Clay reports that Great Bam is doing well following his latest victory. Plans call for trying allowance company; however, when exactly that may be is a bit of a mystery.
The next allowance race that Bam would fit the conditions of (non-winners of one race other than maiden, claiming or starter) going short on the dirt doesn’t come up again in the Condition Book until November 30. Obviously, a bit of a wait. Thus, the hope is that it will come up as an extra prior to that date.
Unfortunately, we have no control over this and due to the fact that the allowance race is worth $30,000 – $32,000 it is worth the wait. Hawthorne does not run conditioned claiming races for non-winners of four races lifetime; thus, our options are to run in the allowance (for a purse of $30,000 – $32,000) or run in an open claiming race.
If we were to run in the open claiming races, Great Bam’s recent Beyer Speed Figure of 81 (a lifetime best) would make him competitive at the open $7,500 claiming level where the purse is only $14,000 or the open $5,000 claiming level where the purse is only $13,000.
Thus, for now, it makes sense to wait on an allowance race to see if we can take home a big prize. Stay tuned!
Canterbury Racing Club 
Waiting for an allowance sounds good to me! Is it correct that we have Great Bam ‘through’ December?
Jenny – Here is the original club agreement… The current club must cease by the end of December. We’ll be discussing soon with the group what the possible alternatives could be moving forward.
Click to access horse_-ownership_club_membership_agreement.pdf
All things considered, I think that waiting for the allowance race makes a lot of sense. Great idea!
It is sure a nice thing to have to think about
Ok. But injecting a bit of devil’s advocate here, that means a full month of just paying expenses with the hope Great Bam will score big. I thought a big part of shipping him to Hawthorne was also hoping to attract a new owner, either through the claiming process or an outright sale. Is anyone there trying to “market” Great Bam to other owners/trainers?
The club officially concludes it’s cycle at the end of December and a few people are talking about trying to extend ownership, but it seems like this has become problematic at best considering there are what, actually 150 people in the pool and we don’t have an actual racing license ourselves. Should some sort of poll be conducted about the next step(s), or do we just go along with Clay wanting to hold onto Great Bam until the end of November for a shot at a bigger race and hope to figure something out then? Basically just thinking out loud here.
You raise a lot of good points. At this point, it’s a little early to try to market him if we still intend to run him another time or two… in the racing business, you often don’t start actively looking for a buyer until you are done racing a horse yourself.
There are some concerns about expenses if he doesn’t run for a month, that being said, his value would increase if he proves that he can race against allowance company. (Additionally, with any luck, a race will come up before then.) Should be be able to win against that class, he’d likely be able to sell for more (in addition to collecting a larger purse).
To be clear, this group (the 140 or so) will close at the end of December or whenever the horse is sold as outlined in the original agreement. If some people continue on with Great Bam, he’ll need to be sold to that new group such that all original people that want to get out will be given that opportunity.
Next steps will be discussed with the group in the coming weeks; however, it’s fair to say that Clay has proven to us that he knows what he is doing… he’s winning at an amazing percentage and continues to keep his horses sharp. If he thinks the horse is good enough to win an allowance, we probably owe it to the horse to give him a chance to run at that level.
We don’t want to loose him in a claiming race!! Wait for allowance races.
Can you explain allowance races for us? What costs are involved for us if any?
Mike, an allowance race is really no different from any other overnight race (maiden race, claiming race, etc). There are no additional costs as compared to any of the other races that we have been running in.
Typically, they are run for larger purses than claiming races and; thus, usually feature stiffer competition.
Okay, a lot of “ifs” and positive thinking here, but if Great Bam were to win an allowance race before the end of the year the bigger purse and probable increase in Great Bam’s value should push the club into the “plus” side financially. Per the original club agreement, members are limited to getting back only their original investment – what would happen to any surplus in our account at the end of the year? Just curious (and thinking wishfully).
Part (i) of that section of the agreement handles that concern: “If there are any funds remaining after return of all membership fees, a decision about the disbursement of any excess funds will be determined by a majority vote of the members of the Club.”