by Murray Brown

Howard Pearce first became interested in harness racing in 1982 when he was a fan attending the races at Kingston Park, a now nonexistent racetrack in Kingston, ON, a city half way between Canada’s two largest cities Toronto and Montreal. He became friends with the then young Mark Steacy and bought into a few of the horses in his fledgling stable. Twenty-three years later he decided to share the experience of horse ownership. So, he, Mark and Mark’s father Clarke formed the first LandMark Racing Stable and offered shares for purchase. From the onset, the goal was to give people the experience and the thrill of horse ownership at a reasonable cost. There were certain ground rules regarding the operation:

1. Other than the initial price, let’s call it the ante, there were to be no other bills during the duration of the ownership. This was accomplished by allocating roughly half the ante to the cost of the horse and the other half to the paying of bills towards the horse’s maintenance.

2. The money the horse earns at 2 goes towards its maintenance at 3.

3. After the horse’s 3-year-old season, the horses in the group are sold and the money is distributed to the shareholders. There have been only three horses through the years which were kept to race at 4.

4. The horses in the various LandMark entities are not necessarily entirely owned by LandMark. In most cases LandMark actually owns a fractional interest in the horses.

5. LandMark Racing Stable No. 1 consisted of 11 shareholders buying shares at $5,000 each. That bought the group 75 per cent of one yearling. Ten years later the share price was reduced to $2,000. This year’s group LandMark 17 consists of 72 people buying 115 shares. LandMark 17 owns 15 to 25 per cent of eight horses now 2-year-olds. All of them were purchased as yearlings at Lexington, London and Harrisburg.

How do you go about determining which yearlings you are interested in?

“We, meaning mostly Mark Steacy and myself, get the catalogs for Lexington, London and Harrisburg. I say Mark and me but we welcome interest from Mark’s son Shawn as well as anybody else involved in the operation. We go through them and come up with lists of the ones in which we have interest. We look at them and shorten our list. Our horses consist almost entirely of Ontario sired yearlings. We usually will get the ones in which we have the most interest checked by a veterinarian prior to the sale. We go into the sales with a pre-determined price on the ones we want. Just guessing, I would say we end up with about 25 per cent of those we bid on.”

How is this year’s group, LandMark 17, made up?

“We have eight 2-year-olds in training. Seven of the eight are Ontario-breds. Two pacing fillies, both by Bettor’s Delight. Three pacing colts, a Bettor’s Delight, a Shadow Play and a Captaintreacherous. Two trotting fillies, a Muscle Mass and a Green Manalishi and a Green Manalishi trotting colt.”

How do the various members of the groups stay in touch with what is transpiring?

“We strongly believe in communication mostly by email. I frequently speak with Mark. We try to keep everybody informed on a current basis. We have a website which my wife maintains. We keep it as up to date as possible. I send out emails on a daily basis, sometimes several times a day. I’m in touch with Mark daily. We try to keep our group members appraised of their horses’ progress whether good or bad.

“In racing season, the news reports became greater, including, but not limited to entries, results and reflection upon how the horse trained or raced. Now is actually our slowest time of year. Other than the development of the 2-year-olds and the anticipation of the 3-year-olds starting to race, there isn’t much that is newsworthy going on. I still try to get to Mark’s training center in Lansdowne to see the horses in action. There are also a few of the shareholders who like to get there and follow their development.”

What is it that differentiates your operation from Anthony MacDonald’s The Stable.ca?

“Our goals are similar in that we both strive to improve the harness racing experience for our shareholders. We want them to have fun and enjoy the experience of horse ownership. If one were looking for a difference, the main one would be if you were buying a share or shares in a LandMark Stable you would be purchasing ownership of that year’s entire group of horses, whereas if you were buying shares in The Stable, you would be buying an interest in one particular horse.”

Take us through a year of LandMark.

“For all intents and purposes our year begins in August. We are looking for purchasers of shares in the coming stable. This recruitment of shareholders continues through the sales season. Most of our recruiting is by word of mouth. We hope that at that time the shareholders are enjoying the fruits of their investment (for lack of a better term). Their horses are racing and hopefully making their way into winner’s circles. They have impetus to come back and get another bite of the apple and hopefully persuade some of their friends and acquaintances to do likewise.

“We get the yearling catalogs for the three sales that interest us most. I study them and come up with a list. Mark does likewise as do several of the others involved with the group. Beginning in September, Mark starts going to the various farms to take a look at those horses whose pedigrees he likes. I try to tag along. Others do as well. This past year, we spent a week in Lexington before the sales going to the various farms. By the time the sale comes around, we have narrowed our list down. We set a price on those that interest us most and go on from there.

“Once the stable has been assembled, they go into training with Mark at his training center in Lansdowne. The term LandMark is a combination of the word Lansdowne where the horses are trained and Mark Steacy who trains them. LandMark has only had one trainer and that is Mark Steacy. He is the only one we will ever have.

“The spring is a time for anticipation. The previous LandMark group of 3-year-olds are beginning to race. The 2-year-olds are only a few months away from beginning their racing careers. Mark’s wife Kathy is making sure that all owners are properly licensed and all paperwork is in order. The qualifiers and baby races are about to begin. There are very few things more thrilling than a LandMark youngster heading to the winner’s circle. It is sometimes difficult to get everyone into a photo. Of course, it’s not only the shareholders who are there, but also their friends and family. Our shareholders do not only follow the exploits of their own horses, but they have a connection to all the horses that Mark trains. Even though Sylvia Hanover is not a LandMark horse, I wish she was, we all followed her very closely and are thrilled and proud that she is Canada’s Horse of the Year. The track photographers must love us. Every time a Steacy horse wins, the number of photos they sell increases.

“LandMark Stables has only one trainer and that is Mark Steacy, ably assisted by his sons Shawn and Clarke and that is the way it will remain.”

You previously said that beyond the initial “ante” nobody ever gets a bill. Assuming a terrible year or a dire event, does that possibility exist?

“I suppose that it could be possible, but it’s highly unlikely. We have been doing this for 17 years and it hasn’t come close to ever happening.”

Are there any LandMark owners from that first group that are still with you in Group 17?

“That is something that I am especially proud of. We have five of the original LandMark shareholders who have participated in every LandMark group. I’m amazed by that. Just think, almost half of the original group are still with us 17 years later. I think that speaks well of the experience they had.”

You mentioned that you have a happy relationship with some major Canadian breeders.

“Yes, we do. Last year the breeding farms Glengate, Seelster, Tara Hills, Winbak and Ontario Racing purchased LandMark 17 shares. They became ours to use in any way that would help promote fractional ownership. We did so in the form of contests, with the winner then owning a share in LandMark 17. We are also very grateful for the support and cooperation we receive from WEG and Woodbine Mohawk [Park].”