Cost to keep a racehorse in training?

[danceronice]

@mht;8270072

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.

Hey, for some horses…actually for my horse at the levels he ran at, nearly $95k over five years was pretty good. (He seems, from what I can find, to be far and away the best his dam produced, even if it was for three different owners.) Most of the ones I’ve known who wound up OTTBs have lifetime earnings of mid/low four figures.

And my answer to the original question is “Lots.” Or even OUT of training. The two I have shares in are BOTH on injured reserve and despite one being a G3 winner and the other having two wins they cost more than they earn overall

[ravenclaw]

[QUOTE=danceronice;8270198]
Most of the ones I’ve known who wound up OTTBs have lifetime earnings of mid/low four figures.[/QUOTE]

Mine ran in 3 races and earned a whopping $99 :lol:

[Flash44]

[QUOTE=ravenclaw;8270210]
Mine ran in 3 races and earned a whopping $99 :lol:[/QUOTE]

My friend’s very nice show horse ran for 3 years and did not crack 4 figures in earnings.

[CVPeg]

Costs for my guy at NYRA tracks - stabled at Belmont, and shipped up to Saratoga 3 out of the 4 years - was about $4000/month - in a partnership. And that was 4 or 5 years ago. Don’t believe he broke even, but wasn’t too far - earned about $160k, and completed his conditions. He did best when shipped to VA for the winter - so saved some $$$ from year 'round expenses, and got a mental/physical break to boot.

Agree about the trainers not having it easy when not paid by their owners. Runs the gamut from measly syndicate partners, to the top. And set up a trainer for several tough years when happening all at once.

It’s certainly not for the weak-hearted - but what good trainer won’t do anything for his horses?

The best/easiest OTTBs I’ve ridden/shown were poor performers on the track. And thankfully, the soundest.

Takes some special talent to turn a fairly successful one towards a good 2nd career.

[Texarkana]

[QUOTE=CVPeg;8271924]

The best/easiest OTTBs I’ve ridden/shown were poor performers on the track. And thankfully, the soundest.

Takes some special talent to turn a fairly successful one towards a good 2nd career.[/QUOTE]

That’s funny you say that. When I used to flip TBs, I really preferred the successful ones and the war horses. While the “race” is a little more ingrained in them, they usually have an awesome work ethic and are physically tough as nails.

My biggest duds as projects were the horses that raced a handful of times, but were just utterly poor performers. Many of those were duds because of excessive soundness issues.

I guess just different preferences and different experiences!

[SnicklefritzG]

Thanks everyone for the thoughtful responses thus far. This has been a very informative thread!

[Attack]

[QUOTE=Texarkana;8271969]
That’s funny you say that. When I used to flip TBs, I really preferred the successful ones and the war horses. While the “race” is a little more ingrained in them, they usually have an awesome work ethic and are physically tough as nails.

My biggest duds as projects were the horses that raced a handful of times, but were just utterly poor performers. Many of those were duds because of excessive soundness issues.

I guess just different preferences and different experiences![/QUOTE]

I have only taken on two to re-train for different careers so obviously I can’t say I have had a large pool to make a judgement by. With that said one was successful on the track and the other one was not. However, they have both been great for me. They learn quickly and it is really nice to not have to teach them to accept needles for shot, stand for the farrier, bathe, etc…