Philip Starr Profile

Philip Starr, Syndicator and Bloodstock Consultant

Philip was raised in a family that enjoyed racing.  From an early age, Phil went to the races with his father which is where his interest in breeding was first ignited. It was the era of Star Kingdom.

Philip started his working life in the banking sector, but he soon realised it was not his life calling.  He applied for and became a Bookmaker's Clerk and later took out a Bookmakers Licence in 1979.  It wasn't until his father passed away in 1987 that Philip felt motivated to convert his interest and research on breeding attained over a number of years into producing a book on the subject.

In 1992 Philip commenced his work compiling a 1600 page book on broodmares and stallions titled "Broodmare and Bloodline Form Analysis". The book looked at a 3 year period and rated the performance of every stallion, dam-sire and  broodmare. by an average progeny earnings per start figure. The logic of the book was to enable someone to be able to look up any sire, broodmare or dam-sire and see which lines they had clicked best with.  Because everything had a dollar value per start in a race figure, success or failure was quite apparent.  

The book was released in 1994 and contained the previous three racing seasons in it. The aim was to release a new book  each racing season.  However in 1995, Philip decided to make a logical transition from print media to a more economical and versatile computerized version in the form of a giant spreadsheet format. The statistical data is constantly updated and the computerization allows for so much more flexibility in examining the data.  This ultimately led Philip on to his career path as a pedigree consultant.

Armed with that huge amount of data, Philip then began his work producing mating plans for customers and soon after, early success followed with a dual listed race winner from the very first plan conceived.  A Syndicators Licence was taken out by Philip in 1998  in order to help clients syndicate a horse that they wanted to hold on to, but either couldn't afford or did not want  to race on their own.  Philip was picked up by Queensland radio station 4TAB for a talk segment on breeding topics selected by the station. The show was very popular and ran for a period of two years before the station completely revised its racing format. The program provided him with great exposure for his down to earth style and his fiercely independent advice was music to many people's ears.   

In relation to syndication, his major point of difference compared to other syndicators, is that he strikes an agreement with a breeder and starts a syndication as a lease so that there is no capital outlay for the horse.  In the lease plan, Phillip negotiates a fixed price the syndicate can buy the horse for during the three year lease agreement. An added condition to the option to buy, is that the owner or breeder of the horse has the right to a counter offer if desired.  This provides the breeder with the opportunity to take a 20% share in the new ownership and the two form a partnership creating a win-win environment for both parties.   

Philip's mission statement is to "Inherit the athleticism and the will to win".

Phil loves his work and finds it the most fascinating field to be in because of its constantly evolving nature.  

At present he supplements his living with a small amount of bookmaking at just ten non TAB meetings a year.  The advantage of the bookmaking background is an asset, because Phil can look at a field and assist the trainer to identify the chances in a race.

Phil's work in Starr Bloodline Services continues to grow and he plans to enjoy the thrills of seeing his syndicated horses find success on the racecourse for a long time to come.  He personally enjoys the community that is created with the owners and the satisfaction and sense of belonging it gives to individuals.  His passion of the racehorse and of racing is infectious.