If enthusiasm for the game could be bottled, then it won’t take long for Danny Fantom’s Century Racing Club to gain a foothold.

It is no secret that Britain is grappling with growing the popularity of racing. Syndicates, many of which offer entry into ownership at an affordable level, have long been key in alleviating the problem. Each offer their individual selling points; in the case of Century Racing Club, members will have the opportunity to be involved in the whole journey, from foal to racehorse.

Based in Weston-On-Trent near Derby, Fantom is building up a select broodmare band at his Westonhill Stud that it is hoped – with the assistance of data and expert advice – will provide the basis to Century Racing going forward. In the meantime, there are already several horses on the books under both codes, including recent point winner Big Boy Barney.

“I’ve been lucky enough through business to buy a few horses,” says Fantom. “I’ve had horses in training for 20 years now. I’ve been involved in various small syndicates but owned the majority of them on my own. I’ve been lucky enough to have a few winners and there is no feeling like it.”

The key, Fantom says, is to make racing as accessible as possible. To that end, there are 100 shares spread across a multi-horse syndicate, likely to be six horses, with an agreement in place that Century Racing members will also receive an annual membership to every Arena Racing Company (ARC) track.

“The process with Century Racing is purely about getting people back to the track,” he says. “It doesn’t matter if you’re one of ten in a syndicate or 10,000, people still want to get to the track to see their horses run. I want it to be where you have a nice day out and meet nice people. Get people back to the races, get them seeing the horses and enjoying the buzz of it all.

“So I put a proposal to ARC that all members of Century Racing would receive annual membership to all their courses for themselves and their guests, and ARC has agreed to do that which is great. I’m trying to make it as accessible as I can.”

The first horse to head into the syndicate is Big Boy Barney, a five-year-old son of Doyen who arrives from Ireland as the winner of his only start, a point-to-point at Loughanmore. He will be joined in due course by horses with George Boughey and Declan Carroll.

“I’m eager to to get things moving,” says Fantom. “Big Boy Barney is the first horse. We’ll turn him out for a bit before moving on with him. He’s a tangible asset – he won his point, the form has been franked and he’s an interesting purchase.”

Down the line, however, the emphasis will be on youngstock and following them through from the start at the stud. At a time when the base of British breeders is on a fragile enough footing, the arrival of a new operation like Westonhill is welcome.

“At the minute we have four broodmares, which we foal at the National Stud,” says Fantom. “Westonhill is 64 acres. We moved here two years ago and since then we’ve built new stables, installed horse walkers and put up new fencing. That’s phase one done.

“Next on the plan is to put in 1m2f a gallop so we can get to the stage where do our own pre-training. I actually did the trainer’s course as well back in February.

“I’ve been lucky enough to have some really good people help me. I have a very good relationship with the National Stud. I enjoy working with them – Joe Bradley and Anna Kerr there have been a great help.”

He adds: “Century Racing Club and Westonhill Stud link together. One will supplement the other – the stud is going to supplement the syndicate but likewise the syndicate also promotes the stud. People will also get to see the full process from foal to racehorse, the full package.

We’re in a tough commercial market and you’ve got to think outside of the box

“It’s also another way of keeping the cost of the syndicate down for people. We’re in a tough commercial market and you’ve got to think outside of the box. I want to use technology to get where I want to be. I use Equine Match, a programme developed by Spencer Chapman which has 30 years of breeding data on it, and then I have all my horses genetically tested through PlusVital. I try to use as many tools as possible from start to finish, and then use the traditional visual methods on top of that.”

Waiting in the wings are yearling fillies by Bated Breath and Aclaim and colts by Ardad and Time Test. Youngstock by Mehmas and Harry Angel are also coming through.

“We would like to get up to ten syndicates on a rolling conveyor, but no more than that,” says Fantom. “We’re not going to do more than 100 shares – in fact, I’d like do some smaller boutique syndicates as well.”

Horse welfare is also a priority. Westonhill is home to several retired racehorses including Fantom’s multiple winner Jackamundo while it is planned that five per cent of profits will be split between racehorse rehoming charities and the Injured Jockeys Fund.

“I haven’t the voice to change anything major but in my own world, I can try through my syndicates,” says Fantom. “We’re not reinventing the wheel but I’m angling for it to have some nice deals attached to it, like the link up with ARC.

“The people who take Century Racing seriously and invest their money, well I’m going to try and give them the best deal out there.”