this retail investment would be a better option for us,” Piek told ANZ Bloodstock News yesterday.
“The five broodmares are confirmed in foal at the moment, so hopefully that reduces our risk.”
The mares are, in effect, leased by Trilogy to the investors for the two-year period and the intention is to sell the mares’ progeny at the select Magic Millions yearling sale on the Gold Coast, the Inglis Melbourne Premier Yearling Sale – where Blue Gum has regularly been leading vendor – and potentially at the Inglis Australian Easter sale.
“Being able to attend the auctions as an ownership group is going to be a pretty unique experience, so you can only imagine standing at the Inglis or Magic Millions sales with a few hundred owners watching their horses go through, I think that’d be pretty cool,” Piek said.
“Hopefully, with ten yearlings (across two years) we might get to a few different auctions, some might also be sold as weanlings, it all depends on the strategy and we’ll work with Blue Gum and Sean and the team there to work out what’s best for the horses.”
Shares in the portfolio, which will be priced between $200 and $300, will cover all costs including service fees, sales preparations and upkeep and any capital left unspent will be returned to shareholders upon the end of the breeding, rearing and selling cycle.
Under Trilogy’s ownership, Blue Gum Farm has this year returned to standing stallions, taking on the Group 1-producing stallion Flying Artie (Artie Schiller) ($16,500 (inc GST)) and first season sire Sejardan (Sebring) ($13,750 (inc GST)).
In a short time, the Stennings and Dingwalls have acquired a large racing portfolio, including as a member of the Newgate Farm-China Horse Club colts partnership, purchased Blue Gum Farm and bought numerous broodmares.
“Blue Gum is a great farm and they (Trilogy quartet) are good people who are embracing technology. They are happy to embrace new solutions and they’re the kind of people we like to partner with,” Piek said of the partnership.
“People are starting to understand it and starting to embrace us a lot more. People are coming to us to do things with their horses and their businesses and to also understand the power of what we’re doing with blockchain in the industry.
“We’re using blockchain to power our platform, essentially as an automation solution and it makes us more efficient; more efficient transactions and [it provides] transparent ownership.”
A former Big Four auditor, Piek also revealed BTX was exploring further partnerships with industry players, including studs and trainers, as part of a capital-raising exercise.
“At the end of the day, it’s all about our business looking to work with other businesses, trainers and breeders,” he said.
“We are keen to work with industry partners and, ultimately, if there are people wanting to be involved in the next capital raise, that opportunity is there as well.”
In its launch late last year, the app-based BTX Racing partnered with trainers Ciaron Maher and David Eustace and they have interests in about ten racehorses so far with various stables and also invested in yearlings in 2023.