Strong 2023 provides platform for Proven Thoroughbreds

Cover image courtesy of The Image Is Everything

With Day 1 of the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale bearing down, the anticipation has everyone dreaming of buying their next champion, or making the sale that enriches the folklore of their farm.

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Involved in racehorse ownership since his early 20s, Proven Thoroughbreds Managing Director Jamie Walter enjoyed his best 12 months as a syndicator in 2023, with a number of his purchases over recent years stamping their authority on some of the best races in the country.

Chief among them was Think About It (So You Think {NZ}), who enjoyed a rapid rise to the top of the mountain, winning The Everest in front of an almost 50,000-strong crowd at Royal Randwick in October.

Not far behind him was Private Eye (Al Maher), a career achiever who backed up his second-placed finish in the 2022 edition of The Everest to Giga Kick (Scissor Kick) with a courageous third in 2023.

Away from sensational sprinters, the distinctive green and black colours have been popping up in feature races all along the eastern seaboard, with reliable stayer Stockman (NZ) (Tavistock {NZ}) and recently retired warhorse Scallopini (Snitzel) both performing strongly in high-quality company.

Gallery: Proven Thoroughbreds' star performers, images courtesy of The Image Is Everything

Ahead of the hammer crashing down on the Gold Coast on Tuesday, Walter gave The Thoroughbred Report insight into his operation, along with providing his thoughts on the upcoming sale.

Stellar year fills Walter with pride

Reflecting on the year that was 2023, Walter highlighted the incredible rarity of having two elite-level performers fly the flag for the same set of colours.

When asked how he viewed the year, Walter said, “Unprecedented. We were very, very fortunate.

“I’ve been doing this a long time, so to have a year like that where we're so fortunate to have two top-class horses (Think About It and Private Eye) at the same time, it's pretty amazing.

“It was a bit like (a) drought breaking with tremendous rainfall. Not that the previous years have been unsuccessful, quite the contrary. We've had lots of success, the last four or five years have been terrific. But nothing like last year, which was just quite extraordinary by our standards.”

With all eyes seemingly fixed on Proven Thoroughbreds, who have horses based across New South Wales and Queensland, Walter is optimistic about attracting new owners, alongside retaining current ones.

“What you're looking for is results like this, there's nothing like winning big races to, I hate using the word brand, but endorse your product. You'd expect a little bit more interest (off the back of recent success), but what a lot of people who know racing would appreciate is that for every Think About It and Private Eye, there's plenty of failures.

“So you need a turnover of owners as well as horses, because sadly some owners, as nice as they may be, you just don't have any luck for them. We're nearly all superstitious in racing, if you don't have luck somewhere, you gravitate to where you do.”

Family legacy lives on

The brother of the late trainer Guy Walter, who was a respected member of the Sydney training fraternity for an extended period of time, Jamie is proud of Proven Thoroughbreds’ family ties, a connection that is now building into the next generation.

“Well, I'm very, very fortunate to have had a brother like Guy, because he had such an impeccable reputation and was so successful.

“My business was always separate from Guy’s, his was a great success story he was training nearly all his adult life. And the last sort of 20 years of his training life, he really excelled.

“He had some great horses like Tie The Knot. I was involved a little bit with Guy's business, doing various tasks for him.

“Just having him as my brother was a huge boost to my business. It's a shame he wasn't around today to rejoice for some of the success we're having. But he had plenty of success himself.

“I'd say I'm very fortunate, I've now got my son Tom involved in the business. So hopefully the Walter name will live on in the racing industry for many years to come.”

Syndication ‘the future’ of Australian ownership

As racing attempts to attract, and retain, new blood to the sport, syndication has illuminated a pathway for many new, and returning, people to find their love of horse racing through ownership.

With Magic Millions putting on races such as The Syndicate, which is worth $1 million and exclusively offered to graduates of the sale with an ownership group numbering at least 20, there is a concerted effort to provide returns for a new target demographic.

Asked what his view on the current prizemoney opportunities for syndicates and their horses, Walter told The Thoroughbred Report, “Well, that's at the heart of syndication, isn't it?

“The fact that you manage to have a share in a horse and not (necessarily) be a high-end earner, I think that's great. It's one of the great things about Australian racing. It's not just exclusively for the elite, and I see the owners of tomorrow being the big studs and syndicates.

“So syndication has a very healthy outlook I think, with properly managed, professional syndication companies. The future of Australian ownership in my view, (is) together with the major studs.”

All eyes on the price

With grey clouds seemingly hanging over the global economic climate, there is hopefulness, if not austerity in some pockets, around how the metrics across all sales in 2024 will stack up compared to previous years.

Although wary of the current conditions, which have the potential to disrupt the plans of many buyers, Walter believes that despite understandable wariness, the quality will shine through in the coming days.

“This is a high-quality sale, it always has been, or it is certainly the last 15 to 20 years. It's the first sale of the year, so there's always a degree of trepidation about what the market's going to do in each particular year.

“There has been a few little sticky economic conditions in the last 12 to 18 months in Australia. It's probably going to impact the middle and lower end of the market, not the top. Because generally the people shopping at the top aren't affected by the economic downturn.”

Despite an adjusted financial climate, Walter is keen to press on and stick to elements that remain in his control, selecting horses that can go and perform on the racetrack.

Asked if his approach to the 2024 sales nationwide will be different to recent years, he explained that operations will be, “pretty much business as usual, you put a price on a horse, if it's under that value, you buy it.

“It'll be very interesting to see if the middle and lower end of the market is discounted and to what extent.

“What transpires here may alter as the year unfolds and as economic conditions change over the coming months, but generally an upbeat sale and it's been a fantastic sale for vendors for a number of years because it keeps going up (sale prices).

“I don't know what it's going to do. I suspect it'll come off a bit, I can't see it going up.”