FROM YOUR RSA COMMITTEE

Dear RSA Member

You will probably be aware that the Racehorse Syndicates Association is managed by a Committee of volunteers. Members of your Committee put in a lot of hours behind the scenes to represent syndicates and racing clubs in the industry, to promote syndication and our members and to deliver value to members of the Association.

This time of year, we invite all RSA members to join our Annual General Meeting which will be held over Zoom.

The AGM will take place 10am on Thursday 23^rd November.

This will immediately precede a session where members can engage with representatives from the BHA and more details of that session will be circulated separately.

Please register to attend the RSA AGM here:

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81336347588?pwd=bWFHU2hyOFRZdU5EY2R4eWZpY0hPUT09

Meeting ID: 813 3634 7588

Passcode: RSA2023

In the run up to the AGM, the Committee has been considering the objectives of the RSA and wanted to take this opportunity to communicate and clarify what members can expect from the Association.

Remember that if you would like to contribute shaping the future of the RSA, then do consider standing for election to the Committee at the AGM.

Objectives of the RSA

The primary objective of the RSA is to represent the views of commercial syndicators and racing club managers within the horse racing industry. There are numerous meetings held with the BHA, Great British Racing, the Racehorse Owners Association, the National Trainers Federation, the Racecourse Association and various other stakeholders. RSA Committee members attend these meetings to ensure that the interests of our members are reflected within the industry.

Alongside this primary objective, the Association works to help RSA members to promote their offerings and will endeavour to deliver, support and promote various initiatives which target the growth of shared ownership.

The Tools We Use To Deliver Our Objectives

The main channel for delivering these objectives is personal participation from our Committee members, working in partnership with other industry stakeholders to identify improvements that everyone can get behind. There is far more going on “behind the scenes” than you might realise with regular meetings and steering groups attended by RSA Committee members.

The RSA also utilises social media and our website to reach a wider audience.

The Committee will also look to continue to organise shared ownership showcase events such as those at Warwick and Nottingham this year which allow members to promote themselves and to generally communicate the excitement of shared ownership to the race going public.

Member Benefits

Members of the Committee work hard to deliver a package of benefits for RSA members and will continue to do so in the future, but the Committee does not consider this to be a core objective of the RSA.

It is recognised that whilst some members may join the RSA because of the benefits offered, all members are commercial syndicators, and the Committee feels that actions that contribute to securing the long-term future of members’ businesses provides more value than any discounts or perks that the RSA can provide.

Badge Allocations & Syndicate Member Experience

In communications from members, badge allocations for syndicates and racing clubs is the subject that features most prominently.

The RSA Committee will always work with racecourses to ensure that best possible experience is delivered for syndicate and racing club members on race days, but the demands of syndicates and racing club need to be realistic.

To support the RSA Committee in its wider work, feedback from members regarding badge allocations and the syndicate owner experience is welcomed and a new email address has been created for such feedback (ADD EMAIL ADDRESS HERE).

Please note that specific complaints cannot be addressed, but that feedback will be considered, and patterns identified which will feed into future discussions with racecourses and other stakeholders.

Feedback is also used in order to identify racecourses to receive the RSA Racecourse Awards, the objective of which is to improve the racecourse experience for syndicates and clubs.

Members of the RSA Committee do not always have the time to be taking telephone calls from members wishing to provide feedback and nor will they be in a position to take any short-term action. If an RSA member has an issue with a specific racecourse or racecourses, they are perfectly entitled to raise this with the racecourse(s) themselves. The RSA Committee will however make it clear to racecourses that such interactions are personal and are not necessarily the views of the RSA or other members.

JCR and ARC Syndicator Badges

The RSA Committee will continue to work with racecourse groups and independent courses to try to persuade them to recognise RSA members and allow syndicate managers to attend when they have a runner without impacting upon the badge allocation for shareholders and members.

JCR has facilitated this in the past with the provision of a metal syndicator badge and ARC with syndicator access cards (although currently these are of limited value as they do not provide owners lounge access).

In both cases, these are only provided on the strict understanding that they may ONLY be used on days where an RSA member has a runner at the course. Members found to be using these in any other circumstances without any prior agreement from the racecourse, will have this privilege removed.

Also, part of the discussion regarding future provision of this benefit has been who should qualify to receive them. The RSA will seek to ensure that all members will be eligible, but it has been agreed that each member of the RSA will need to be a separate commercial entity with their own contact address and a separate set of racing colours.

Finally, some larger syndicates have queried the position when they have runners at two courses on the same day. In such instances, both JCR and ARC have indicated that the same syndicator access will be provided at both or all courses.

RSA Membership Fees

It has been agreed that the Association will employ a Membership Manager for a few hours each month. The Membership Manager will process new RSA member sign ups and ensure that they are added onto the website, receive their benefits and provide them with assistance promoting themselves. They will also monitor the feedback email address (see above) and collate the feedback for consideration by relevant members of the Committee.

Recognising that the current economic climate is tough for everyone, the Committee have made one further change to benefit our members.

The current annual membership fee is £200, and the committee has decided to alter this to a membership fee of £100 with a joining fee of £100. This means that all new members will pay a fee of £200 to join the RSA in year 1 but they and all existing members will be able to renew their membership at a reduced fee of £100 per year. This will take effect immediately.

AGM & RSA OBJECTIVES