Fractional ownership has become the next step forward for the harness racing industry, allowing fans to join in on the action and own a piece of a horse. It’s a small commitment with a large return. And while the new owners only share in a fraction of the horse, they can enjoy the whole experience that comes with it. At the Saratoga Harness track, there are hundreds of trainers that show up in the ink of the program with hundreds more owners below their names. While the ownership varies from horse to horse and stable to stable, it isn’t uncommon to see one entity owning a horse, whether it is TheStable.ca or a private stable name. One of the more common stable names is the VIP Internet Stable, which has not only had success in bringing new faces to the game at the Spa half-mile oval but has brought those owners success along the way. At the forefront of a few VIP Internet Stable-owned horses is trainer Amanda Kelley, a fixture of Saratoga and a trainer since 2015. “I was crazy about horses my whole life, my room was covered with them, I would daydream about them…the only problem was, my mom didn’t like them,” Kelley said. “She had ponies as a kid, but that’s where it ended. I would spend hours at my grandmother’s table listening to her stories about all her past horses and just wish that I could have that. But after years of wishing, I started babysitting for a neighbor that had a horse and that was it! I tagged along to every local auction, learned to feed for her, anything I could to be around horses. After I graduated high school, I went to work in a bank and after a couple years, a man came in and asked what I’d be doing if I could pick any job. I said, ‘Work with horses!’ He happened to own a farm closer to my home and said to stop by. So, I did. I walked right into the barn, the wrong barn, and asked for a job. Well, it turned out that these people that hired me, only rented out the barn from the owner, but that mistake changed my life. “I spent the next decade working with American Saddlebreds at Wrighthall Stables, working under Darlene Wright,” Kelley continued. “I had very little clue what I was doing and started at the bottom and was a total ‘yes’ girl. No job was below me and I loved every minute. She taught me everything – how to break babies, to longline, to harness, to jog, and I’d go to shows on the east coast with them and sleep in a stall. When I didn’t go, I ran her farm and the lesson program. After that experience, I thought it might be best to look for a ‘grown up’ job and I moved closer to home again and became a secretary at an auto glass company. But eight months in, horses were calling me and I ended up working for Stirling Brook Farms prepping yearlings and helping with the foaling and mare care. And like the show barn, I dove into this new breed, the standardbred. I studied bloodlines and crosses and learned all I could. And after a few years there, I ventured to the racetrack.” After working for a couple of different trainers, Amanda Kelley met Fred Scheigert and his family. “I worked for a couple trainers, then met the Scheigerts who gave me the biggest opportunity I’ve ever had. I learned with them, made plenty of mistakes, and they still would buy incredible horses for me to train. Oh, and somewhere in about 2017, I met my husband (after saying I’d never date a track guy). That’s a whole other story, but we joined our stables, and he had previously worked with VIP Stable. I reached out to them about some racing opportunities and we joined up and have been pretty successful,” Kelley added. In fact, Kelley’s husband Joe DeCarlo worked with Bunny Lake, and now their horse Bout Damn Time A won the Bunny Lake Memorial Pace Final on Monday, October 21 at Saratoga Harness. “I’ve been involved with VIP for a few years now. I reached out about some racing opportunities at Saratoga and Plainridge and we’ve done business ever since,” Kelley said. “Sometimes they will send a horse that I have no piece of personally, but mostly I own pieces of them as well. That’s the main difference in the fractional ownership horses is that I usually own a piece. I also get to be directly involved in choosing the horses that we purchase together. A big part of training for a fractional ownership group that I never realized before and that I’ve really enjoyed is all the connections I’ve made with the owners in the group. I’ve had several people reach out through Facebook for updates on their horses and barn visits. I’ve taken a few on paddock tours, gotten them rides in the starting car, and more. I really love how excited the partners get when we are coming up on a race day, have a good post, or for some series and stuff. I think that’s important, for those owners to be as involved as they can or want to be.” ► Sign up for our FREE DRF Harness Digest Newsletter Bout Damn Time A is a recent transplant from Australia, arriving to the United States under the care of Amanda Kelley in late April. The 5-year-old Art Major-Sounds Alive mare is owned by the S&K Misfit Racing LLC in partnership with the VIP Internet Stable LLC. She has six wins, two seconds, a third, and a fourth in 12 starts since arriving stateside, producing earnings of $55,730. In the barn, she is known as Lizzie, after the singer of About Damn Time, Lizzo. On Monday, Lizzie raced in the Bunny Lake Memorial Pace Final for her career-highest purse of $29,800. Regular pilot Wally Hennessey got away fourth off the car, 5-1/2 lengths off the leader before moving first-up through the half. Going into the final turn, Lizzie achieved the upper hand and set into cruise control to win by three-quarters of a length in 1:55 over a wall of five horses who shared a final time of 1:55 1/5. “I’m really proud of that win, it was my 350th and pushed me over $3.5 million in earnings,” Kelley said. “Until today, I had 349 wins and 349 second places. Proud, proud day.” Lizzie was joined in the winner’s circle by Amanda Kelley, caretaker Stacy Rose, friends and family of the connections, as well as Dawn Armour, an owner under the VIP Internet Stable. “I found out about fractional ownership possibilities through the thoroughbred groups that exist and their TV ads during thoroughbred racing broadcasts,” Armour explained. “Plus Seize The Grey, who has owners through My Racehorse fractional ownership, did so well this year and more and more information started surfacing about the groups. As I watched these ads, I so wished they had something just like that for standardbreds. I did start researching information about the thoroughbred partnerships and then, of course, once you start searching for something on the internet, multiple other suggestions eventually pop up.  Finally, after a while, I did get some suggestions online and in my Facebook feed about some fractional ownership possibilities in harness racing. I read up on all of the information that I could find about them, especially focusing on their web pages and frequently asked questions sections so I could compare them.” And so, Armour found the VIP Internet Stable and the opportunity to buy a piece of Lizzie. “While I was deciding, I was very impressed with their day-to-day operations. Just about every question I had was answered on their website, but for other questions that I thought of they were very thorough and timely in replying back to me. The organization is run very professionally, where you receive a signed contract between you and them for each ownership share purchase that you make and the contract spells out all details. They also keep you very informed every day on which horses they have racing throughout the entire operation and there is a portion of the website that only owners can access that gives updates on every horse that they have in their stable. There is also a wide variety of ownership share pricing options dependent upon the horse. “Once I decided to focus primarily on VIP, I was able to first sign up to be on their email list which allowed me to start receiving communications about horses with available shares for sale,” Armour continued. “When I would receive the information, I would also receive links to videos of the horse’s recent past races. I would also receive several weeks of past performance racing lines to look at. I went over that information, and I made my decisions of which one(s) to buy into based on that and what I had previously learned about the harness racing business through past ownership and what to look for and keep in mind when looking for horses to buy. Since VIP has many options available, it was easy for me to do that. I also wanted to buy into horses that were in somewhat close proximity to where I live so I could physically be there and watch them race whenever possible.  That’s the best part for me, and I could do that through VIP.” And while Armour has a past connection to harness racing, fractional ownership has allowed her to reignite her passion for the horses and become involved personally in the business again. “I learned about harness racing at a very young age. My family enjoyed watching harness racing, and I became a huge fan as well. I enjoy the horses themselves as well as the whole science behind what goes into getting a horse to the races. I first got involved as an owner roughly 35 years ago through small partnerships with co-workers and eventually I did own a horse outright myself. Since then, due to fluctuating economies and budgets, ownership had become somewhat on and off, but this fractional ownership opportunity has changed all of that. It offers so many wonderful opportunities. There are still some risks to consider, but the fractional ownership helps reduce that impact somewhat.” Armour owns a piece of four harness horses including Bout Damn Time A and John The Baptist, both under the care of Amanda Kelley at Saratoga. “As far as the standardbreds go, I own between 1 and 2 percent of each and for the thoroughbreds my percentage is less than 1% of each. To me though, even that small percentage connection is providing me with the opportunity to once again have the time of my life and be back involved again in something I have always loved. The way I see it, even though the percentages are small, I do own some of each horse, and that’s something to be excited about. I think many other fractional owners feel the same,” she continued. Armour is a native of Schenectady, New York and currently resides in Glenville, about a half hour from the harness track. She works in an administrative position as a Business Administrator for a local company and also part-time as a newspaper carrier. Most every race day of her two Saratoga horses, she can be found trackside and lately, in the winner’s circle on top of that. “The best part of being an owner for me is and always has been being right there at the fence near the finish line when the horses race,” Armour added. “Since I got involved in fractional ownership just a few short months ago, I knew I wanted to be able to be there for as many races as I possibly could. With that in mind, I set aside some vacation time in case any of the horses had to race at a time other than weekends or evenings so I could be there, if at all possible. To me it is one of the greatest feelings in racing to be that close and being able to watch your horse competing. A combination of my love of horses, the excitement of the race, pride, and gratitude makes it like nothing else. The gratitude comes from being thankful to the trainers, grooms, and jockeys or drivers who also help make it possible for your horse to be out there racing and helping to keep them and the other horses in each race safe. The thrill of it all intensifies even more when your horse wins and you get that picture taken in the winner’s circle. That definitely makes the whole experience come full circle.” Anthony Enokian is also a part of the VIP Internet Stable as an owner. The native of Detroit, Michigan was a graduate of Wayne State University and worked for over 40 years as a pharmacist. In October of 2021, he retired and relocated to Las Vegas, Nevada. He owns two horses as part of the VIP Internet Stable, including Bout Damn Time A. “I am new to fractional ownership and have been with VIP Stables for just a couple months,” Enokian said. “I have a 5% interest in Bout Damn Time A, currently racing at Saratoga Raceway with Amanda Kelley as trainer and the great Wally Hennessey as driver, and a 25% interest in Rose Run Blondie, a filly who will make her first start in 2025. “I have been watching live and simulcasted harness races for decades,” Enokian said. “I noticed that VIP Stables sponsored the race replays at the Meadowlands and started investigating the fractional ownership from that. I liked that they were supportive of the sport of harness racing in addition to supplying opportunities for ownership.” And while Enokian is on the other side of the country, he is able to participate in a sport he loves as an owner. “While I have yet to watch Bout Damn Time A race in person, I have subscribed to RTN (Racetrack Television Network) to have the ability to watch her races at home or I catch the simulcasts at the local casino,” Enokian said. “I am hoping to make a trip out east to watch both mares next year, once Rose Run Blondie starts. I have had no direct contact with the trainers, leaving that to the capable hands of Ed and Tom at VIP Stables. I would like to meet Wally Hennessey in a winner’s circle after one of the horses wins and get that photo; I’ve become a big fan of his and Amanda Kelley’s, even buying Wally’s biography, Driven to Win.” Enokian has been a lifelong fan of harness racing. “I started going to harness races in 1972 at 18 years old,” Enokian explained. “Living in Michigan, I attended live racing at the Detroit Race Course, Hazel Park Raceway, Northville Downs and Jackson Raceway, in addition to attending the Little Brown Jug in Delaware, OH annually. Unfortunately, Michigan was not supportive of the sport with blocked racino transitions and many of these tracks are now defunct.” And while he has owned horses in the past, fractional ownership has allowed him the opportunity to see his name in the program again. “I’ve owned Standardbred racehorses only. I had many in Michigan in the 90s; my best horse was Meadow Macho. Having the opportunity to own again through fractional ownership has been a great experience. “I’d like to say that fractional ownership has only added to the thrill of the race. I get knots in my stomach before the race, the same way I did when I owned them outright and watched them race live,” Enokian added. “I would encourage fans of the game to explore fractional ownership. Without a large outlay, you can invest in as low as 1% of a racehorse and enjoy this sport on a different level.” Enokian also added that it was easy to become a fractional owner. “The VIP Stables website lists the horses and shares available, updated daily. It was easy to join and become a fractional owner online. I appreciate that VIP uses many different stables and trainers in the Midwest and out East and feel that there is excellent exposure to a variety of horses.” And the ownership of horses through the VIP Internet Stable and other ownership groups extends among a great number of people. While only a fraction of the horse is owned, the immersion into the business and exposure to harness racing benefits everyone as a whole. “The owners that make up the group might only own ‘a fraction’ but they are some of the biggest harness racing fans and supporters I’ve met!” Amanda Kelley concluded.