Ask the veteran members of the Setarip racing syndicate how many standardbred horses they have owned or leased, how many winners they have had and the names of their favourite horses and they are quick with the answers.
But ask them how much money they have won and lost over its 45-year history and they say it is impossible to calculate.
''Put it this way, we've done all right,'' founding member Joe Wilson said.
''We've never had to put in anything extra other than our monthly subs.
''We've never gone broke, but we've gone close to it.''
The syndicate is one of the three oldest in New Zealand.
All three were registered with the New Zealand Trotting Conference (now Harness Racing New Zealand) on September 19, 1969.
Until that point, only a maximum of four owners had been allowed for a horse, Wilson said.
When the law was changed, 20 members of the Pirates Rugby Club decided to form a syndicate and ''have a bit of fun''.
Setarip is Pirates spelled backwards. Wilson is one of only three remaining founding members.
The others are Ted Mortimer, of Makarewa, and Clark Neil, of Gore. Neil was unable to attend the birthday race meeting yesterday.
About 45 syndicate members, former members and drivers will meet for a celebration lunch at Makarewa tomorrow.
The syndicate was always about the camaradarie, Wilson said.
''If we were in it to make money we would have given up years ago.''
In the first year the monthly subs were $4 - they are now $75 - and training fees were $13 a month.
Monthly meetings were held at Owen Brown's car shed and involved a short business session followed by a few drinks and a bit of a yarn.
''We never used to put the finish time in the minutes,'' Wilson said.
''If we had our wives would have known the meetings hadn't gone three hours.''
Early results for the syndicate were not encouraging - it took nine years before it recorded its first win with Hispaniola.
The horse was later sold to a United States buyer for $10,000, which Wilson said was a lot of money in those days.
Over the years there have been 24 wins from 15 different horses, with Quality Time doing the best by winning three races in the early 2000s.
Invercargill trainer Ron Barron was the syndicate's trainer for more than 20 years (and has been a syndicate member for 24 years), and now his son, Clark, has taken over.
Wilson said the past decade or so had been the best the syndicate had had, with Sly Romance, Rockin' Lily, On The Lure and Olgoldnblack (named after the Pirates Rugby Club and Setarip colours) all performing well.
He said the present syndicate members - including three women - were just as keen to be involved with harness racing and breeding as ever.
''The best thing about it is the friendships, and spending a day at the races.
''Even if our horses come last it doesn't matter. Seeing our colours go round the track is still a thrill.''
