Owner Spotlight The Stories Behind It All

You could say Aubrey Mc Mahon was born into the horse racing industry, with the rhythm of the sport very much part of his childhood soundtrack. From those early days attending race meetings as a child, to fulfilling his ambition of riding as an amateur jockey, his path into the industry always felt preordained. Yet, it is in more recent years that Aubrey has found his true calling within the industry. Possessing a natural eye for a horse, he has quickly earned a reputation for sourcing talent, an instinct that soon evolved into something bigger. Temple Bloodstock was born from that momentum, built on the simple but powerful idea of making racehorse ownership accessible, social and genuinely affordable.

The results followed swiftly. Tounsivator’s breakthrough victory put the syndicate firmly on the map, whilst more recently Hey Sunshine and Western Diego delivered landmark handicap wins, rewarding members both emotionally and financially. What began as a passion project has blossomed into a community, a shared adventure for those involved. Aubrey reflects on his journey, the philosophy behind Temple Bloodstock, and how you too can become part of the story.

Where did the interest in horseracing come from?
My father was a prominent on course bookmaker, always had horses in training and was going racing. I have an older cousin now jockey, Ray Dawson who is a few years older than me and he was into riding horses when we were younger, I wanted to go for a riding lesson when I was about 10 years old, things just snowballed from there. I'm going racing since I've been knee height. It's a wonderful industry.

What was the idea behind starting the Temple Bloodstock syndicate?
I was always involved with looking at horses that could be bought and riding horses for people I knew that owned them and giving feedback. When I finished riding as an amateur, I didn't have a book of clients to buy horses for but felt there was a gap in the market to buy good quality horses on spec and offer 5% & 10% shares publicly, thankfully the first horse sold, and it just followed from there. There is a huge fan base in racing on both sides of the sea, our syndicate horses are purchased to compete at the higher end of the scale and there is great uptake on it.

How do you encourage people to get involved in the syndicate?
I'm always available on the phone to discuss syndicates or purchases with anybody. If someone was on the fence about it I'd like to think the success of the syndicates at Temple Bloodstock thus far would encourage them coming forward at some stage when they see the enjoyment owners get out of race days and stable visits, plenty of connections and friends are made and it's very social.

How does the Syndicate work?
When I buy a horse, we offer 5% & 10% to fill the syndicate up. We run the syndicate for a 2-year period at which point decide whether the horse goes to public auction or we renew for another term. As we buy young promising horses generally once there giving us days out and winning, we renew. The sales proceeds and prize money all gets returned to shareholders and statements of accounts from HRI are sent out through the year so everything is fully transparent. 

Is there a story behind the name of the syndicate and the colours?
I grew up in a housing estate called Temple Manor. I tried Manor Bloodstock, but Michael Owen beat me to that with his Manor House stables, so I opted for Temple Bloodstock! I wanted a good bold set of colours for the syndicate and after exploring plenty I quite liked the maroon, royal blue seams and stars.

How many members would be involved with each horse?
Typically, 10 to 15 depending on shareholders taking 5% and 10%. It works great as we are never stuck for race day tickets with those share options. It is a comfortable number for everyone and not crowded.

Would you say it’s an affordable entry into the world of Racehorse Ownership?
It is definitely is, and it’s an affordable entry into ownership at a higher scale.

How do you keep your members updated on plans?
I am in frequent contact with owners, each horse has its own private WhatsApp group which I update regular, and I email everyone with entries and accounts. We also have a WhatsApp group for general news which all our owners are in while each horse's progress is kept privy to their owners in a separate group.

Would you say your members have built friendships through being part of a syndicate?
Definitely, it is great to see and part of what it is all about. It's what I aim for on our days out during racing and stable visits. So much is hyped now days about gambling and backing winners, to me the connections people make throughout Ireland and the UK with friends and families involved in a horse. To me it is a unique product that racing offers and should be advertised in the sport as a whole. It does so much to people in their lives. I can't think of anything else that gives people of all ages the same buzz and thrill of having a winner. There's nothing like it. It's better than backing any winner. 

How do you source your horses?
I've bought plenty of horses over the last year from France, England & Ireland both in and out of the sales ring. Like everyone, I'm trying to buy horses as well as I can price wise, so I try and buy privately, if at all possible, to avoid getting in a bidding war at the sales. I value each horse as they come along and act accordingly. If the price is too strong, I'm always happy to walk away. 

Who did you decide on who trains the Temple Bloodstock horses and why?
Temple Bloodstock has had 7 individual runners with Willie Mullins, all of which have won, which is amazing. We had a lovely winner with Gavin Cromwell last summer which was great to. We aim to have our horses with the top trainers in the industry to compete, the very same as the big owners in the game.

What would you say the Ownership experience has given you so far that you didn't expect?
Ownership is a journey from the day the horse is bought and there is plenty of training, work and updates to go under the bridge before race day. When you land on a winner, it is very satisfying. I get a great kick out of seeing the pleasure owners get out of it as without them, it's not possible. 

What would you say has been the biggest day so far for you as an owner?
The last 18 months have been tremendous. Tounsivator winning the Royal Bond was special and really put Temple Bloodstock on the map. Hey Sunshine winning a €100,000 handicap at the Punchestown Festival was also in the same bracket. Most recently Western Diego winning the €100,000 Dan Moore Memorial at Fairyhouse was class and the owners got some kick out of it, I bought him with those races in mind, it's great when a plan works out! We had runners at last year's Cheltenham Festival, Scottish Grand National meeting at Ayr, Aintree and Punchestown. Hopefully we are back at those meetings this year!

Are there any plans for the future of the syndicate?
I'd like to buy 2 or 3 more horses to syndicate under Temple Bloodstock this year and keep growing but there not box ticking exercises and I'm very select in what we buy. Hopefully a nice type comes up soon that I will buy under the Temple banner. We have some nice recruits to come out this year that haven't run yet since we bought them.

What is the feeling like of having a winner as part of a syndicate?
You have to experience it to know what it's like. It's very unique and as I said earlier, not many things in life give you that buzz. If you could bottle it and sell it, you'd make a lot of money! 

If someone wanted to get involved in the syndicate, how would they go about it?
I'm available 24/7 for a phone call and they can also go onto www.templebloodstock.com, sign up to our mailing list for future syndicate opportunities, read about our horses, success to date and explore the gallery of our winners to date. 

What would you say to someone that has thinking about getting involved in Ownership but hasn't taken the leap yet?
Go for it, if you're lucky enough to land on a winner the kick you get out of it will be worth it tenfold. We have 5% and 10% shares available in all our horses so you can take a small interest as a start to see if it's for you or not. Everybody gets treated equally no matter what % they own of the horse, and we all enjoy it as much as we can. 

If you're interested in exploring racehorse ownership opportunities and discovering the stories behind the sport, contact us on [email protected] to find out how to get involved.

It's very unique, not many things in life give you that buzz. If you could bottle it and sell it, you'd make a lot of money!