You may think you're well-versed in all that Ulton has to offer, but there's a specialised branch of our business that's been quietly but steadily making its mark — Furlong Financial. Established by Ulton in 2019, Furlong is a dedicated venture that has been serving the horse racing industry for over four years.
From the beginning, Furlong Financial has been led by General Manager Jamie Wallace, who is based in Melbourne.
According to Ulton Partner Mark McLean, the idea for Furlong Financial took root when the firm noticed a clear void in the market.
“Ulton has a number of trainers and jockeys as clients and I have a keen personal interest in the industry. This is what led us to initially identify the opportunity,” said Mark.
“They noticed a real gap in the market. They saw how many people in the horse industry weren’t getting the back-end business support they needed and they saw the benefits of setting up a separate industry-specific venture that could be easily distinguished in the marketplace,” added Jamie.
If the name Jamie Wallace sounds familiar, it's because he was an accountant at Ulton for several years starting in 1997.
In 2002, after 25 years in Bundaberg and five at Ulton, Jamie and his wife moved to the big smoke of Melbourne to embark on a new chapter.
In Melbourne, Jamie embraced a new role in the corporate world. That was, until the opening for Furlong came up.
“I’ve always had a great friendship with Mark. We always kept in touch over the years and spoke often. So when this opportunity came up, I jumped at it,” said Jamie.
Mark agrees that the pairing of Furlong and Jamie was a no-brainer.
“Having worked for Ulton previously, I knew Jamie’s background well. I knew he had the same love for the horse industry as I did. He was the logical person for the role. He speaks the same language as the horse trainers, far better than the typical bookkeeper ever could,” said Mark.
More than four years later, the logical fit of Furlong and Jamie makes just as much sense as it did on day one — just ask Furlong’s clients.
“Right now, I’m looking after seven trainers, an agistment farm, and a horse syndicator,” noted Jamie.
“The vast majority of my work is taking care of the bookkeeping for my clients. They typically come to me not knowing how their business is going. They don’t know whether they are running at a profit or a loss. They don’t have any systems or procedures in place when it comes to the bookkeeping side of the business,” he explained.
“When I take on a new trainer, the first thing I do is put all the systems in place. Then, you can sit down at the end of the month with them and provide them with meaningful reports that highlight profit gain, loss, and opportunity,” said Jamie.
Image: Jamie Wallace standing with one of the legends of the Australian Turf called “Better Loosen Up”.
Ulton and Furlong work collaboratively in different ways, depending on each client’s needs. However, the benefits of the partnership shine through most in the situations where Ulton and Furlong are required to collaborate at a greater depth.
“The ideal scenario is that the client has a strong working relationship with Furlong and Ulton. Our Business Insights team puts together the trainer’s budgets and cash flows, with Jamie working directly with them to prepare all of that,” said Mark.
“Then, we're able to provide the higher level management services with the budgets, cash flows, and all those projections — allowing the trainer to analyse their business performance with complete clarity on their numbers.”
“They know what their true wages costs are per day, they know their true feed cost per day, they know exactly what profit they make on every horse that goes through the stables,” he said
“We would love to be in a position where every Furlong client is an Ulton client, and we are delivering that high level service to each trainer,” stated Mark.
Two clients who have truly reaped the benefits of having this unique dual-strength partnership are Edmonds Racing and Michael Costa Racing.
“I’ve had trainers that are coming back to Australia from Singapore call me to say ‘We want you guys to oversee everything. We want you to do for us exactly what you did for Michael Costa’,” said Jamie.
With excitement for what’s ahead, Jamie and Mark agree that there’s plenty of opportunities waiting to be tapped into — and plenty of enjoyment to be had along the way.
“We’re looking forward to exploring how we can support Furlong’s clients with more holistic services, specific to the horse racing industry, that complement Jamie’s bookkeeping services,” said Mark.
“I’m also looking forward to catching up with Jamie in Brisbane or Melbourne to discuss how we can grow Furlong and give Jamie the support of more team members to make that happen,” he added.
Summing it up, Mark said: “I say this often, but when you can mix your hobby together with business, it doesn’t really feel like work.”
Image: Jamie Wallace holding the Melbourne Cup at the after party, the year Fiorente won.