Cost to keep a racehorse in training?

[SnicklefritzG]

I’m curious about the costs to keep a racehorse in training. I heard prices quoted of $2-4k per month depending on the track, trainer, and a number of other factors. If those really are actual fees for training board, where are all the fees coming from if the trainers don’t have to pay for stalls? Unless the trainer charges a day fee of $100 or more, I don’t see how the costs would be $3-4k/month.

If these really are true price ranges for training board, how do these war horses actually turn a profit? If they make $200-300k over several years of racing (4-5 years), is it really a profit if it costs a minimm of $25-30/year to keep them in training?

[Laurierace]

My cost was around $50 per day not including vet bills and obviously I didn’t have to pay myself to train. $2k is a minimum if you are paying a trainer. Very few horses make their connections money over the long haul. You hope to break even on most of them while hitting a home run every once in a while. There was one year I worked 7 days a week for the whole year, won my share of races and lost 60k.

[Texarkana]

[QUOTE=SnicklefritzG;8264711]
If those really are actual fees for training board, where are all the fees coming from if the trainers don’t have to pay for stalls? Unless the trainer charges a day fee of $100 or more, I don’t see how the costs would be $3-4k/month. ?[/QUOTE]

Those numbers are accurate and $100/day is pretty standard at the top tracks, while one might pay closer to $50/day at a smaller track.

Even though the trainer might not be paying for the physical stalls, they are paying for everything else: feed/hay, bedding (some tracks include this, some tracks require you to buy certain bedding from them at a set price), all equipment and tack (owners provide NOTHING unlike the show world), and the biggest cost-- staff. With staff comes the cost of insurance and workmans comp.

On top of that, depending on how the trainer does the books, the owner is usually billed for all of the “extras” including veterinary bills, farrier bills, vanning fees, etc.

There’s a reason they call it “The Sport of Kings!”

[SnicklefritzG]

In my original post, I was assuming that the fee includes grain, hay, bedding, and regular farrier work. There is still a big gap though between those specific costs and a total of $3-4k.

So is the difference really in the training portion of the fee? Or extra vet exams if racehorses get more checkups than your average riding horse? (not certain if that is true or not).

Maybe my question is really about what portion of the total fee is going to training alone. I’m also wondering if the trainers typically employ a larger staff than the typical BNT barn for H/J, dressage, or eventing. Or maybe they actually pay all of them as opposed to the working student model where people work for nothing or simply for basic expenses.

[LaurieB]

[QUOTE=SnicklefritzG;8264807]
In my original post, I was assuming that the fee includes grain, hay, bedding, and regular farrier work. There is still a big gap though between those specific costs and a total of $3-4k.

So is the difference really in the training portion of the fee? Or extra vet exams if racehorses get more checkups than your average riding horse? (not certain if that is true or not).

Maybe my question is really about what portion of the total fee is going to training alone. I’m also wondering if the trainers typically employ a larger staff than the typical BNT barn for H/J, dressage, or eventing. Or maybe they actually pay all of them as opposed to the working student model where people work for nothing or simply for basic expenses.[/QUOTE]

The fee for “training” can’t really be separated out. A trainer will quote a daily fee (which varies depending on track and trainer can be as high as $150). That will usually include such things as: training, stall, bedding, feed, exercise rider, groom, hot walker, use of tack and basic supplies, making entries. Use of the racetrack is also included in the daily fee.

Suppliments are usually add-ons. Farrier and vet are billed separately to the owner. At the track, a vet is not paid for “check-ups”. They make their money from meds and diagnostics. Many trainers have their vets stop by every day and have a look at the horses. There is no charge for that (which is why the cost of medicine at the track is outrageous and why it’s over prescribed.) Vanning and other costs associated with racing are also separate.

It costs us about 50K per year to keep a horse in training. The hope is, of course, that they pay their way (or better!) but many do not.

[Texarkana]

[QUOTE=SnicklefritzG;8264807]

Maybe my question is really about what portion of the total fee is going to training alone. I’m also wondering if the trainers typically employ a larger staff than the typical BNT barn for H/J, dressage, or eventing. Or maybe they actually pay all of them as opposed to the working student model where people work for nothing or simply for basic expenses.[/QUOTE]

That’s part of it. When someone entrusts their racehorse in the care of a trainer, they are paying to be a part of a successful barn. Racing is a 7 day a week business. Big operations require a lot of “hands” to be successful-- grooms, foremen, exercise riders, hot walkers, assistant trainers, etc. That cost is reflected in the day rate.

I think another major difference between a sporthorse trainer and a racehorse trainer is that sporthorse trainers supplement their income in other ways aside from just the training rate. For example, a H/J trainer may charge $1000/month for training board. But that generally doesn’t include lessons for the owner-- another $50-100 per lesson depending on the trainer. That also doesn’t include coaching the day of the show, or entry fees, or catch rides, etc. etc. And more than likely, that trainer gives lessons to outside clients who ship in.

[Flash44]

OP, it’s a day rate, not a monthly cost, although you get a bill once a month. And it covers the basic care of the horse; feed, bedding and hay; and trainer’s overhead. Vet and farrier are additional. When the horse races, you will also incur fees for the gate, the pony, the jockey, Lasix, maybe vanning, and a couple other little fees tacked on. So at most tracks, unless you win, you did not have a profitable month. If you have a decent enough horse and finish second, you can maybe call it a profitable month.

The bigger trainers at the bigger tracks have more overhead. Grooms may only rub 3 horses instead of 4. They probably have a swing groom to fill in when a groom travels with a horse. They may have a traveling assistant because their horses are good enough to ship all over the place for stake and allowance races. They probably have a night watchman. They probably have a day watchman.

[Laurierace]

[QUOTE=SnicklefritzG;8264807]
In my original post, I was assuming that the fee includes grain, hay, bedding, and regular farrier work. There is still a big gap though between those specific costs and a total of $3-4k.

So is the difference really in the training portion of the fee? Or extra vet exams if racehorses get more checkups than your average riding horse? (not certain if that is true or not).

Maybe my question is really about what portion of the total fee is going to training alone. I’m also wondering if the trainers typically employ a larger staff than the typical BNT barn for H/J, dressage, or eventing. Or maybe they actually pay all of them as opposed to the working student model where people work for nothing or simply for basic expenses.[/QUOTE]
There are no working students, everyone is paid and paid relatively well. With that comes workman’s comp obviously as well. There are many hands in every pot including the groom, exercise rider, hot walker and pony person at minimum.

[Linny]

As for making money in racing, in most cases, the horse that won (say) $400k over a career of 4 or 5 years, may have been profitable for some of the people who had him but not most. (My racing experience is in NY where purses are high, but so are costs.)
Moderate horses change hands often and the way to make money is to get in and get out. If you claim a horse because you spotted a sign of improvement and you are right and he wins a race or two before being claimed away, you make some money.

A few years ago an acquaintance got a gelding from a breeder I am friends with. This breeder deals in very nice horses, shares in top KY stallions (MdO, Lemon Drop Kid etc.) Horse was by a leading sire, won once in NY and earned about $80k. He retired at 4. Person who got him (I am not sure but I was told he was free) was bragging about the horse’s success and had no idea that this horse’s $80k in earning was a drop in the bucket against what the breeder/owner had into him.
Breeder had bought a very expensive share in his sire. Breeder had shipped dam to KY (from NY) to be bred and back to NY for foaling. Breeder runs a great and well staffed operation, which costs money. Colt was sent (more shipping) to consignor for sales prep (not cheap) but whacked himself in the leg a few days before sale and was withdrawn, more shipping to send him home. Vet care for leg… Breeder decides to race him. He’s sent to an expensive training center in Fla (more shipping.) Starts with her “A list” trainer who is well over $100/day. After 4 months and a very average debut (and abut $14K in day fees) he goes to the B list trainer who coaxes a win out of him after about 3 months. The purse was $50k, and the winner “gets” 60%, but they have to pay the rider (10%) the trainer (typically 10%) and various fees for grooms, pony riders, office fees etc and now they get about $22k. Sounds great but they had $22k into this colt before he was returned unsold by the consignor as a slightly damaged yearling. Since then he’s racked up shipping (NY to Aiken for training, back to NY, back and forth between farm and track…) day fees, board at home costs, vets, farriers, chiro , administrative expenses and racetrack office fees etc. It adds up. The longer you have them, the more they cost…

[Pegasus5]

Many trainers in the U.S. only make money if theyre hitting the board. A lot of trainers design their day rates to just cover their expenses, they make money by getting 10% of first, second and third. Why do they design it that way? History and to have a competitive day rate. That’s why it is so hard for trainers to make a go of it and live comfortably. There is no actual charge for training. The day rate covers tangible expenses. If horses aren’t hitting the board, most trainers are not making money…they’re breaking even at best. You have to love the game to do it.

[Meany]

[QUOTE=SnicklefritzG;8264807]
In my original post, I was assuming that the fee includes grain, hay, bedding, and regular farrier work. There is still a big gap though between those specific costs and a total of $3-4k.

So is the difference really in the training portion of the fee? Or extra vet exams if racehorses get more checkups than your average riding horse? (not certain if that is true or not).

Maybe my question is really about what portion of the total fee is going to training alone. I’m also wondering if the trainers typically employ a larger staff than the typical BNT barn for H/J, dressage, or eventing. Or maybe they actually pay all of them as opposed to the working student model where people work for nothing or simply for basic expenses.[/QUOTE]

I tend to assume a horse needs to make at least $30k/year to roughly pay his way with a decent trainer.

Costs at the racetrack are much higher than I expected coming from a hunter/jumper boarding and training background. One thing to keep in mind is that racetracks tend to be in more urban areas than your average riding stable. Straw, hay and grain are more expensive in those areas. And horses living in 24/7 are significantly more expensive in terms of supplies and labor than a horse I can turn out for several hours.

It’s also hard to buy in bulk (IME) because of limited storage. Space is allotted by the track and can be really hard to come by so, especially for small operations, you’re going to be purchasing hay and bedding in small amounts and paying more than if you could just stack 500 bales in the loft.

The other thing that’s hard to quantify is increased labor. At home, my arena is open from sunup to sundown. With one person tacking up, I can ride an awful lot of horses myself. But a racetrack may be open from 5 am to 10 am with a maintenance break in between. It doesn’t matter if I’m a barn with four horses or 40, I have the same amount of time to get all the horses out. More horses mean a bigger work force. And again, with turnout all but non-existent at most tracks (round pen, if you’re lucky), even a horse that isn’t getting ridden still needs to get out and get walked if you’re a responsible trainer. That’s a lot of wo/man hours.

And pretty much everyone who handles the horse is functionally a professional.

Absolutely you can and will see trainers at the track running things on a shoestring. But they are typically not shedrows you’d be proud to see your horse standing in.

The best comparison I can make is that training at the track is more like being at a horse show every day. Your costs are typically higher being stabled at HITS or WEF than they are for board back home.

[Flash44]

[QUOTE=Pegasus5;8265962]
Many trainers in the U.S. only make money if theyre hitting the board. A lot of trainers design their day rates to just cover their expenses, they make money by getting 10% of first, second and third. Why do they design it that way? History and to have a competitive day rate. That’s why it is so hard for trainers to make a go of it and live comfortably. There is no actual charge for training. The day rate covers tangible expenses. If horses aren’t hitting the board, most trainers are not making money…they’re breaking even at best. You have to love the game to do it.[/QUOTE]

And, for some strange reason, race horse trainers bill at the end of the month instead of the beginning. So if you have an owner who is late to pay, or pays partial, or is just a PITA to get money out of, the trainer may carry the expenses for several horses for 45 days or more. Unlike show barns, or regular boarding barns, where you pay up front. I keep telling the trainers I know to bill up front, but they keep saying, “That’s not the way it’s done.”

[Laurierace]

[QUOTE=Flash44;8267242]
And, for some strange reason, race horse trainers bill at the end of the month instead of the beginning. So if you have an owner who is late to pay, or pays partial, or is just a PITA to get money out of, the trainer may carry the expenses for several horses for 45 days or more. Unlike show barns, or regular boarding barns, where you pay up front. I keep telling the trainers I know to bill up front, but they keep saying, “That’s not the way it’s done.”[/QUOTE]
So true. I racked up lots of credit card miles that way because I didn’t have the cash to pay the feed bill etc so I put it on the credit card until I got paid. Sometimes writing a 20k check to them. Did wonders for my credit rating!

[gumtree]

One of our bills for the month of July. This horse is at Laurel. The vet bill ran a bit higher than usual because he cut himself pretty good.

31 Training day rate for C in July 75 per day $ 2,325

1 Blacksmith shod 7/25, no vibes front, bends hind 140

1 Wormer dispensed 7

1 Race day expenses for LRL 60

1 MD Vet Group bill in July 313

	                                               Subtotal for July	$2,845

[Attack]

My barn neighbors have it made. Both, father and son, are trainers. The dad does the farrier work, and the son rides all the horses. We share a half mile track, a 1/3 mile track, an outdoor arena and an indoor arena. So they can and do train year-round. They do all of their training right there at the farm with the exception of the required works and obtaining gate cards. Other folks who stall horses there do most of the grunt work of stall cleaning, feeding, etc… in exchange for using the facilities. If they did not have the ability to do all that at no cost and had to pay for it there is no way they could afford to keep racing.

[mht]

My bill, for one of the four I own in partnership with trainer, and another person.
‘Barber’ 27.5% ownership.
Training 31 @ $17.88 = $554.28
Blacksmith 33.00
Bodybuilder 18.70
Race day pony x2 16.50
Chiro 34.38
Float teeth 23.38
Trainer 10% for win 1237.58
Total 1917.82

Vet bill 279.99

And then add 13% to these numbers for Canada’s Harmonized Sales Tax.

[Texarkana]

[QUOTE=mht;8269077]
My bill, for one of the four I own in partnership with trainer, and another person.
‘Barber’ 27.5% ownership.
Training 31 @ $17.88 = $554.28
Blacksmith 33.00
Bodybuilder 18.70
Race day pony x2 16.50
Chiro 34.38
Float teeth 23.38
Trainer 10% for win 1237.58
Total 1917.82

Vet bill 279.99

And then add 13% to these numbers for Canada’s Harmonized Sales Tax.[/QUOTE]

I’m doing my math right… you still came out in the black this month, right? 27.5% of winnings of $12,375.80 is $3403.35. Subtracting the $1917.82 in expenses + 279.99 in vet bills + the 13% tax on those costs (13% of $2197.81… is that how that works? $285.72 in sales tax? I know nothing about Canadian taxes) still comes out with a profit of $919.82.

Which is a good month in my opinion… many congrats!

But let this also be a lesson for those who wrongly believe that owners “get rich” off a horse because they see big $$$ on his record. In this case, winning $12,000 in a single race left the horse and owners with only a little over $3,000 in actual profit. If the horse were to miss his next race or fail to hit the board, that “profit” would be eaten up before the month was over.

[mht]

Yes, I was ahead on Barber, but we also have two 2 y.o.s, who have yet to race, and a 3 y.o., who does his darndest to screw us up.

[Texarkana]

[QUOTE=mht;8269954]
Yes, I was ahead on Barber, but we also have two 2 y.o.s, who have yet to race, and a 3 y.o., who does his darndest to screw us up. ;)[/QUOTE]

I deleted my post because I realized I wasn’t sure if that 10% trainer cut was of your 27.5% share or the entire winnings from the purse.

But the point - even when you have a GREAT month, you don’t come out that much ahead. And whatever you do earn is likely to be burned up almost instantaneously if you have a bad month.

Congrats again on the good month!

[mht]

Referring to a previous post by Linny…drives me nuts when these people who buy OTTBs, and brag about how much money their new horse made on the track. Like $50,000 over four years is huge, to them.

And my trainer does bill at the beginning of the month, because, as he says, the feed man, and the hay man, and the blacksmith, and the shavings man all expect to be paid every week, or two, not at the end of the month.