One Syndications making their mark

By Andrew Adermann

A new syndicate based out of Rockhampton is starting to make its mark in the Sunshine State.

Founded by schoolboy friends Brandon Diplock and Joshua Lang, One Syndications is already making waves in Central Queensland, with four wins coming from six starts by their three horses.

The team have formed a formidable partnership with one of the state’s leading trainers in Nick Walsh, and have their sights set on big things both at home and in South East Queensland.

Both Brandon and Josh have been involved in the industry all their lives.

Brandon was recently appointed a committee member of the Rockhampton Jockey Club, while Josh’s sister Emily Lang is one of the state’s most promising apprentice hoops.

The siblings grew up in the equestrian world, and are now forging their own paths in the thoroughbred industry.

“I’m a fourth generation in the family that has had an interest in thoroughbred racing. My great-grandfather owned some really good horses and into my grandfather and now father, we’ve still got a few horses personally with Nick (Walsh) that we’ve had a great deal of fun with,” Diplock said.

“That’s always been in my blood to have an interest in horse racing and my business partner, Josh Lang, his younger sister Emily is apprenticed to Steve O’Dea and Matt Hoysted – she’s doing great things.

“Being business-orientated guys, Josh and I have had great discussions along the way and it’s always been something we wanted to do and last year we really put our heads together and focused a little more on it to get it happening and here we are today.

“We’re having a lot of fun and involved in an industry we both love.”

The One Syndications stable has only the three horses in work at present, with grand plans to see that number rise sharply by the end of 2024.

Awol, formerly with champion trainer Ciaron Maher in Victoria, made his way to Rockhampton with Walsh at the end of 2023, taking no time to impress with a dominant four-length victory on debut.

After a trip south to Brisbane in February, the four-year-old returned home to Callaghan Park last week to add a fourth career win in 12 starts with Emily Lang in the saddle, who made the trip back home for the ride.

Another former Victorian galloper in Hell made no time in announcing himself to the region, claiming a dominant four-length victory at his only start for the team on April 5.

However, it is their three-year-old filly Shadowen who has impressed most, breaking her maiden in the Sunshine Coast Turf Club’s $100,000 race series on debut for One Syndications earlier this year after being purchased from Godolphin.

Shadowen returns to the races this Friday at Mackay, where she will again be tough to beat in the second event on the program - currently the equal favourite. 

Punters won’t have to wait long to see both Awol and Hell return to the races, both set to feature at Rockhampton’s next meeting on April 18.

“It was an absolute dream start for us. We spoke to Nick early days and stressed the importance of getting wins early to really boost our presence as a syndication business and show people what we can do,” Diplock said.

“To win that $100,000 race at the Sunshine Coast was an incredible feeling. We have owners in her who she is their first ever horse so to experience that was unbelievable and they are still talking about it.

“It’s a credit to Nick and his team at Walsh Racing for being able to get that filly to that race and to win it was the perfect start for us.”

The team wasted no time expanding their fledgling stable at the recent Magic Millions March Yearling Sale, nabbing a Better Than Ready x Princess Qualo filly for only $28,000 – to also be trained by Walsh.

As one of the nation’s premier breeding initiatives, the Queensland Thoroughbred Incentive Scheme offers vast rewards to the owners and breeders who invest in Queensland bloodstock, with more that $13 million in bonuses on offer annually.

One Syndications were quick to target the QTIS bonus money, and will be hoping their recent Magic Millions purchase will share in the spoils the scheme offers state-wide.

“We worked really closely with Nick and our bloodstock agent Jim Clarke. She was a filly that we identified early and to be honest, we thought we’d pay a lot more for her so we purchased her for a really good price,” Diplock continued.

“We liked her presence – she looked a really fast-running type who’ll get up and going early which is important for the QTIS money.

“By a champion Queensland sire in Better Than Ready, we know how well they go and looks a horse we’ll have a lot of fun with.”

Walsh was also quick to praise QTIS and the additional prize money it delivers connections in the region.

“QTIS is absolutely massive up here, racing QTIS horses up here can be the equivalent of mid-week metro money in South East Queensland,” he said.

"The quality of horse up here that are QTIS are getting stronger and stronger but it makes the racing a lot tougher and more competitive.

“It’s a fantastic scheme to have here in Queensland.”

For both Brandon and Josh, it was a no-brainer to team up with the region’s top trainer.

“The Diplock family have had horses with me for a while, so it eventuated from there, with Brandon being involved he always saw the opportunity for bigger and better things,” Walsh said.

“He is a businessperson and he owns a couple of local businesses here in Rocky so he looked to that side of it and since then it’s grown massively.”

Walsh has established himself as not only one of the top trainers in Queensland, but the country.

In season 23/24, he currently sits atop the tree as having the best winning strike rate in the country of any trainer with more than 50 starters, going at 31 per cent presently – a win almost every three starters.

Having previously represented Australia in rodeo, Walsh soon found his passion laid elsewhere in the equine world.

“I’m all about quality over quantity and try to keep us around that 12-14 or so horses,” he said.

“We’re always trying to get the right horses here and ensure that we are placing them where they can win races.

“I’ve always loved rodeo but started riding trackwork a little bit and as I got a little older, I realised there was probably more of a career in the racing industry over rodeo.”

The One Syndications team is already expanding, having recruited professional punter Tom Henjak to provide form analysis and advice for the current stable as well as for any prospective tried horse purchases.

“We’d love to keep growing, starting off here in Central Queensland which is our roots but we’d like to expand further down into South East Queensland,” Diplock said.

“We need the support and the owners to come on board to be able to do that so it’s about starting off steady and ensuring we’re doing everything right, and creating an environment for owners to enjoy.

“As we get a little bigger and grow, we’ll continue to maintain that as the focal aspect of what we do.”