7 days ago
Show us the money: New global jockeys league hunting private funding
The future of a revolutionary world jockey league now hinges on private investment from outside the racing industry.
Co-founder Lachlan Fitt says the 12 superstar jockeys who banded together to form a proposed Grand Prix-style, franchise-based global circuit remain committed to the project.
And Fitt is still confident the league will be off and racing next year, although it will be in the later portion of 2026.
In May, News Corp exclusively revealed how a star-studded bloc of the world's top jockeys including James McDonald, Zac Purton, Frankie Dettori, Ryan Moore and Japanese superstar Yutake Take had secretly signed up for the league.
The 12 foundation jockeys have equity in the business as they would operate their own franchises as team principals in a league founded by ex-Ladbrokes senior executive Fitt as well as renowned racing figure John Ferguson, who was formerly the long-time right hand man for Godolphin boss Sheikh Mohammed.
When News Corp revealed the story, the league was at initial stages of talks with race clubs and racing authorities around the world who had signed nondisclosure agreements.
Fitt revealed league bosses have now had '25 to 30 confidential discussions with potential host venues around the world'.
He said the league was currently sourcing private investment from outside racing to pull the trigger on plans.
It could be similar to how SailGP has revolutionised international sailing with high-performance catamarans competing in Grand Prix events, with private equity giants coming into the fold as team investors.
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'We've been able to engage with the vast majority, if not all, of the major racing stakeholders globally on our concept and there has been really good interest,' Fitt said.
'We are now in confidential capital conversations with sponsors and potential backers.
'Where those conversations land will determine when we launch, how we launch and what period the season will run over.
'Unfortunately the reality of the racing industry is there is not enough capital within the industry to sustain the required investment in a project like this, hence outside or private capital is required.
'We are still working towards a 2026 launch season of no more than eight events, and we have got up to 15 dates identified that we think can work.'
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There are major complexities in the exciting project, such as getting the world's best jockeys to the same racetrack at the same time given there are different global racing seasons and many jockeys are committed to ride for particular stables.
But the innovative concept has many high-profile supporters including Racing NSW chief executive Peter V'landys, who is arguably the most powerful man in Australian sport.
He said critics who wanted to bag the jockey league were stuck in the dark ages.
'I saw a lot of criticism of the concept but those same critics think that just because you've got a racecourse, people are going to turn up,' V'landys told News Corp.
'They live in yesterday's land, they don't live in the future.'
• Why James McDonald is excited by the prospect of a franchise-based jockey league
The new global league is designed to hero the world's top jockeys and drive a human connection with them – equine superstars like Winx and Black Caviar and more recently Ka Ying Rising don't come along every day.
Fitt conceded it was unlikely any of the races could be held in Hong Kong during the initial years, but insisted that did not preclude Purton and fellow Hong Kong jockey Vincent Ho from being a key part of the league.
'All the jockeys remain committed to it, and we are hopeful that Zac and Vincent can still participate, provided the schedule doesn't impact their commitments in Hong Kong,' Fitt said.
'There are still a number of balls in the air in relation to the timing of our season.
'For example a part of what our season could look like might be in the Hong Kong off-season.
'Once we have further visibility around our timings, we will work through those elements in a collaborative way with the Hong Kong Jockey Club.
'It's not necessarily a surprise in terms of Hong Kong not being an initial host location.
'There are a number of intricacies with each market, and the commercialised, franchised product we would need to present doesn't necessarily work in some markets.
'There are also other factors such as the impact on local market wagering returns and product limitations that need to be taken into account.'
