THEY call it the "Millionaires' Club": a shed at Castle Hill Showground, pigeon charts on the walls, nothing flash.

Inside are lawyers, developers, architects. All have channelled fortunes into pigeon racing, travelling overseas to chase bloodlines and building lofts to rival houses.

"It's like a poor man's racehorse," said Gary Young, a club member and owner of a building company. "But it's not all poor men any more."

These are people once referred to as the Howard aspirationals, who ha...