PUNTERS who fancy having a flutter in the racing market are being given the chance to sign up for a new owners' club set up by a North Yorkshire businessman.

The Viking Racing Club says it will offer its members the experience of owning a racehorse at a cut price.

Carl Harris, a former marketing manager at William Hill, said the club aims to make racehorse ownership a hobby open to anyone.

Mr Harris has been joined in the enterprise by commercial director Barry Robson and winning jockey, now trainer, Robert Gray.

The company, which is based at Market Place, Pocklington, is hoping it can have the same kind of success enjoyed by the Elite Racing syndicate whose top horse, Soviet Song, has won a number of top races.

The business proposition, which is gaining popularity across the country, has seen the club recruit 18 horses in training for both the flat and National Hunt seasons - already making it one of the largest racing clubs in the country.

Mr Harris said its stock included names like Ballieborough, a winner already three times this season, and Sheer Guts who recently won at Market Rasen.

He said: "We have spent about six months putting this venture together. We think this will be a very popular business opportunity.

"It will offer a real racing opportunity. It will be a down to earth club and will allow people to get actively involved."

Members who sign up to the venture will pay an annual fee of £199 - a price Mr Harris says is a fraction of the cost of a share in a thoroughbred.

They will be kept up to date through a website diary, receive "up to the off" advice from sources and invitations to race days, dinners and functions.

Members will also benefit from stable visits, reduced racecourse entry and a chance to meet the horses, jockeys and trainers.

In 2002, the Evening Press offered readers the chance to invest in a a two-year-old thorougbred racehorse, kept at Wold Stables, Norton, which was named after the paper.

For more information about the scheme, and how to join, phone 0845 838 0324.

Updated: 11:03 Friday, October 28, 2005