LESSONS TO BE LEARNED FROM THE TOWSTARS?

The birth, growth (and survival) of the Towstar Syndicate, seven months after its raison d’etre ceased to be, surely holds lessons for the whole greyhound industry – writes Floyd Amphlett.

The Towstar Syndicate was the brainchild of Jonathan Newman from Brixham, a village near Northampton, whose interest in greyhound racing is as roughly as old as some of the syndicate runners.

He said: “I had a marginal interest in greyhounds, only if my dad was having a bet in the shops, but I did enjoy going to Towcester for horse racing. When they introduced greyhound racing, the idea appealed and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

“I soon decided to create a Facebook page for people with a similar interest and before I knew it, our membership was over 2,000 including owners like Jane and Pete Conway and trainers Kevin Hutton and Mark Wallis.”

After the success of one small syndicate, Jonathan launched the Towstar syndication scheme. To date they have 17 greyhounds, and like the trailblazing Champagne Club, they have different sized syndicates to suit different pockets and levels of commitment.

Jonathan said: “The early dogs were for 5% shares and came with a small kennel bill at the end. Our most recent two have been for 1% shares at £60 with no further costs.”

The syndicate has enjoyed plenty of success with the inevitable downsides. The worst moment was the broken hock sustained by Towstar Arry, who looked an odds-on bet to break the Towcester 686m track record when he pulled up lame last July.

(To date, only one ‘Towstar’ has been officially retired, Towstar Honey, who, in line with the syndicate’s re-homing scheme, joined Kevin Stow in Lincolnshire.)

But the biggest shock came in August 2018 when Towcester went into administration. The eight runners with Mark Wallis were transferred to Henlow. Others went with Emma Richards to Monmore.

The fact that the syndicate has continued and even ventured into new areas is perhaps the most surprising lesson to be taken from the story.

The reasoning, will seem to some traditionalists as quite bizarre. The Towstar owners didn’t go to Towcester anyway!

Well that’s not strictly true. On any given Saturday night, there would probably be, at Jonathan’s estimation “10 to 15” syndicate members at Towcester and the founder might not be among them.

He said: “I enjoyed seeing my dogs run and had some great nights; but we are all busy people with other commitment. For example, although I had shares in many runners on a Saturday morning, I never attended a meeting. I was coaching an under sevens football team.

“In general, the morning meetings are not popular with many traditional members, and that is still the case with the Henlow early morning runners.

“Some people do miss their nights out and in the case of the dogs with Emma, none of those syndicate members have taken on new dogs. Most are based in the Northampton area and don’t want to travel to Monmore, which is no reflection on the track, just the practicality.

“We put a dog with Kim Gooding at Peterborough because it was closest to Towcester, though that hasn’t really worked out either. On the other hand, we’ve just put Towstar Poppy with Annaliese Thompson at Nottingham and sold all 100 shares within a fortnight.”

So what lessons do you think you’ve learned so far?

Jonathan said: “It is partially down to the track, and also down to the attitude of the trainer. Annaliese is superb at social media, and in my opinion, that is the only way to get to a younger generation of owners.

“In some ways, we should be called a ‘social media syndicate’. It really is a bit like a social club. The members sharing an interest in a greyhound and keeping in touch via things like our Facebook and Instagram account. There is a lot of banter between them, and not just about their dogs.

“Personally, I watch most of my dogs run on the William Hill Betting Channel or on RPGTV when they are on it. It doesn’t bother me in the slightest if they are running at 8.30am. I will still watch them on William Hill TV.

“Owners do still enjoy attending the track but how often can anyone be there every time their dog is racing? We have had the occasional social night out, there were about 20 members at a meeting at Henlow before Christmas, but that is about it.

“For me personally, I still feel a great sense of ownership when you see your dog on the screen. I do feel ‘that’s my dog’, and feel pride when they win a race.”

So what of the future for the refugee syndicate?

Jonathan said: “Towstar Arry is due to have his first handslip this week at Henlow, so you never know, with his sister Jess, who also broke a hock, due back next week. The fact that another littermate Not So Classical also broke a hock has left us wondering whether there is any kind of genetic factor at stake.

“Towstar Billy has won opens over three different distances at Henlow. We also have a quarter share with a dog at Poole with Paul Attwater and of course Zelda and Poppy who are the newest arrivals.

“In the longer term, it would be nice to have a Towstar at every track in the country, but with owners based in that area, to make it practical for them to have a night out.

“And of course, a Derby dog. That would be an experience.”