Doug Payne and Running Order at Rolex earlier this year. Photo by Heather McGreer.
You can’t keep Doug Payne down. After several stressful months that saw his former four-star ride Running Order ultimately be sold to William Fox-Pitt, Doug bounced back by officially forming Virtus-DPE. The new syndicate unites the seven shareholders he had lined up to buy Running Order, with three slots still open. Rather than focusing on just one horse — as the vast majority of current syndicates do — Virtus-DPE seeks to support two future superstars, with syndicate owners jointly owning a portion of both horses.
“When everything with Running Order fell through, I was very lucky that the people behind me with him said they would roll their shares into another syndicate,” Doug said. “I thought my best shot going forward was to get two horses at it, so I started heading in that direction in forming this new syndicate. If you have two horses in the mix and one’s on vacation, gets hurt or taps out at the two-star level, you still have another horse there. Having two horses allows you to still keep the syndicate engaged in that scenario.”
Doug plans for the syndicate to purchase one 7- to 8-year-old already competing at about the intermediate/CCI2* level and one 4- to 5-year-old just starting its eventing career. While Doug thinks younger horses can be easier to find, he knows he’s in for a challenge in finding an older horse further along in its career. “Right now I see a lot of people buying two-star horses, but I don’t think they’re getting the top tier,” Doug said. “They’re maybe getting the 80th or 90th percentile, because the very best ones at that age often are not for sale. If they are for sale, it’s for a lot of money.”
When it comes to younger horses, Doug is open to the idea of finding a prospect without much experience and starting from scratch, much like he did with Running Order. “If it’s talented, I have no problem doing that,” Doug said. “Every horse that I have right now I started from scratch. I enjoy it because there aren’t holes made by other people in the horse’s training.” Doug isn’t set on sourcing the syndicate’s horses from any one place, but he hopes to plan a trip overseas at the end of December or beginning of January to start looking.
Doug has seen the good, the bad and the ugly of syndicates, but he still believes they are critical for the future of eventing. “They’re a key component and I don’t see a way of going forward without them,” Doug said. “I don’t see the Running Order situation as a knock against a syndicate. As long as everything is very clear cut from the beginning, I don’t think it should end poorly.” Kristen Burgers, an attorney who owns half of Doug’s mount Royal Tribute, helped Doug structure the legal aspects of Virtus-DPE to ensure the syndicate can be successful going forward.
When it comes to filling the final three shareholder slots, Doug is looking for people who enjoy being involved in the full spectrum of the training process. “That’s a huge help in the end,” Doug said. “I really want people that are coming in and want to take part in the whole journey.” Doug recently spoke to Carl Siegel, who owned Buck Davidson’s mount My Boy Bobby, about the owner mentality. “He said, ‘I find as much enjoyment watching a training event as I would at Kentucky,'” Doug said. “He enjoys the whole thing. That’s what I’m looking for.”
The remaining three shares are available for $17,500 each. But Doug made it clear that he’s willing to split those three shares into partial shares. “I want it as inclusive as possible,” Doug said. “I don’t want somebody to think that’s too much money, so they can’t be a part of it. If someone has a desire to be a part of it, I would like to talk to them and figure out a way to do a fractional share or something different.” Interested shareholders can contact Doug at 908.399.9112 or [email protected].
