Union Island is a winner of seven races to date. His latest success came in February and Charlie Johnston is hopeful that he'll continue to run well in handicaps this year.
Union Island is in training with Charlie Johnston at his wonderful base in Middleham, North Yorkshire. Charlie Johnston took over the training licence at Kingsley House at the beginning of 2023, having been assistant trainer to his father, Mark, for many years, and named on a dual licence for a short time. Charlie's very first winner as the sole licence-holder came with his second-ever runner, Owners Group's Asdaa.
Union Island is a five-year-old bay gelding by U S Navy Flag. U S Navy Flag won the Group 1 Middle Park Stakes (6f) and Group 1 Dewhurst Stakes (7f) at two years and at three he won the 2018 Group 1 July Cup.
Union Island has a current British Horseracing Authority (BHA) Flat (Turf) rating of 65 (the average rating is 68).
This syndicate term lasts until 1 April 2027, with no commitment to continue at the end of the syndicate period. Please click here for full details of the end of term process.
This syndicate is divided into 2,500 shares and each share costs £50 (including VAT). View price transparency. There will be nothing extra to pay, no matter what costs are incurred during the syndicate period. The syndicate is subject to the usual 'Owners Group' terms and conditions. The current maximum number of shares that can be purchased by one person is 50. There are no partners or others sharing this horse and therefore 2,500 shares represents 100% of the ownership of the horse.
- The share price is £50. The full price breakdown is:
- The capital value of Union Island is £12,000 which works out as £4.80 per share.
- Our management and service provision fee is set at £15.00 per share.
- The all-inclusive keep/racing/training/vetting cost is set at £20.73 per share.
- The cost for mortality insurance (covered for £12,000) is £0.14 per share.
- The racehorse rehabilitation contribution is £1.00 per share.
- The VAT is £8.33 per share.
- There will be nothing extra to pay for the syndicate period, no matter what costs are incurred.
Given the large sums of money generated by the sale of one syndicated horse, it is important that owners understand how the price of each share is broken down. In addition, we openly publish the full terms and conditions governing each purchase, in plain language, on our public website pages. Each Owners Group share is genuine racehorse ownership and not a cleverly disguised leasing arrangement or similar, where you don't own any part of the horse.
We have divided this syndicate into 2,500 shares, with a syndicate term period ending 1 April 2027.
There are no partners or others sharing this horse and therefore 2,500 shares represent 100% of the ownership of the horse and 100% of race prize money received from Weatherbys is divided equally with no deductions other than those referenced in term xlix.
The capital value of Union Island is £12,000, which works out at £4.80 per share.
The all-inclusive payment for entering and participating in races/training/keep/vet/farrier/etc throughout the syndicate period works out at £20.73 per share for this horse and is not contingent upon any other costs arising. Therefore, where the actual costs incurred are greater than the amount charged, the company stands the difference and where less, the company retains the difference. This policy means that we don't have to add any additional contingency fees and gives our customers peace of mind that there will be no additional costs.
The cost of mortality insurance for this horse is £356.16 (covered for £12,000), which works out at £0.14 per share.
Our combined management and service provision fee works out at £15.00 for each of the 2,500 shares. This fee includes, but is not limited to, our administrative costs, staffing (the company has 40 members of staff), video production, race footage payments to Racing TV and Sky Sports Racing, monthly magazine production, postage and packing (if applicable), prize money distribution, information technology, VAT refund administration.
Once a racehorse retires from racing, and the syndicate period ends, the responsibility for all costs arising (which can continue for several years) passes to the company but is helped by the pooled 'racehorse rehabilitation contribution' which was set at £2,500 per horse, per annum, which works out at £1.00 per share. Should any surplus funds arise, they will be retained for the sole purpose of racehorse rehabilitation.
As a commercial syndicate, our business is required by law to pass 20% (the current rate of VAT) of the sum you pay for a share, to HMRC. VAT legislation cannot be avoided and rather than conceal this sum to gain a trading advantage by making it appear that you are not paying VAT, it is transparently and legally specified in our price breakdown. However, because Owners Group is real racehorse ownership, we can submit a reclaim for this sum from HMRC on your behalf (if owners provide their National Insurance number), via the VAT Registration Scheme for Racehorse Owners (see Terms & Conditions). Therefore, for example, if you pay £60 for a share and HMRC successfully refunds the VAT of £10, it means that the share would cost you only £50. We make no deductions from the 20% refund, as it is part of our service provision.
The VAT for the Union Island syndicate works out at £8.33 per share.
To summarise (cost per share)
- Capital value - £4.80 per share.
- Management and service provision fee - £15.00 per share.
- All-inclusive racing/training/keep/vetting cost - £20.73 per share.
- Mortality insurance - £0.14 per share.
- Racehorse rehabilitation contribution - £1.00 per share.
- VAT - £8.33 per share.