KEY POINTS:
Chief Justice Dame Sian Elias belongs to one. Former All Black Marc Ellis does, too, and Black Caps captain Stephen Fleming is part of a shadowy group known as "Girl's Best Friend".
All three, with many other New Zealanders, have a share in a race horse syndicate.
And
there's clearly money to be made for a lucky few.
When Te Akau Stables manager David Ellis paid $1.1 million for a yearling named Darci Brahma in 2004, he split ownership of the horse into 10 per cent shares.
The animal won $1.3 million on the track, and syndicate members stand to make even more money now Darci has been put out to stud. They have turned down an offer of $10 million for the horse.
At the other end of the scale, "Not Enough Taro" syndicate boss Albert Bosma paid $9000 for Silky Red Boxer. It has since returned more than $500,000.
Government tax breaks introduced in August cut tax on the TAB from 20 per cent to 4 per cent, in line with rates on casinos.
That has greatly improved the chances of making money on an investment, and made the idea of buying a horse more attractive, says New Zealand Bloodstock marketing manager Petrea Vela.
Horse-owning syndicates permeate the industry "at every single level", she says, though it is impossible to know how many buyers any syndicate may represent.
Ruakaka trainer Michael Manson says most people join a syndicate for the fun of it, and are realistic about their chances of striking it rich.
He had a quarter-share in a horse called Forest, which made about $45,000 over three years. That might sound a lot, but the winnings were split four ways, and stabling, medical and training costs were deducted.
"Everybody made a little bit of money, but not a hell of a lot."
Belonging to a race horse syndicate is the great leveller, he says, as it allows the smallest stakeholder to take on the world's largest on equal terms. It all comes down to the horse.
Manson believes people join syndicates for a variety of reasons. Many are happy to be silent partners, pocketing the occasional win; others are down at the racetrack, stopwatch in hand, at 5am each day.
Whatever the motivation, it's a fair bet that many syndicate members will be having a flutter on their favourite fillies during Auckland Cup Week, which starts at Ellerslie today.
Three-year-old Resolution - an entrant in this afternoon's $700,000 Mercedes Derby - is partly owned by Dame Sian and businessman Sir James Fletcher.
Top real estate agent Michael Boulgaris owns a horse, and business leader Eric Watson is in a syndicate.
It's a safe bet Fleming will be huddled over the radio on Wednesday, when his horse Diamonds on the Inside runs in the Auckland Cup.
Fleming - now in the West Indies for cricket's World Cup - is one-eighth partner in "Girls' Best Friend", a South Island syndicate that includes former rugby and cricket international Brian McKechnie.
Diamond's trainer, Kevin Hughes, said of Fleming: "Wherever he is in the world, he listens in."
