OTI Racing going the distance to unearth more Classic talent

Cover image courtesy of Ascot Racecourse

Overnight on Tuesday, Mark Zahra gave 5-year-old entire Docklands (GB) (Massaat {Ire}) the ride of a lifetime - chucking his whip away 70 metres from the line - to land the G1 Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot. The first crop son of G2 Hungerford Stakes winner Massaat (Ire) landed the biggest win of his career for his OTI Racing ownership, topping off a fantastic 12 months of racing for the syndicator.

Purchased as a yearling for £16,000 ($33,000) by OTI and Stuart Boman of Blandford Bloodstock at Tattersalls September Yearling Sale, the 5-year-old ran second to Charyn (Ire) in the event last year and connections brought him south for a tilt at the Australian spring, where he finished a courageous fifth in the G1 Cox Plate to Via Sistina (Ire) (Fastnet Rock).

OTI have diverged from a return Cox Plate assault for the entire in favour of continuing to attack the highest level of European racing and looking after Docklands’ future at stud.

“It’s quite remarkable,” shared Gus Boyd, one of OTI’s directors. “OTI and Terry (Henderson) have been going to Royal Ascot trying to win for the past two decades, and this horse was able to do it two years ago (winning the Britannia Stakes), which was a big thrill. But to win a Queen Anne, when you look at the honour roll, it's a very, very special moment for us.”

A point of difference

Docklands is one of three stakeswinners from Mark Of Esteem (Ire) mare Icky Woo (GB), who also produced 10-time winner and American Group 3 winner Ickymasho (GB) (Multiplex {GB}) and fellow OTI horse Harbour Views (Ire) (Le Havre {Fr}), whose seven wins include the Listed Sofitel Handicap. He also placed several times at Group level in Australia and ran fourth in the G1 Caulfield Stakes to Arcadia Queen (Pierro).

It was this family connection that drew OTI to purchase Docklands in 2021.

“He (Harbour Views) was a great horse for us in Australia that we had a big opinion of,” said Boyd. “So there was a family connection, and we were keen to support Harry Eustace early in his career, and he turned out to be the perfect horse to do that.”

OTI Racing have long been in the business of purchasing in the Northern Hemisphere and bringing horses south; it would probably be fair to name them amongst the pioneers of the imported racehorse market in Australasia, first turning to Europe in 2003.

“Europe used to be a point of difference for us. Terry and Simon (O’Donnell) were one of the first ones to be actively sourcing horses from Europe to come to Australia, and now there's not many top trainers and syndicators that aren't looking at that angle.

“We're fortunate that, because we've been supporting the European market for so many years, we've got great trainer relationships, and that's often a big part of the acquisition. The thoughts of those trainers we trust and great agents that have helped us for so long - the likes of Hubie de Burgh, Stuart Boman, Emmanuel de Seroux - are important. Having the right relationships has been a massive part of everything.”

At any one time, the OTI operation has at least 15 horses in Europe that are bidding to get on the plane to Australia - having one like Docklands who is “too good” to make that trip is “a good problem to have”.

Going the distance

Docklands is not the first high quality colt raced by OTI - they also raced G1 Australian Derby winner Quick Thinker, who stands at Motree Thoroughbreds - but stallion prospects is not the operation’s typical modus operandi.

“We don’t buy a lot of commercial colts, that’s not really our angle,” Boyd said. “We’re there for the racing and the success on the track, it’s a bonus that he’s an entire, and it means now, with that win, that there’ll hopefully be a nice future for him at stud somewhere.

"We’re not hugely active in the yearling sale market, so it often needs to mean something for us to do it. It made good sense to buy him with the family connection and the price point, and it’s worked out very well.”

While OTI has diversified their purchases somewhat over recent years, the focus remains on purchasing a quality middle distance horse.

“In Europe, the focus is still very much on middle distance and staying horses, because Europe has shown the capacity to breed a superior horse in that area,” Boyd said. “There's not a lot of short course horses there. In Australia, we're so good with the sprinters, so it hasn't really been our aim to try and find a top seven furlong horse in Europe, it's more about Classic horses.

“As you’ve seen with Docklands, we brought him out for a Cox Plate, our best ten furlong race, and they are the sort of races we’re always trying to find a horse for in Europe.”

OTI tends to be most active in Australasia in the tried horse and ready to race market, but they still dip a hand into yearlings; this year, they have signed for 10, many in conjunction with leading Australian trainers, including two by So You Think (NZ) and one from the first crop of Quick Thinker.

“We’ve bought more yearlings in the past two years than we ever have, and part of that is how competitive (buying in) Europe and New Zealand has become. But we're not going to the yearling sales trying to buy a Blue Diamond winner, we’re buying horses we hope can get to a Derby or a Spring Champion Stakes.”

The bloodlines are present in Australia, Boyd said, it’s just being able to tap into them.

“We are looking for those types of horses at the yearling sales. If there were more middle distance horses being bred here, we would spend less time looking overseas.

“We just love Classic horses winning. Don't get me wrong, we'd love to win a Golden Slipper. But winning a Cup or a Derby, or a Cox Plate, they're the races that have always resonated with us, and also with our client base.”

A tough market

Inglis Digital’s rise to prominence has been another key way for OTI to uncover future talent on home ground. And they’re not opposed to discovering a talented sprinter; last year they purchased now 3-year-old gelding Yoshinobu (Written Tycoon) online for $180,000 in conjunction with Annabel Archibald, and the gelding subsequently ran third in the G2 Roman Consul Stakes.

Many of the yearlings were also purchased in conjunction with a trainer that OTI trusts.

“It’s a really nice way for us to support them and also support our local industry that little bit more,” Boyd said. “Nearly all of the yearling sales and also buying in Europe is looking really tough this year. The tried horse market is quite remarkable. Some of the horses we've been trying to bid on, their prices are getting blown out of the water.”

The OTI team will commence a European tour after Ascot to assess over 100 horses with a view to purchasing some of them and bringing them south, but Boyd expects competition to be fierce, both through public auction and for private sale. The competition for selling shares will be just as challenging, he was keen to acknowledge.

“It’s a tough time economically,” he said. “We’re a disposable income business. We’re well aware that for clients, it’s taking 5 per cent in a horse or it’s taking a holiday.

“We've had to be really personable with our approach. Fortunately we've got a really loyal client base and great ownership groups that, when they have success, they're willing to go again with us. That's been a really important part of what we've been doing the last two decades.”

Giving ownership a great experience, even when their horse isn’t winning, has been key to that client retention. Boyd was happy to admit that it’s easy to keep someone happy when they have shares in a Group 1 performer - less so when a horse isn’t bringing home a check at Bathurst.

“You’ve got to have slow ones to appreciate the good ones!,” he said. The OTI strategy for slower horses has evolved somewhat within recent years, and it is not hard to draw a connection between the change in outlook and the change in the economy.

“Previously, we would be a lot more forgiving of slow horses, and we would often try them elsewhere and they'd stay in the system for much longer,” Boyd said. “Commercially nowadays, with the costs involved in owning a horse, if they're not up to city class, then it's often better that they're moved to a weaker jurisdiction where the horse can get a win for someone there.”

Again, Inglis Digital comes to the fore, and Boyd was happy to see others succeeding with former OTI horses that have needed a change of environment.

Welfare from the word go

Something that OTI invests in heavily, and has for some time, is the welfare arm of the business. Not content to simply rely on what each state provides, OTI ensures that their own thoroughbred retirement fund is in place to help OTI horses past and present in need of the next step.

“We all got a real shake up on the equine welfare front, and I know we're very proud of the program we set up,” Boyd said. OTI’s welfare fund was set up in 2019, and is overseen by OTI’s Equine Welfare and Media Coordinator Lisa Grund. “We’ve got a healthy fund sitting there, we’re tracking all the horses that were previously in our care, and if any horses before 2019 have been popping up somewhere they shouldn’t be, people are letting us know and we’re bringing them into the fold.

“That's been a big part of what we do now, and it's not just us, our clients support it. They know from purchase time that they're all contributing towards that horse’s future, even after the horse leaves us. If something happens to that horse, we’re there to help, with time and financially.”

One current issue that OTI have been facing is placing horses when they retire; many retrainers nationwide are full or limiting their numbers due to economic challenges or drought, and while OTI has and will remain committed to supporting horses throughout their transition to their next career, it has the potential to create a bottleneck. It is something that the industry needs to continue to address and come up with effective solutions, Boyd acknowledges.

Although, some horses do get lucky before they retire.

“The best situation for us is that we take a horse to the races and we get an email two days later from a lovely young girl saying, ‘I love that horse in the yard. Let me know when it's finished’, and you know you've got one home locked away for when they're retired.”

Eyes on spring

As OTI Racing approaches the turn of the Southern Hemisphere racing season, Boyd took time to reflect on the many highs the team has experienced over the past year.

“Last year we had our biggest year of winners and stakewinners, and we previously felt like this year we were a little bit down on that,” he said. “But when you look at the highlights this year, it's turned into quite an amazing season in the end.

“We had Sea King win the Bendigo Cup, Athabascan won the St Leger in the spring, Sevenna's Knight was fifth in the Arc de Triomphe, West Of Africa won the Magic Millions. We qualified Deakin for the Melbourne Cup and then two Group 1 winners in the last couple of months. It ended up being quite an amazing season for us, and I think the Cup is something we're extremely excited about again.”

The plan is for Deakin (Fr) (Australia {GB}) to be joined by Sevenna’s Knight (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) at Flemington on the first Tuesday in November.

OTI’s Femminile (Dundeel {NZ}) was a $150,000 yearling purchase who landed the G1 South Australian Derby earlier in the autumn, and was subsequently a $1.5 million broodmare sale to Yulong Investments at the Magic Millions Gold Coast National Broodmare Sale. The team also sold G1 Canterbury Stakes victress Lady Laguna (Overshare) to James Harron Bloodstock for $2.5 million at the same event. It marks the end of an era - a “changing of the guard” - at OTI, but certainly not the end altogether.