Re: Thoroughbred Horse Racing [Merged]
jb03 said:
T44, I seen in the formguide today that F has won $105,000 in stakes money (before today). How does that relate profitability wise (excluding purchase price)? I remember reading about an Age Journo who owned a share in a blue diamond winner and he was bemoaning that despite that, they were still only barely in the black with the horse.
This is not an answer on behalf of T44, so please just take it as general information adding to the conversation.
In my experience, of having shares in quite a number of horses (ranging from 10% mostly to 30% equity) over the last 8 years or so, prizemoney covers only a small portion of the expense. If your horse(s) don't win races and on a pretty regular basis (unless you can get big odds from time to time) then you are behind the eight ball.
General Training and agistment fees for a thoroughbred these days are about $30,000 per year. This doesn't necessarily include any expensive vet bills if serious surgery is required, but that would be offset a little by agistment fees whilst spelling which are lower than when in training.
Unless you crack onto a true Stallion prospect or super brood mare, for the majority of owners it is money that goes along with a passion for the racing experience rather than being an investment in assets that produce a return on investment.
Most racehorses have about 6 (bullets in the chamber) race runs in them during any one racing campaign which is then punctuated by spelling for 3 months or more in between. If you get 2 racing campaigns a year out of your horse it's not a bad outcome. If it doesn't collect prize money and you don't win on the punt then it gets back to being a labour of love of the game.
So many factors need to go right to win races it requires a lot of tolerance and understanding. Having a horse simply stay sound enough to race is half the battle, let alone all the other factors that go along with being first past the post.
I never layed any of my horses, but I reckon that would have netted me back more than backing them to win.
I no longer directly own any, other than a part shareholding in a big racing syndicate. This keeps my interests in ownership ticking along for the time if and when I want to get back involved more directly.
You will hear many trainers openly thanking the patience and generosity of their owners and being genuinely grateful for them when they get some success. The wins can be stretched a bit too far at times, but when they come it's an awesome feeling.
Owning is a very different game to Punting.
