And how did syndicates perform?

Syndicates are all the rage as more owners pour into racing with the expression “you can own one percent of a horse but have 100 percent of the fun” ringing true. 

A number of syndicates were able to celebrate success over the Cape Summer Festival of Racing, including the Yuppie Syndicate, with enthusiastic Zac Bloch the face of a group of young friends bonded by racing. They celebrated two Listed races feature wins with their filly Rainbow Lorikeet over the summer.

Another whose owners celebrated long and loud were those of the Yataghan Syndicate. They enjoyed four winners over the period, all trained by Eric Sands – Gallic Dream (x3) and Bel Canto Dream. That made them the most successful syndicate, in terms of winners over the period.

Simon van Zuydam, Mark Rutherfoord, Marcus Nel, Greg De Marigny, Brett Hagen and Charles Hiten are all equal shareholders in the Yataghan Racing Syndicate. Simon, Greg and Marcus go back a long way and who used to hang out and party together at the Durban July during the 1980s.

The friends have harboured the dream of owning a Hollywoodbets Durban July winner and the name Yataghan was chosen for the syndicate due to his gutsy fighting spirit and determination to win. Remembering Yataghan winning the iconic race back in 1973, Simon, then 10 year, told Turf Talk: “I think what appealed most about Yataghan was that he was smaller than many of his top rivals such as Elevation and William Penn, but just such a fighter – and he was a relatively cheap purchase, too!”

For more on the Yataghan Syndicate, see Turf Talk’s feature article on them here

By Gary Lemke