‘You’ve got to think of the upside’ – Longevity a testament to Teo’s international investment

In a rare insight into the inner workings of China Horse Club, vice president Eden Harrington spoke with Tim Rowe about founder Teo Ah Khing’s achievements and vision for the international thoroughbred breeding and racing empire.

With the emergence of racing industry behemoths such as Yulong, Amo Racing, and Wathnan Racing, alongside the more established Coolmore and Godolphin, it is perhaps easy to overlook the contributions of other major international thoroughbred conglomerates.

One of them is China Horse Club (CHC), which for more than a decade has been pursuing the elite racing aspirations of its founder Teo Ah Khing and is succeeding in doing so.

Their influence was witnessed at Royal Ascot when Cercene, a filly bred and sold by CHC, won the Group 1 Coronation Stakes, and they were represented in the Pretty Polly Stakes with Survie, a mare they own who ran third in the fillies and mares’ Group 1 at the Curragh last weekend.

There are Kentucky Derbies, Golden Slippers, Epsom and Irish Derby trophies won over the past 10 to 12 years by stars associated with China Horse Club, and there are almost certainly many more top-class racehorses in the pipeline. 

Established in 2012, China Horse Club is the wholly owned thoroughbred arm of Malaysia-born billionaire Mr Teo, who, according to his website, is an architect, entrepreneur and Harvard University graduate with extensive business interests across numerous industries, including racing.

CHC management has rarely given extensive interviews, but UK-based Australian Eden Harrington, a former racing journalist with Sydney’s Daily Telegraph and later a Darley Flying Start graduate, recently provided a deep insight into the prominent racing entity, for which he has been involved since its inception.

Harrington, who was recruited by Teo from Coolmore, was in the same Flying Start cohort as French trainer Jerome Reynier, who won the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee at Royal Ascot last month with Lazzat, Amo Racing’s agent of choice Alex Elliott, and New Zealand Thoroughbred Marketing’s Andrew Birch, among others. 

In a game that requires patience and considerable luck, CHC’s impact has been significant, and not only because of its financial investment but in terms of equine talent Teo and company have raced and/or bred.

“In a short space of time, we’ve certainly built a curriculum vitae that we’re very proud of. We don’t always necessarily beat our chest about it, but we’re very proud to have been one of the few there that have won the US Triple Crown, who have won an Epsom Derby and who have won a Golden Slipper,” Harrington tells The Straight.

“Those are the pinnacle of three different regions. They’re the benchmark across the US, across Britain, across Australia, and to have won each of those events is certainly rarefied air.

“We’re very fortunate to have been able to do that and do that with some wonderful, wonderful people that we can share those moments with.

“At the end of the day, this is a sport where you’re trying to have moments. You’re trying to have occasions and celebrations. To do it with other people is a real joy.”

The US has proven profitable while Europe has expanded from a foothold in France to include racing and breeding in Ireland and Britain. But throughout CHC’s existence, Australia has remained a cornerstone.

CHC has been a long-term and loyal partner of the Newgate Farm colts partnership, which has yielded Group 1-winning results such as stallions Russian Revolution, State Of Rest, Wild Ruler, Golden Slipper winner Stay Inside, In The Congo and, the best of them all, Extreme Choice.

It also has stallion interests with Zoustar at Widden Stud and Yarraman Park’s Hellbent. In Europe, CHC holds equity in champion French sire Siyouni and Ballylinch’s New Bay.

Recent Royal Ascot winner Cercene, whose dam Tschierschen is named after a region in the Swiss Alps where one of Teo’s resorts is located, holds special significance as she is by Coolmore sire Australia, a horse he raced in partnership with Magnier during CHC’s infancy.

A son of Galileo, Australia won the 2014 Epsom Derby, Irish Derby and International Stakes at York before being retired to stud at Coolmore after his three-year-old season. A year earlier, CHC won the Singapore Gold Cup with Tropaios.

“One of the constants has been our model, and that has been a partnership model,” says Harrington.

“We’ve invested very heavily in our relationships around the world, and they remain core to everything we do. The most important element of what we have is our relationships. 

“Good people we participate with, and that allows us to share wonderful experiences, and it also allows us commercially to spread the risk.

“Obviously, in Australia, it’s well known. We’ve got some fantastic relationships there with Newgate Farm and SF Bloodstock, Matthew Sandblom, Trilogy Racing and Sir Owen Glenn who is one of our oldest and dearest friends.”

Since those formative years more than a decade ago, CHC has been involved with unbeaten US Triple Crown champion Justify, a colt the syndicate of owners reportedly sold for about A$100 million to Coolmore, and acquired equity in rising US stallion Not This Time.

This year, in partnership with America’s WinStar Farm, CHC has champion sire Into Mischief’s Grade 1 Florida Derby-winning son Tappan Street, the last horse to beat Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes winner Sovereignty.

“Obviously, your audience there (in Australia) is well attuned that we have a model there with Newgate that is very focused on trying to create stallions. That is the same in the US with WinStar Farm,” Harrington says.

“We’re trying to create stallion prospects like Justify, like Life is Good, who was a four-time Grade 1 winner and one of the fastest horses seen in the US in recent years. The fact that this year we’ve discovered a Tappan Street, a (Woody Stephens Stakes winner in) Patch Adams. These are two very, very commercial stallions in the making.

“And their profiles will continue to be built, all going well as 2025 and 2026 rolls on. We hope to do the same as well in Europe. It’s a slightly different model, but it is because the market is slightly different there.

“But we certainly aspire to have success at the highest level wherever we participate. And each of those regions has very clear directives there that they cannot be reliant on handouts. They do need to make their respective business models work.”

Harrington reiterates that CHC is a business which “has to stand on its own two feet”.

“It needs to be self-funding, self-sufficient, and that keeps everybody on their toes to realise the best possible results,” he says.

“As a breeder, we’re a commercial breeder. We breed to sell. We take stock to market.

“And if the market chooses to buy them, then fantastic. We sell horses at different points in the market, as Cercene demonstrates. She was a 50,000 euro yearling.

“Not everything is going to sell for a million dollars. We price our stock to try and reach the market.

“But likewise, if stock doesn’t reach its reserve, we’ll back our stock. We’ll race them, and we’ve certainly had success in different ways of doing that as well.”

Operating in a volatile industry from both a horse performance and the state of the economy point of view, the consistent execution of CHC’s global strategy over a long period of time has been one of its strengths, according to Harrington, but that’s not to say it hasn’t evolved. 

Previously, the agistment of all of CHC’s breeding stock was outsourced, but in more recent years CHC purchased its own Australian broodmare farm, the NSW Southern Highlands-based The Chase.

“We’ve invested very heavily in our relationships around the world, and they remain core to everything we do. The most important element of what we have is our relationships” – China Horse Club vice president Eden Harrington 

The Chase is managed by Alex Kingston while CHC’s southern hemisphere division is overseen by Michael Smith.

Of CHC’s 100 broodmares, most of which it owns outright, about 55 are domiciled at The Chase, although some of its Australian mares are also housed at Vinery Stud in the Hunter Valley.

“The Chase has been the first of the (in-house) breeding components, and over the last couple of years we’ve added neighbouring properties to that, and at present we’re integrating those properties into The Chase,” Harrington says.

“Right now, we’ve got another barn being built and we’ve got fencing going up. It’s a long-term commitment there to continue raising elite stock in Australia, so that we are able to produce more horses like Ozzmosis, Communist, Revolutionary Misse and Dame Giselle.”

The CHC team is also keeping a close eye on emerging markets such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Bahrain in the Middle East.

“We had a horse called Jubilee Walk race in Bahrain earlier this year, so we’re certainly mindful of monitoring those markets and opportunities and Dubai in particular is all close to our hearts,” Harrington says. 

“One of our companies there designed Meydan (racecourse) back in the day, and Mr Teo and a lot of our core senior team that are still with the group participated in designing and delivering on that project, among many others.

“A few years ago, Life Is Good ran in the Dubai World Cup for us with WinStar.” 

There’s a sense of optimism from Harrington that while CHC and Teo have survived and thrived for more than a decade, defying the odds as some may say, they are as engaged in the sport now as ever.

And that’s good news for the industry.

“Everyone’s always hopeful in this game. That’s the nature of the beast, isn’t it?” Harrington says. 

“If you want to participate in horse racing, you’ve got to be positive and you’ve got to think of the upside.”